Marianne Merten “Let’s talk about sex”, goes the popular song. But organisers of an international sex tourism conference found the chambers of Parliament are not the place for such frankness. Instead, about 100 delegates – ranging from a matron to an activist, with a smattering of men – relocated to a corner of historic Cape […]

Gary Cotterell Levi, Diesel, Nike the Y-Generation is branded from head to toe. With money to burn, these 20-somethings present an attractive slice of the pie for banking strategists. But this market is a tricky one. Dino Fifas, MD of Logistix Kids SA, says the youth market has traditionally been costly for banks maintaining thousands […]

Deon Potgieter South African heavyweight hopeful Corrie Sanders is on the verge of challenging for the biggest prize in world boxing. When Hasim Rahman knocked out Lennox Lewis at Carnival City in April to win the universal heavyweight championship, Sanders watched with a touch of envy. Sanders had previously given Rahman one of his toughest […]

David Macfarlane Fundamental conflicts over teachers’ working conditions remain unresolved, despite the averting this week of a strike that would have disrupted the matric exams now under way. The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) remains firm in its refusal to sign the public sector wage agreement. And future negotiations involving teachers and the government […]

Your article “Draft policy for GM foods” (October 5) implies that we should feel safe about this highly contentious technology as we have a genetically modified organisms (GMO) Act in place. The GMO Act came into effect on December 1 last year. But before these regulations were even in place, at least 20% of the […]

Themba Khumalo Mankosiphethe Ntuntuma is an elderly woman. She does not know her own age. She lives in the impoverished village of Qhaka, a sparsely populated village near Port St Johns, Eastern Cape. She has never been employed. Her life has always been misererable. That was until last Saturday when the Department of Water Affairs […]

Ntuthuko Maphumulo Reigning league champions Orlando Pirates were the first team from the southern tip of Africa to have won the continental champions’ league, and they will get their chance again in the next edition of the competition. Former champions Sundowns are representing South Africa for the third time in a row, but their campaign […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The president of the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce (Nafcoc) has moved the offices of the black business group to the South African Chamber of Commerce (Sacob) headquarters despite claims by senior Nafcoc members that he has been ousted. Last week senior Nafcoc members who are opposed to the organisation’s […]

Suzan Chala Dr Confidence Moloko, the deputy chairperson of the African National Congress health committee, has a reputation among his friends and colleagues as a forthright person. Yet it took two days to get him to talk about the HIV/Aids pandemic. Moloko suspected the motive for this interview was to “character assassinate” him. After what […]

Analysis Chris McGreal British Prime Minister Tony Blair has called for a “partnership for Africa” in which the West provides money, expertise and economic opportunities, while Africa gets its house in order by ending conflicts and establishing accountable and decent government. For now, the partnership is largely one between Blair and President Thabo Mbeki, who […]