Ebrahim Rasool is regarded as someone who puts issues of social justice before privilege and prestige Marianne Merten Western Cape African National Congress leader Ebrahim Rasool long ago swopped the salaah thobe (prayer robe) embroidered with beads in ANC colours he wore in the Eighties for a collar and tie. As the Western Cape’s new […]

Tanya Glavovic Two years from now South Africa’s regulated drinking water supplies will be fluoridated to an optimum level of 0,7mg per litre of water in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Department of Health on September 8 this year. “The cost of this programme is estimated at R30-million a year,” says the chairperson of […]

Fiona Macleod South Africans are smuggling rare and endangered wildlife species out of Zimbabwe in an attempt to “save” them from becoming victims of the political chaos in that country. In one daring “rescue”, a Potgieters- rus game farmer smuggled 24 sable antelopes into South Africa in a Dakota. The plane managed to avoid radar […]

Barry Streek The Democratic Alliance has started picking up the pieces after the “great schism”, broadening its top leadership structure to keep New National Party members on board and make it more racially representative. The party’s national management committee decided this week to co-opt four black Democratic Party members MPs Donald Lee, Dan Maluleke and […]

I have recently arrived in the New South Africa, and I was wondering what is the point of your column entitled “Body Language”? As a gender specialist, I do not see the purpose of employing an archaic “inyour-face” tone as a method toward greater awareness in tackling gender-related issues. It is more likely that you […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni A spate of disciplinary actions against South African ambassadors abroad has sparked a major row in the Department of Foreign Affairs over the chastising of political appointees by lower-level civil service functionaries. The Foreign Affairs Department has in the past few months instituted disciplinary action against five top diplomats, including heads […]

Motorola’s new top-end cellphone would not look amiss in William Shatner’s hands David Shapshak Motorola’s clam shell cellphones have always reminded me of the Star Trek communicator, none more so than the latest top-end phone that features a powerful personal digital assistant (PDA). The Accompli 008, which features a Palm-like touch screen, would not look […]

Men grow old disgracefully so why not women? BODY LANGUAGE Katharine Whitehorn The sight of Cilla Black in fishnet tights and spangled hearts at the Royal Variety Performance, not to mention the equally glittering Barbara Windsor, gave an entirely new meaning to the admiring phrase “endless legs”. Also long-life bosoms, immemorial smiles and a valiant […]

The ANC has made its clearest statement yet of the ‘denialist’ position on HIV/Aids associated with President Thabo Mbeki Jaspreet Kindra In a briefing document posted on its website last week, the African National Congress says there are still disputes about whether an infective agent exists, whether it is a virus, and whether a virus […]

David Macfarlane One in two South African adults cannot read or write, but the government continues to allocate dismally low resources to this national scourge and to adult education generally. Basic education for adults is being increasingly sidelined in government priorities, a major conference last week in Johannesburg repeatedly heard. One of the country’s largest […]