The number of discouraged work-seekers rose by a million between March and September last year, while employers continued to pay higher wages to a falling number of employees, according to two surveys released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) last week. This indicates that unemployment in South Africa has at best remained static, at worst risen slightly.
Gauteng wants to be a smart province, like Dubai, and Blue IQ wants to spur "smart" industry in Gauteng, along Dubai lines. The aim, according to Pradeep Maharaj, Blue IQ CEO, is to move the province away from its reliance on mining into a "hub" for tourism and high-value manufacturing. But the Dubai model is misleading.
The election race, such as it is, is on. Posters swinging from the lamp-posts in the major urban areas tell us more or less where everyone is at. “Whites unite: don’t vote,” says the Herstigte Nasionale Party. “Sê nee vir die ANC,” says another. “South Africa deserves better,” says the Democratic Alliance.
”I saw my wife, who was still alive. They had cut off her legs and arms and left her to bleed to death. I never saw my children again. I don’t know how they died.” In 1994, about 800Â 000 people were massacred in Rwanda. It was one of the bloodiest genocides Africa has ever seen. Ten years later, Guardian correspondent Chris McGreal returns to to talk to survivors — and killers living among them.
Five years after 60 000 Nato troops poured into Kosovo, expelling the Milosevic regime and returning the Albanians to their homes, the international mission in Kosovo has hit a crunch point, its credibility sapped, denounced for complacency by both Serbs and Albanians. Partition is the only acceptable solution for Serbs and Albanians, but the implications for the rest of the Balkans would be horrific.
The outcome of South Africa’s tour of New Zealand was delicately balanced at the end of the penultimate day of the third and final cricket Test in Wellington on Monday. All three possible results remained on the table with South Africa needing another 152 runs to win.
Given the baggage of recent history that this fixture carries, it would be too much to expect it to have come from the mouth of either manager. But the respective comments of Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson nevertheless delivered their own telling tale about how the balance of power in English football has tilted.
Serena Williams cleared another hurdle in her comeback from an eight-month layoff, surviving some shaky moments on Sunday to beat Elena Likhovtseva of Russia 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in the third round of the Nasdaq-100 Open. She won the first five games but struggled to control her groundstrokes for much of the match.
Orlando Pirates scored a narrow 1-0 win over Sundowns at Mamelodi’s Odi Stadium in a hard-fought Premier Soccer League match on Sunday. The second half saw a plethora of silly substitutions as both teams searched for a goal. An early goal by Patrick Thwala made the difference on the day.
France may have claimed the Grand Slam but the biggest winner of this season’s Six Nations was the tournament itself. Before it began, many feared that the 2004 edition would be yet another England-France carve up — the two nations have monopolised the title ever since Scotland won the last Five Nations in 1999.