Nawaal Deane The Road Accident Fund has watered down its controversial plans to require its legal representatives to hire only black professionals. This follows a Mail & Guardian report in June on the fund’s affirmative action policy, instructing law firms acting on its behalf to avoid using white advocates to defend their cases. The fund […]
l Only share identity information when necessary. Credit card numbers should never be given over the telephone unless you have initiated the call. Same goes for the Internet. l Beware of “shoulder surfers” who swipe your bank card number while peering over your shoulder at cash machines. l Make sure your letter box is secure. […]
Matthew Krouse The Arts & Culture Trust Awards have a new lease on life and the Mail & Guardian has climbed on board as a media sponsor. Our arts section, Friday, won the Media of the Year in Support of the Arts for 1999 to 2000 and now we are proud to be part of […]
Bluetooth is set to revolutionise handheld computing, reports David Shapshak ‘So what’s the big deal?” a friend asked when I phoned him excitedly from a handheld digital organiser. Making a phone call from a personal digital assistant (PDA) may seem neither here nor there in the age of almost global cellphone coverage, hence his lack […]
The council responsible for evictions in Bredell, Kempton Park, may have failed to comply with the law Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The Ekurhuleni Metro Council, formerly the Benoni City Council, appears to have been illegally demolishing shacks and evicting squatters on the East Rand in Johannesburg. And one of the companies the council hired to […]
This month the South African Communist Party celebrates its 80th anniversary. Two SACP leaders and a political analyst examine the party’s past and the history of communism Tom Lodge History shows us that communist parties can thrive in liberal social democracies. Before World War II, the most formidable communist party in Eastern Europe was in […]
The United Nations panel on the environment is currently discussing world climatic changes in Bonn, but are its premisses appropriate? comment Tim Patterson and Tom Harris Apocalyptic visions of the future are nothing new. For centuries, many of the world’s leading thinkers have predicted imminent catastrophe unless we radically changed our ways. Although most of […]
l Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Infection is either by bacteria, a virus or a fungus. l It is a rare disease with flu-like symptoms. A small rash that looks like burst blood vessels is a late sign of meningococcal meningitis. l About one in five people […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The future of a thriving informal settlement in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, is uncertain as members of the African National Congress and the South African National Civics Organisation (Sanco) battle over control of the area. ANC and Sanco branches in Kanana, Sotho for “the land of milk and honey”, have been […]
channel vision Robert Kirby Is there any hope for the standards of local television journalism when what is already appalling taste and insensitivity sinks to the level of the sewer? Last week e.tv news kicked off with a story about the savage attacks in a Gauteng men’s hostel with lingering, close-up shots of the bloodstained […]