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/ 3 December 2004
The British sociologist Stuart Hall has used the expression "moral panic" to describe a situation in which large numbers of people are persuaded that some vital good or right of theirs is under dire threat. Much of the "Bram Fischer debate", concerning a posthumous honorary doctorate being awarded by the University of Stellenbosch, has the dimensions of exactly such a panic.
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/ 3 December 2004
Former South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher may well be back in the national cricket squad when it is announced next Tuesday, but opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs might not. That was the opinion of national coach Ray Jennings when the team returned from India on Friday.
Proteas turning the corner
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/ 3 December 2004
So we got it then. That brief outburst of bile and hate that has become a tradition when Manchester United play Arsenal. Okay, it was only brief. Two elbows and a kick from the aggressive young Dutchman Robin van Persie, followed by a quick handbag from Manchester United’s fiery Kieran Richardson.
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/ 3 December 2004
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has admitted that international sanctions are hurting his country. Delivering the keynote address at the Zanu-PF congress, he railed against the usual suspect — British Prime Minster Tony Blair — for ”wanting the collapse of the Zimbabwe economy”. Mugabe also expressed concern about corruption and the abuse of depositors’ funds in the financial sector.
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/ 3 December 2004
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The hospital on the outskirts of Nairobi wasn’t built because of its proximity to the Kenyan capital’s massive townships, although the chaotic slums do provide it with an overflow of patients. It wasn’t constructed using millions of dollars of donor funds, which is why it consists completely of cold, grey cement, overcrowded wards and medical equipment dating back to the 1960s. The wind created Mbagathi Hospital.
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/ 3 December 2004
There are certain things that are non-negotiable in rugby. One of these is that when you run down the tunnel and on to the field you have to look as mean as possible. Scowling is good, as is the 1 000-mile stare and in France it is de rigueur for a forward to already have a little blood dripping from the forehead.
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/ 3 December 2004
When Makhaya Ntini finally edged Anil Kumble to slip on Thursday morning, the South African tail had stretched the lead over India to 116. Sitting over their breakfasts that morning, a group of men would have cast their minds back nearly 11 years to Sydney when a different South African team defended 116 for what remains the most famous victory of the modern era.
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/ 3 December 2004
In a world that boasts many temples of consumerism, this may be the biggest of them all. With more than 1 000 shops, 230 escalators and a giant restaurant area, the Golden Resources mega-mall in west Beijing claims to have more space than any other. There will soon be an artificial ski slope, a cinema complex and a spa in the mall, which spreads over 56ha.
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/ 3 December 2004
South African President Thabo Mbeki on Friday started a four-day African Union-sponsored visit to Côte d’Ivoire where he will present a ”road map to peace” for the west African country, riven by more than two years of conflict and political crisis. Mbeki arrived in the southern city of Abidjan late on Thursday and immediately went into talks with his Ivorian counterpart, President Laurent Gbagbo.
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/ 3 December 2004
Just days after African leaders pledged to end the running sore of warfare in the heart of their continent, the Great Lakes region threatened to explode again. Former United States secretary of state Madeleine Albright has previously characterised the conflict in this region as the closest thing Africa had experienced to a world war.