The former head of the presidential investigative unit ‘was offered bribes’ to take the rap Zenzile Khoisan Senior police officials are probing detailed claims of an attempt by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to cover up damaging evidence in the trial of a top policeman and save face for former safety and security minister Sydney […]

Leading members of our Jewish community have crossed swords over Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and its inhumane treatment of its inhabitants. Allow me to congratulate comrade Ronnie Kasrils for speaking out against it. It gives me hope. Allow me also to salute the Jewish Board of Deputies for engaging Kasrils in the international debate […]

A communist party politburo discussion document titled “Defend the Unity of our Alliance, Defend Democratic Debate” raises the fear that the ANC is stifling political discussion The African National Congress’s Briefing Notes on the Alliance is now in wide circulation. In principle, the South African Communist Party welcomes any attempt to foster debate within the […]

analysis Salman Rushdie The world’s leaders have repeated the mantra “This isn’t about Islam” for weeks, partly in the virtuous hope of deterring reprisal attacks on innocent Muslims living in the West, partly because, if the United States is to maintain its coalition against terror, it can’t afford to allege that Islam and terrorism are […]

David Macfarlane and Glenda Daniels Petty power plays within the South African National NGO Coalition (Sangoco) threaten to jeopardise civil society participation in next year’s huge World Summit on Sustainable Development. In a move that has stunned the sector, Sangoco has suspended Jacqui Brown, whose work as CEO of the summit’s civil society secretariat, established […]

Jaspreet Kindra The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has accused the government of reneging on an election pledge to cross-subsidise the electricity tariffs of the poor. Cosatu was reacting to the National Electricity Regulator’s approval of a 6,2% annual price hike for Eskom the first above-inflation increase in more than 10 years. The […]

Marianne Merten Take sakkie-sakkie, add a substantial dose of hip-swaying rumba or samba steps and sultry salsa moves. What do you get? Jazzing, a particular Cape style of dancing at the heart of a competition currently on in three cities. Jazzing was born at the house parties of the Sixties to shake off the frustrations […]

You don’t really want to know what goes on in restaurant kitchens, do you? You’d be a lot happier not knowing about the fights, the blood, the drugs, the amoebas, the “hypermacho posturing and drunken ranting”. You don’t want to know why you shouldn’t order an elaborate special, particularly if there’s fish in it, or […]

Adobe has made its name in superb design software, but it may well be remembered for arguably its most useful gift to the software world: the Portable Document Format (PDF). Saving any document you have created in a Microsoft Office program is easier with the latest release, Acrobat 5, and you can select a range […]

I have been sent a letter about 62 young Israelis refusing to do military service. I have not heard or seen any reports about them and their plight. I am sure there are many who would be very interested to hear about this stand by these young men. This has a lot of relevance to […]