David Macfarlane Did Unisa receive presidential approval for its current court action against Minister of Education Kader Asmal? Or is Unisa’s new vice-chancellor, Dr Barney Pityana, claiming rather more exalted support for his part on the ongoing warfare against Asmal than the facts warrant? Senior Unisa academics raise the possibility that President Thabo Mbeki has […]

An ongoing project is monitoring the success of the reintroduction of elephants at St Lucia Niki Moore How much does an elephant charge? At today’s exchange rates, about 140m. That’s a lot of elephant to have coming at you from the forests of the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park. “When you do this job, you […]

Fiona Macleod South African taxpayers may have to fork out millions of rands for the environmental rehabilitation of asbestos mines abandoned by British multinational Cape plc, which has agreed to settle its marathon legal battle with locals suffering asbestos-related diseases. A precondition of the legal settlement agreed shortly before Christmas between Cape and locals suffering […]

HERVE BAR, Goma | Friday TENS of thousands of residents of Goma had fled their homes late on Thursday and vast areas of the town were set ablaze by lava flows from an erupting volcano. “Goma is burning,” shouted a driver in a line of vehicles who had just arrived at the border with Rwanda […]

Johannesburg | Thursday A FORMER chief prosecutor for United Nations international criminal tribunals on Thursday slated the United States for trying to create a new category of prisoner for fighters captured in Afghanistan. “It seems to me the United States is creating some new category,” said Richard Goldstone, the former chief prosecutor for the UN […]

Bafana’s midweek win was cause for optimism for the Nations Cup Ntuthuko Maphumulo The African Cup of Nations should give the people of Mali a chance to see some of the continent’s icons in their stadiums, although the hosts are not expected to get to the final. But the expectations are much higher for Bafana […]

Matthew Krouse Colosseum, Caesars Gauteng, Kempton Park. Breathless takes place in an informal bar atmosphere with hit numbers ranging from Sex Bomb to Lady Marmalade. Produced and choreographed by Amber Baty and Billy Hogg. Extended until February 2. Shows at 8pm. No booking, no charge. Tel: 928 1000. Globe Theatre, Gold Reef City Casino. African […]

Alex Sudheim The Barnyard Theatre, Gateway shopping complex. Rocking the southern hemisphere’s largest shopping and entertainment complex just north of Durban is Roll over Beethoven, the first production in the centre’s in-house theatre. The show has enjoyed a sold-out run country-wide, was inspired by the rock’n’roll classic by the same name and is a rollicking […]

GuyWilloughby Cape Comedy Collective, Armchair Theatre, Observatory. Every Sunday giggle at a line-up of comics at their home venue.On Sunday January 13 guffaw at Cokey Falcow and Sarah Lansmann, both of whom say farewell before heading overseas. On Fridays titter at the Smirnoff Sessions, a line-up of up-and-coming comics from the comedy-development sessions, at The […]

comment Michael Byers Would you want your life to be in the hands of the United States Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld? Hundreds of captured Taliban and al-Qaida fighters don’t have a choice. Chained, manacled, hooded, even sedated, their beards shorn off against their will, they are being flown to Guantanamo Bay, a century-old military […]