South Africa may have a special role to play in the global search for what one might call the ”decent economy”. But if we are to achieve this — stage two if you like of the revolution of which so many have dreamed in the long march to freedom — it is necessary to examine unflinchingly what we have and have not achieved since 1994.
Five years ago, investors were told there was unlimited money to be made out of the dotcom revolution — and that was true, until the point where there were no longer more buyers than sellers. The market reached that point in March 2000 and, since then, the Nasdaq has lost 60% of its value and millions of small investors have suffered.
Prison reformers are calling for the Department of Correctional Services not to punish consensual sex between prisoners and for eventually allowing such sex in prisons. This seemingly far-fetched proposal is even suggested by the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons, a statutory agency tasked with making recommendations on correctional services.
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A federal judge in Tampa, Florida, rejected a bid to reinsert the feeding tube sustaining the life of a brain-damaged woman whose plight has sparked an emotional debate over the ”right to die”. The woman’s parents will now likely take their case to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, lawyers said.
Collusion claims against South African Airways, SA Airlink, SA Express and Nationwide have been referred to the Competition Tribunal for a ruling, the Competition Commission said on Tuesday. The airlines are accused of agreeing to introduce a fuel surcharge simultaneously on the price of domestic tickets.
South African opening bowler Shaun Pollock will miss the first Test against the West Indies in Guyana due to his injured left ankle. Team physiotherapist Shane Jabaar confirmed on Monday that Pollock will remain in Durban to undergo treatment and a strict rehabilitation programme.
A British factory worker who managed to send a complicated 25-word SMS on his cellphone in just 48 seconds has gained entry into the Guinness Book of Records, it was announced on Tuesday. Scotsman Craig Crosbie earned the crown for being the world’s fastest SMSer during a competition in London.
Austrian authorities are investigating whether a university committed a crime when it used corpses as part of research to develop better crash-test dummies, a prosecutor said on Tuesday. Authorities suspect that researchers at the Technical University of Graz might have violated the dignity of the dead by using bodies in tests.
A German anatomist whose exhibit of preserved corpses has drawn international controversy went to court on Tuesday to appeal against a court ruling that said he was not qualified to use the title ”professor”. Gunther von Hagens’s Body Worlds show has generated curiosity and outrage, drawing several million visitors worldwide.