analysis Glenda Daniels The state could make a hefty R175-billion from privatising just three of its top, state-owned enterprises – Eskom, Telkom and Transnet – according to BusinessMap, which this week released Restructuring 2001: In Progress, a report on the process. The three parastatals represent 77% of all state enterprises. But privatisation is at a […]

Mail & Guardian reporters This week’s spate of revenge attacks against Afghanistan by the United States and its allies have fuelled talk of a “holy war” between Muslims and the “infidel West”. This has exposed the fault lines within the local Muslim community with believers torn between respecting the laws of South Africa which expressly […]

Glenda Daniels Not a cent of the government’s R1-billion Umsombomvu Fund has been used for job creation in the two years since it was set up, and the fund is to be shifted from the Department of Finance to the Department of Labour “because of lack of capacity”. Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel announced in […]

Ngwako Modjadji Anna Kournikova, one of the most famous female athletes in the world, will lock horns with South African number one Amanda Coetzer in the MTN Challenge sponsored by Spar next month. The exhibition matches will be played on November 8 at Westridge Park in Durban, November 10 at Spier Wine Estate in Cape […]

Inexperience in running farms has meant some farm workers have lost land they regained through redistribution Sizwe samaYende Thousands of rural poor who were promised a new life through South Africa’s land-reform programme are being robbed of their land for a second time by incompetent and uncaring officials. At least 613 farm-worker families in the […]

Mungo Soggot Tony Leon goes into battle today with his co-leader of the Democratic Alliance, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, armed with detailed research on Cape voters that does serious damage to the New National Party’s record in the Cape Town council. The full report, leaked to the Mail & Guardian, shows that Cape Town mayor Peter […]

The treasury department’s intergovernmental fiscal review was released in Parliament this week. Barry Streek reports Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel was upbeat this week on the government’s effect on development and delivery in South Africa. He said it was “the story of remarkable successes attained in a relatively short period”, but the harsh reality is […]

Marianne Merten Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has warned the Western Cape government that he will use the Constitutional Court to stop it transforming the provincial agriculture department into a semi-autonomous public entity, arguing that the move violates legislative requirements and the constitutional principle of cooperative governance. Another clash between central government and the Western […]

Are some South African medical aids contravening the Constitution? Barbara Erasmus Patients suffering from a psychiatric illness may become so disabled that hospitalisation becomes essential but they won’t be treated in the same way as heart patients. If their condition has led them to attempt suicide, some hospitals won’t treat them as some medical aids […]

The Arts & Culture Trust Awards recognise excellence in those strategic areas without which the arts cannot develop and thrive. All entrants and the finalists for the 2001 awards are therefore commended for their fine work and their participation. The winners, judged by an independent panel to represent the highest levels of professionalism, dedication, leadership […]