Football’s focus this weekend is on a revived cup competition Ntuthuko Maphumulo It’s back, hotter than Mexican chillies and Indian spices. It’s the Coca-Cola Cup, nicknamed “ya chesa (its hot)”. It is the second-richest cup competition in Africa, with the winning team taking home R2-million making the Premier Soccer League title seem small change. The […]

New divides are emerging among the residents of Gauteng: insiders correspond to areas of affluence, outsiders to areas of disadvantage Richard Tomlinson Cities in Gauteng, once notorious for the disadvantages created by apartheid planning, are seeing the creation of still greater disadvantage as the province becomes one of insiders and outsiders. In places like Soweto […]

Investment and development is improving the lives and industry of South Africans Mail & Guardian reporter From the explosive power of deep-level gold mining to the intricacies of drug development and vaccine research, investment and development in South Africa’s economy continues. International chill winds may upset the financial markets, but investors are still putting money […]

Ten students from disadvantaged communities recently won bursaries totalling R2,1-million to enable them to study at Malaysia’s Multimedia University. Thintana Communications, a foreign consortium, awarded the bursaries and has committed more than R120-million over five years to projects like Unitele, aimed at improving maths and technology skills in South Africa. Telkom SA and Thintana now […]

Glenda Daniels More than 50% of young information technology experts in South Africa want to leave the country, a recent survey shows. And the International Labour Organisation says the IT skills gap worldwide will triple over the next couple of years, with a predicted 1,6-million jobs in Europe alone unfilled by next year. South African […]

Suzan Chala Lack of managerial expertise is often cited as one reason for government failure to deliver. But the Free State provincial government is targeting this area of vulnerability: it’s sending its most senior officials back to the classroom. The Premier, Winkie Direko, senior politicians and heads of provincial departments in the provincial government have […]

By regulating the plea-bargaining procedure, the government is attempting to make it more efficient Judith February The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is introducing a Bill to fast-track the criminal justice system through a plea-bargaining arrangement. Such an arrangement entails an agreement whereby the accused pleads guilty to a charge before appearing in court, […]

The health department has admitted that it neglected a large number of people with HIV Belinda Beresford The Department of Health has warned that it is “politically dangerous” to fail to provide treatment to millions of people affected by HIV/Aids, and has recommended drug trials that could lead to the supply of anti-retrovirals to all […]

analysis Raymond Suttner By the time this article appears, the United States and Nato might have launched an offensive against targets alleged to bear responsibility for the attacks last week on thousands of US civilians. At any rate, a climate has been created preparing for such attacks, with loose references to “war” and “civilised” and […]

Islamophobia is on the rise since the attack in the United States Marianne Merten Harassment of South African Muslims escalated this week with an arson attack at the offices of the Cape Town-based Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), believed to be linked to rising Islamophobia since last Tuesday’s attacks in the United States. The arson attack […]