Frank Keating on the great Basil D’Oliveira, who celebrated his 70th birthday this week. Or did he? The one-time enemy of the state has a few times been welcomed back to the new South Africa as prophet and treasure. “Oh sure, they’ve even given me full red-carpet treatment in the Orange Free State,” says Basil […]
So the “small-minded, vacuum-brained anti-American commentators” have been identified by your reader John Valentine as taking up position in your paper (September 21). One of those “morons” happens to be Noam Chomsky, based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1972 to 1992 he was cited 7449 times in the Social Science Citation Index. His […]
Barry Streek In a new privatisation move, the government has released draft legislation enabling private companies and equity partners to become involved in South Africa’s strategic petroleum pipelines. The draft Petroleum Pipelines Bill, published in the Government Gazette, provides for the appointment of a Petroleum Pipeline Regulator to regulate the operation of the petrol pipeline […]
channel vision Robert Kirby Strange how our television broadcasters, the moment they know they’ve got a popular programme, like to pig out on commercials. I’ve seen as much as eight minutes of an uninterrupted commercial break before a final rugby match; the inclusion during the match, at about two-minute intervals, of the dreadful squeezebacks so […]
Fred Esbend Shortly after being voted South Africa’s top mayor in a survey by a business magazine, Port Elizabeth mayor Nceba Faku’s reputation has been tarnished by allegations that he misused council funds for his personal ends. The Democratic Alliance this week revealed a staggering R87 000 discretionary fund splurge in the mayor’s discretionary fund. […]
Marianne Merten Seven members of People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) staged a lunchtime escape from the Cape High Court on Thursday but four, including alleged hitman Ebrahim Jenneker, were rearrested within 90 minutes . The Mail & Guardian has reliably learned that this is the second time Jenneker tried to escape from custody. Last […]
Mail & Guardian reporter A new organisation has been formed in response to criticism and concerns regarding credit bureaus, which blacklist creditors who have not settled their accounts with retailers. The Credit Bureau Forum (CBF), as the organisation is known, seeks to address problems that consumers encounter with credit bureaus and the concerns of credit […]
Pride in environmental awareness is what drives a school in northern KwaZulu-Natal, writes Niki Moore It’s a school in the forest the indigenous Dukuduku Forest on the verge of the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park. The school is called Ubuhle bemvelo (the beauty of nature) to reflect its location within a World Heritage Site. The […]
Jaspreet Kindra Tensions between Mpumalanga Premier Ndaweni Mahlangu and Fish Mahlalela have spilled over in an extraordinary Constitutional Court challenge by the premier to his former MEC. The case highlights deepening conflict between the executive and the legislature in the province. Now an ordinary MPL, Mahlalela was removed as local government MEC by Mahlangu in […]
Phone calls from space, or through your fridge, are possible through a new telephone technology, writes David Shapshak Making history as an astronaut seems par for the course, but American astronaut Marsha Ivins took a giant leap for mankind earlier this year by making the first phone call in space. In February Ivins had a […]