Forestry has an important role to play in the SA economy Ronnie Kasrils Every year we celebrate Arbour Week during the first week of September. This week-long focus on trees and forests is much more than an opportunity to celebrate the arrival of spring. It is a time to reflect on how forestry can contribute […]
Congress Mahlangu Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza has launched a R37-million agricultural development scheme to benefit small and emerging black farmers as well as agricultural communal projects all aimed at alleviating poverty in rural communities. Didiza made the announcement when she transferred 241 title deeds to emergent farmers in Nkomazi, Mpumalanga, two […]
analysis Judith February Although the dismantling of apartheid signalled the end of legalised racial oppression, South African society remains deeply divided along racial lines. The inequalities reflected in rampant poverty and joblessness continue to be specific to a larger proportion of black people in South Africa. The government, however, has enacted legislation to counter racism […]
Ntuthuko Maphumulo We are just a few weeks into the Premier Soccer League (PSL) season but already some patterns are beginning to emerge. Disputes have arisen, in particular a disciplinary hearing on the alleged intimidation of the referee by Orlando Pirates players that led to the abandonment of their match against Ajax Cape Town. The […]
Last week Robert Kirby presented the Mail & Guardian readership with an attack on Tony Leon’s integrity that was at once gruesome and florid, and altogether rather spectacular. But when one sets aside his searing metaphor, passion for hyperbole, surprising and often impressive tangles of description, it becomes clear that Kirby was really just talking […]
Cell on steroids gets even better David Shapshak While the tech world has been clamouring to produce the ultimate convergent device blending a cellphone and personal digital assistant (PDA), Nokia has been doing it for years. The 9000 series phones have distinctively featured a flip-open screen and miniature keyboard, and have gone from strength to […]
David Shapshak It took 20 years for the computer processor to break the one-gigahertz barrier, but only a year to double that speed. This week Intel, the world’s largest manufacturer of the silicon-based processor that powers a major chunk of the planet’s computers, announced its latest chip: the Pentium 4 running at two gigahertz. But […]
The benefits of negotiation worm’s eye view Steven Friedman There is an “obvious” explanation of the stand on privatisation taken by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). It is agreed by the president and leader of the opposition, commentators, stockbrokers and business people. First, it is said or implied that Cosatu has no […]
Nawaal Deane Women and children are dying of poverty in the former Transkei. The children are dying of malnutrition related diseases and the women are victims of violence exacerbated by poverty. The former homeland of Transkei, one of the poorest regions in South Africa, has the highest mortality rate for women and children in the […]
John Naughton In principle, computing ought to be amenable to rationality. After all, programs are just encoded logic. Why then do arguments between computer folk about the relative merits of operating systems have the surface characteristics of religious wars? Umberto Eco once wrote an essay in which he argued that the IBM PC was a […]