Clive Woodward’s side look unbeatable but the Six Nations has a habit of throwing up surprises Eddie Butler Given the size of the conservative rump that still produces most wind up and down the shires, it could never be taken for granted that Clive Woodward would receive the funds he needed to construct his elite […]

Steven Friedman Worm’s eye view If our leaders could close the gap between what they say and what they do, our society might be on the way to the future it deserves. This is not another complaint about the hypocrisy of politicians. It is, rather, an attempt to point to a key feature of our […]

Ntuthuko Maphumulo The academic staff and employees at Mangosuthu Technikon went on strike this week after the new technikon council reinstated suspended principal and vice-chancellor Professor Aaron Ndlovu. As the strike continued, a dramatic plea by the student representative council to the National Union of Technikon Employees (Nutesa) to suspend the action until the completion […]

The head of a defence force union is seeking legal advice after he was ousted following a bizarre disciplinary hearing Sechaba ka’Nkosi A senior executive member of the South African Security Forces Union (Sasfu) has been suspended from the union by officials of another union. Sasfu head Sergeant Major Sidney Kunene was allegedly axed in […]

Phillip Nkosi and Justin Arenstein Mozambican authorities are investigating whether thousands of villagers in Gaza province are being poisoned by their drinking water because inefficient provincial officials in South Africa have failed to protect rivers. A farmer in South Africa’s Northern Province has already taken fertiliser company Sedmis and chemical manufacturer Foskor to the Pretoria […]

Paul Kirk The South African Police Service and the Scorpions are investigating allegations of serious fraud committed by African Defence Systems (ADS), one of the companies at the centre of South Africa’s R43-billion arms deal. The allegations come from a former engineer at ADS, who has opened a criminal case against his employer, alleging it […]

Valentine Cascarino food Rare, cheap, quantitative and qualitative traditional African dishes not found in up-market restaurants are now offered in street restaurants, drawing many diners to the pavement. But few restaurateurs bother about the surrounding filth and lurking dangers. On our foray into the world of street food we’re led to an establishment along Wanderers […]

Guy Willoughby theatre Georges Bizet may have died of a broken heart due to the jeering reception his masterpiece, Carmen, received in 1875, but opera-lovers ever since can’t seem to get enough of this torrid tale of a gypsy’s fickle but tempestuous love. The new Spier company, in their second production, are finding their feet […]

Shaun Smillie A new study of residue left in age-old “tobacco” pipes could soon dispel the myth that it was only black tribesmen who used dagga in the early years of South African history. Palaeontologist Dr Francis Thackeray of the Transvaal Museum will be examining the blackened residues found in the bowls and stems of […]

If the price of your favourite spirit seems too good to be true, it probably is Paul Kirk Counterfeit alcohol, made to look like genuine Scotch whisky, brandy and gin, is trickling into bottle stores across the country, threatening the lives of anyone stupid or desperate enough to buy a really, really cheap bottle of […]