Poverty and unequal development are seen not only as the greatest threats to the environment and the quality of the lives of people in the developing world, but also as a real threat to the long-term security of the developed world. In September last year President Thabo Mbeki told the Millennium Summit at the United […]

Aforementioned: Should be banned outside legal use. Albeit: Use “but” or “though”. At this moment in time: Puffed-up “now”. Communicate: Use “say”, “tell” or “talk”. Empowerment: Could mean something in pretentiousese it never does. Epicentre: Only seismologists need the “epi”. Exponential: Maths term, not “fast” as the pretentious think. Feedback: Usually used for no reason. […]

Glenda Daniels The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) this week threatened strike action if the Anglo American corporation does not reverse its policy against providing anti-retroviral drugs to its workers. The multinational corporation earlier this year made headline-grabbing news when it announced that it would provide anti-retroviral treatment for its HIV-positive workers. Now the union […]

Labour objects to the government’s ultimatum style of negotiations and want to return to the table Glenda Daniels and David Macfarlane A threat of retrenchments in the public service is at the heart of the dispute that has led to the acrimonious stand-off between labour and the government, unions say. Minister of Public Service and […]

Mail & Guardian reporter The United Nations is the ultimate stakeholder in World Summit 2002. The UN will use the Sandton Convention Centre to host an expected 110 to 193 heads of state, as well as about 6 000 UN delegates. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has asked the president of the IUCN-World Conservation Union, […]

Marianne Merten About 5 000 Capetonians on Thursday marched in protest against the United States-led bombings of Afghanistan to the razor-wire-surrounded American consulate, bearing posters like “Stop the Oppression”, “Stop the War” and “No Difference Hitler and Bush”. The peace march was jointly called by the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), the Congress of South African […]

Richard Calland Abuja Domestic airport, September 21. He sees me coming and, as I hand him my case, informs me that I must pay him 500 naira due to “excess weight”. I point out that he has not yet actually weighed my case. He shrugs: “It’s too heavy. You must pay me.” His airline carried […]

Cape Town | Friday TONY Leon goes into battle on Friday 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 […]

MARIETTE LE ROUX, Pretoria | Wednesday THE government put its foot down on Thursday, imposing a five percent pay rise on public servants following months of inconclusive wrangling with labour unions. By the state’s final deadline of midnight on Wednesday, a majority of unions had still not accepted its three-year pay rise package, which includes […]

London | Friday BRITAIN has provided the most detailed outline yet of the case against Osama bin Laden, but the evidence which it says indicates his guilt over the September 11 attacks raises as many questions as answers. Crucially, what has been made public so far does not appear to contain the elusive “smoking gun” […]