Since it was elected to power in 1994 the ANC government has, like any other democratic government, met criticism from the media — most of it well-deserved. But instead of reasoned responses, leaders of the party and its aligned organisations have resorted to allegations of racism against the media.
If I said Judge Kate O’Regan had a beautiful mind, would she use it against me? Is it permissible to say that a Constitutional Court judge has a sexy cerebrum? Or would this impugn the dignity of Ms O’Regan as a person, let alone as a judge?
"They have no idea what it’s like; how fucking hard it is for us. They don’t know what the hell we’re talking about when we talk about parliamentary oversight." This intriguing statement was made to me the other day by an African National Congress back-bench MP.
About 50 war crimes suspects from Bosnia may be tried locally when the country establishes its own war crimes court, the chief prosecutor of the United Nations tribunal said this week. Carla del Ponte, on a two-day visit to Sarajevo, said the 50 were part of a group of 108 people the UN court at […]
South Africa’s tiny propertied elite heaved a sigh of relief this time last year when the government dispatched the “Red Ants” to forcibly remove the thousands of poor and landless people who had occupied the Bredell land. Glibly accepting the state’s assurance that “Zimbabwe-style land invasions won’t happen here because we have an orderly land […]
Taking up almost half a page in last Friday’s Cape Times were six single music staves laying out the words and melody of the first half of the official South African national anthem. There is no headline or caption to this “score”, but at the end a rather snide little pay-off is printed: “Now you […]
A centuries-old Tswana settlement that provides unique insight into tribal custom has been unearthed near the farming town of Brits in North West Province. The settlement was discovered during the construction of a pipeline to provide water to the people of Mmakau.
An ice-vending firm in Manguzi, KwaZulu-Natal, has complained of unfair competition from an unlikely source — the local police station. The aggrieved businessman has lodged a complaint with the area commissioner of the SAPS and the police complaints directorate.
The CIA and United States special forces have been given authority to use "lethal force" to capture or kill Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein. Details emerged of an intelligence order signed by Bush instructing the CIA to conduct covert operations aimed at toppling the Iraqi leader.
The 60-year-old woman from Ndwendwe tribal trust near Durban is the brawn behind a successful brickmaking project run by middle-aged women. "You’ve got to use your brains to make money," she says.