Jaspreet Kindra The Gauteng government’s proposed multibillion-rand fast train project linking Pretoria and Johannesburg to be funded largely by the private sector has a catch. Should the project fail to achieve its expected target of 60 000 passengers a day, the government will have to compensate the losses of the private sector operator in terms […]

When given the opportunity children have a lot to say about how the government can improve their lives Nawaal Deane “People are HIV-positive you must help them, please,” says a seven-year-old girl who lives in the Free State. Another seven-year-old little girl from the Eastern Cape says: “Dear persons, Please give us medicine to make […]

Q&A: rodriguez Alex Sudheim Rodriguez, the folk-rock singer who defied persistent rumours of his death by completing a highly successful tour of South Africa in 1998, is back in the country during September performing a string of dates with his new band, The Big Town Playboys. Probably most famous for his moody drug anthem Sugar […]

SOCCER James Richardson Last week a schoolboy from Naples got called up for Italy’s under-17 national side despite being just 14. Causing a stir was the lad’s name: Maradona. Yup, he’s the son of the world’s greatest player, and his mum has a court certificate to prove it. Diego Jnr’s story begins in September 1986. […]

John Naughton The greatest thinkers are always those who can learn from their mistakes. Take Fred Brooks, the engineer who led development of the operating system for the IBM 360 mainframes in the late Sixties. It was the largest software project undertaken up to that point and, like all such projects, it ran over time […]

Ngwako Modjadji Richard Chauke wants to study information technology at university after completing matric this year. But it will be a mammoth task to realise his dream because his school has not yet received textbooks and other study materials. With just two months before the start of final exams, Masedi Secondary School in the Northern […]