Power struggles at the huge university are jeopardising distance education in South Africa David Macfarlane The future of distance education in South Africa hangs in the balance following extraordinary turmoil at Unisa this week. The shock resignation of Unisa vice-chancellor Professor Antony Melck exposes massive power struggles at the country’s largest university. Events leading to […]

Khadija Magardie Several pressure groups attending the World Conference against Racism in Durban have complained bitterly that their plight has been drowned out by the hype over the Israeli/ Palestinian impasse and the debate over reparations for slavery and colonialism. With the full title of the conference including “Racism, Xenophobia and other forms of Related […]

Comment Charles Leonard I have been mauled publicly by a 12-legged, designer-label-clad, Mother Africa-idolising, American-talking hip-hop machine. And while it was ear-glowingly embarrassing, maybe I asked for it. I am at a media conference at a casino for the first-ever “Black August” tour in South Africa a three-city tour by some of the top exponents […]

obituary: christiaan barnard Surgeon Christiaan Barnard, who has died aged 78, led the surgical team that performed the first human-to-human heart transplant on December 2 to 3 1967. The operation captured public imagination around the globe, and, literally overnight, Barnard became one of the best-known people in the world. Although his achievement, courage and vision […]

Congress Mahlangu The improvement of agricultural education will receive priority when the Association of Principals of Agricultural Colleges (Apac) an organisation representing all the agricultural colleges in this country meet with their counterparts in an international conference at the Kruger National Park next month. According to Allison van Niekerk, chairperson of Apac, the conference will […]

Mail & Guardian reporter A library donated to the Joe Slovo squatter camp in Johannesburg was closed last month because a residents’ committee was not informed about its opening. This week supporters of the library threatened legal action against the committee if it did not allow residents access to the facility. The library was started […]

Where do we draw the line between opinion and racism when it comes to reporting? Peter Robinson Sooner or later, I suppose, it had to happen. Minister of Sport and Recreation Ngconde Balfour turned his mind away this week from trying to pick the South African cricket and rugby teams to denounce three South African […]

Barry Streek Former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje would face a 10-year jail sentence in terms of a sweeping new anti-corruption law drawn up by the government. The draft Prevention of Corruption Bill, which should be tabled in Parliament by year-end, defines 17 different types of corrupt practice, including corruption in sport and the […]

Less than a week after the show began about 100000 people had already registered on the website David Shapshak Big Brother may not dominate many South African’s lives but it has certainly taken over the country’s Internet. In an unprecedented move, M-Web the country’s largest Internet service provider (ISP) and sister company to M-Net, which […]

Players who write controversial columns should not be gagged Martin Gillingham Sportsmen and women should be banned from writing newspaper columns. The reason is simple: the bad ones are turgid and boring and the good ones should never have been written. Sadly, the works of the few sports star columnists in this country fall in […]