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/ 29 March 2004

Why SA needs minimum sentences

The opening of the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg was attended by judges, including chief justices, from all over the world. It was a truly a momentous occasion for South Africa’s judiciary. It was, therefore, a pity that many of the distinguished guests did not know that ours is still such an inconsistent judiciary that it often faces reasonable accusations of remaining racist and arbitrary.

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/ 29 March 2004

A million more discouraged

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.

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/ 29 March 2004

Dubai is the wrong benchmark

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.

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/ 29 March 2004

‘Vula’ — opening the heart

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.

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/ 29 March 2004

Rwanda, 10 years on

”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 800 000 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.

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/ 29 March 2004

Compromise is needed

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.