South Africa has taken praiseworthy steps to ensure that business monopolies do not abuse their dominant position. Two events in Parliament this week the tabling of floor-crossing legislation and Winnie Mandela’s farcical ethics hearing underscore the danger of the same kind of abuse on the political front. President Thabo Mbeki and other African National Congress […]

REVIEW Gavin Foster Audi A4 2.4 manual, R226 810 Audi Quattro, R280 460 The second half of Audi’s new A4 range has arrived. In addition to four cylinder petrol and diesel versions there are now 2.4 and three litre V6 versions. All front wheel drive Audis with the exception, for now, of the 1.9 TDi […]

to tow? The limitations of the current minimum car licence may come as a surprise if you are about to hitch that caravan Gavin Foster Thousands of South Africans who passed driving tests in the past three years are unaware that they are not eligible to tow caravans, speedboats or trailers licensed to carry a […]

I have questions about your motivation in publishing the truly madly explicit copulation photograph (Friday, November 9). I don’t know why we don’t copulate openly in public, but we don’t. All the other animals, as far as I know, copulate anywhere, anytime. We do it in private. Why? It seems so odd. Can you tell […]

Charlene Smith In a sharp turn from current government policy, the parliamentary Committee on the Status of Women has recommended that anti-retroviral drugs be given to protect rape survivors and to stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The African National Congress-dominated committee issued its recommendations after two months of hearings into women and HIV, and found […]

Bongani Majola The desire to heal historic breaches in the Gauteng African National Congress is seen as a key motive for the elevation of Angie Motshekga wife of former Gauteng premier Mathole Motshekga to deputy leader of the provincial party. At the Gauteng ANC conference last weekend she was elected provincial deputy chairperson in a […]

Jaspreet Kindra In a possible step towards a political realignment, the African National Congress’s leader in KwaZulu-Natal, S’bu Ndebele, has attacked the Inkatha Freedom Party for reneging on a post-election promise to give the ANC more provincial cabinet posts. ANC sources view Ndebele’s criticism as a strategic move to put some distance between the two […]

I congratulate you on the advertisement on November 9, “When a nine-month-old baby was recently gang-raped, who were the guilty parties?”. The increase in child abuse from 37 500 (in 1998) to 67 017 (last year) as quoted by Minister Steve Tshwete in Parliament earlier this year is a tragic indictment on our government and […]

The government’s idea of transforming education amounts to little more than privatisation SECONDLOOK Russell Bell Outcomes Based Education (OBE) was introduced as part of a major curriculum change in schools three years ago and has been met with widespread criticism from parents, teachers and academics. OBE should not be seen in isolation but in conjunction […]

Cape councillors told to quit NNP if they want to keep their jobs Marianne Merten In a further twist in the machiavellian manoeuvrings of Cape politics, the Democratic Alliance is forcing its New National Party councillors to resign from the NNP before the end of the year or lose their jobs. The DA is amending […]