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/ 22 October 2004
Staff members of the cash-squeezed daily newspaper <i>ThisDay</i> are scrabbling for jobs after media reports that closure is imminent. Journalists speaking to the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> this week revealed a deep sense of commitment to the paper but anxiety for their future if a local partner is not found.
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/ 22 October 2004
Little more than a year into his presidency of the Pan Africanist Congress, Motsoko Pheko faces a coup at the party’s make-or-break conference to be held in Durban in December. Disgruntlement with his leadership is at fever pitch among regions and party chiefs. Pheko has absented himself from national executive committee (NEC) meetings since the April elections, where the PAC received only 0,73% of the votes.
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/ 22 October 2004
As the government’s plans to increase investment in electricity generation and transport infrastructure dramatically begin to take shape, a monumental capital-raising challenge is developing. And it is becoming clear that the fiscus will have to make a substantial contribution — something Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has so far only hinted at.
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/ 22 October 2004
President George W Bush’s special envoy, James Baker, who has been trying to persuade the world to forgive Iraq’s crushing debts, is simultaneously working for a commercial concern that is trying to recover money from Iraq, according to confidential documents. Baker’s Carlyle Group is in a consortium secretly proposing to try to collect $27-billion on behalf of Kuwait by using high-level political influence.
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/ 22 October 2004
Gold Fields executives are fighting for their jobs after Harmony launched a hostile R53-billion bid for the world’s fourth-largest gold producer this week. If shareholders accept Harmony’s takeover offer, Gold Fields’s head office will disappear, along with many of its senior executives. There are also job fears on the shop floor.
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/ 22 October 2004
The list of Great South Africans should have, and could have, shed some light on the most pertinent questions of our time. But such a ranking needs to include all of South Africa. To ensure the participation of the majority of South Africans, involve all forms of the media in the process. Highlight the connotations of greatness so that the electorate can make informed votes.
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/ 22 October 2004
Looking up the television rugby details the other day, I was reminded how effectively sponsorship has inveigled its way into our activities and enterprises. The electronic programme guide announced: Absa Currie Cup: Investec Western Province Stormers versus Mobil Blue Bulls at Securicor Loftus. 17:00 on DStv SuperSport 2. Six-in-one – not bad.
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/ 22 October 2004
The HIV pandemic has proved a divisive force in several African countries, not least Zambia. While the question of whether to make HIV tests mandatory has sparked fierce debate in the country, another controversy is also afoot about the wisdom of releasing prisoners in the advanced stages of Aids. Since late 2001, more than 300 sick inmates have been freed by President Levy Mwanawasa on compassionate grounds.
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/ 22 October 2004
Supersport United are living up to their name under the tutelage of Pitso Mosimane. The youngest coach in the Premier Soccer League has taken a team that faced relegation four seasons ago to one that has been twice runners-up for the league title and has been in the top four for the past three seasons.
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/ 22 October 2004
When the appointment of a new coach elicits a response unapologetically laborious and manufactured, the end is near. Outrage, finger pointing and name-calling in media and public debate indicate the presence of a pulse. But the plastic, listless response to the appointment of Ray Jennings suggests that to most who care about the game, South African cricket has flatlined.