Mboniso Sigonyela Passenger vehicle sales for May are down in line with other indicators of consumer demand, but vehicle manufacturers should not lose hope as exports and commercial vehicles sales are increasing. The gains in commercial sales show that fixed investment is recovering while weakness of the rand, particularly against the pound, makes vehicle exports […]
Anthony Holiday Plato held that what people love makes them what they are. Politicians, with rare exceptions, love power and are often driven by the fear of losing it and of the form that loss may take. Thus what a politician fears most provides a crucial clue to what he is and why he acts […]
Jaspreet Kindra KwaZulu-Natal Minister of Transport S’bu Ndebele may be facing criminal charges after he procured faxes and e-mails sent to provincial officials and politicians questioning his role in the taxi industry. Ndebele used the documents to attack the media, including the Mail & Guardian, claiming the news- paper was involved in a political conspiracy […]
Angela Neustatter Body Language Brian Argrave was in his mid-30s when he found a swelling on his right testicle. It grew to the point where it was painful to walk, but even then he only went to the doctor when his wife, Jill, insisted. Cancer was diagnosed and he was admitted to hospital for an […]
David Shapshak Someone with a sense of irony must have chosen “experience” as the buzzword for Microsoft’s new range of software. The world’s largest software maker may have a monopoly in computer operating systems and Internet browsers but it has had a chequered history in launching the new versions of these. The “experience” of new […]
Letters to the best man Chez Uhuru 228 Musgrave Road iThekwini To: Dr Essop Pahad The Presidency Union Buildings Tshwane Dear Dr Pahad, This morning I awoke in a bath of perspiration, emotionally exhausted after a nightmare of diabolical proportions. I have been so troubled by these visions from hell that I have been unable […]
Sam Moiloa, Johny Mphou and Trevor Ngwane a second look When Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Ronnie Kasrils gave his budget speech on May 15, he dropped a bombshell that few listeners noticed. Kasrils endorsed what many environmentalists say is the single most damaging attack on nature in world history, the Three Gorges dam […]
You have to be hard when you know your heart is going to be broken by the death of a child. Gail Johnson does not deserve the treatment she is getting, argues Charlene Smith The problem with Gail Johnson is that she has long red nails and wild red hair, she wears tight-fitting slacks over […]
Disabled people are starving while officials shuffle paper in an attempt to decide whether to help them. Roshila Pillay reports Disabled people in the North West province have been queuing at clinics from 4am to have doctors examine them and confirm whether they can receive their R540 a month disability grant, since grants were suspended […]
TENS of thousands of people who fled fighting in the Central African Republic capital Bangui are sheltering from heavy rain in nearby forests, eating wild fruit to survive, witnesses said on Wednesday. Unconfirmed estimates of the exodus, mainly of women, children and elderly people, range up to 50 000 in the wake of a failed […]