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/ 13 December 2004
"If you’ve ever wondered why journalists write ‘claimed’ or ‘approximately’ about performance and economy figures supplied by the manufacturers at a vehicle launch, it’s because we haven’t tested that particular vehicle." How does the VW Caddy Life live up to its manufacturer’s consumption claims?
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/ 13 December 2004
South African cellphone giants Vodacom and MTN are not sitting ducks for takeovers by international players, says Merrill Lynch’s Meloy Horn. She shot down rumours that United Kingdom-based Vodafone, the world’s largest cellular phone operator, might take a controlling interest in its South African subsidiary, Vodacom.
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/ 13 December 2004
"Our main aim is to increase the tourism economy of Johannesburg. We’re starting off a strong base — six million tourists come into the city per annum. The total value of this to the economy is valued at R7-billion. The question is: how do we get more tourists?" Deon Viljoen, CEO of Johannesburg Tourism Company, speaks to <i>Earthyear</i> about his role in putting Johannesburg on the world map.
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/ 13 December 2004
Eskom recently launched the Dindi Fish Farm in the Dindi community near Pietermaritzburg, as part of its programme to establish sustainable projects in needy communities. The fish farm is a small remote facility specifically for the raising of African catfish, <i>Clarias gariepinus</i>.
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/ 13 December 2004
"I heard a solitary lion roar close by in the early hours of my first night (which had left spoor through the camp just the night before), a hyena laughing the following morning, fish eagles while I was enjoying my very first cup of morning coffee next to the campfire…". A few days at Sebe-Sebe’s bush camp restores an <i>Earthyear</i> journalist’s soul.
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/ 13 December 2004
A swarm of locusts on the horizon usually spells doom to most societies, but the VhaVenda people in South Africa’s Limpopo Province welcome this natural phenomenon. In fact, it is seen as a blessing from the ancestors. <i>Earthyear</i> takes a closer look at these creepy crawlies … and how to cook them.
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/ 13 December 2004
In most circumstances we find racial profiling — making a decision about an individual based on statistical assumptions relating to his or her race — despicable. But is it any better when class becomes a determinant in situations where our very humanity is at stake? When one person is comforted and another lies shivering on the pavement?
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/ 13 December 2004
Convertibles have never been my favourite cars. They’re often noisy, the cloth tops are sometimes a mission to get up and down, and they lack the security offered by a normal car. The recent trend towards hard-tops that fold themselves neatly away into the boot eliminated most of my objections, however, and the new Renault Megane Coupé-Cabriolet has just won my heart.
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/ 13 December 2004
Zimbabwe’s Information and Publicity Minister Jonathan Moyo performed a dramatic volte-face four years ago, turning full circle from being President Robert Mugabe’s trenchant critic to become his toadying spin doctor. But now he faces the grim reality of dismissal and crushing out-of-office ignominy. And Moyo has brought about his own crisis of credibility.
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/ 13 December 2004
Between the Shashe and the Limpopo rivers, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe come together to form a special place filled with history and wildlife memories — the Tuli Block. Husband and wife team Roger and Pat de la Harpe studied and photographed the region in detail and wrote the book <i>Tuli- Land of Giants</i>. <i>Earthyear</i> reviews.