African mould broken as Western firms are to be put in the dock on bribery charges Chris McGreal Multinational companies are about to go on trial in Lesotho where they are accused of paying huge bribes to a local official, a case virtually unprecedented in Africa. European and Canadian engineering companies, four of them British, […]
Glenda Daniels Two Northern Province rural communities are up in arms against mining giant Amplats and the Royal Bafokeng Administration. The Ga-Pila are embroiled in a fight with Amplats over impending forced removals while the Bafokeng are engaged in mass action against the royal administration of King Leruo Molotlegi over retrenchments. The Ga-Pila community has […]
Support for small enterprises is a central feature of the government’s strategy to promote economic development, but it is expensive Barry Streek The South African economic sector has lost more than R68-million in the past four years as a result of the failure of 117 246 small business enterprises receiving government assistance. Minister of Trade […]
Mail & Guardian reporter International media organisation Reporters Sans Frontires (Reporters Without Borders) has written to Swaziland’s King Mswati III to protest against a decree which gives the king censorship powers. ”The last absolute monarchy on the entire continent is also one of the most repressive countries concerning censorship. The king has now total freedom […]
Alec Hogg The collapse of Regal Bank was confirmed on Wednesday morning when Deloitte & Touche’s Tim Store became the new man in charge at the group’s plush Sandton offices. Store, a banking specialist who has had the job four times before, has been appointed by the minister of finance as the bank’s curator. Regal’s […]
THE editor of one of South Africa’s largest rural newspapers, Lowvelder, has resigned amidst allegations of racism and public drunkenness. Eben Burger was suspended and charged with gross misconduct after a black staff member at the Nelspruit-based newspaper allegedly overheard him making racist comments at the Lowveld Airshow last month. An internal disciplinary committee heard […]
LIBYAN leader Muammar Gaddafi offered on Wednesday to help end a regional conflict in West Africa which has forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee their homes, Liberian authorities said. Liberia, under United Nations sanctions for fuelling civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone, is fighting an insurgency on its northern border for which it […]
ACTIVISTS from the press watchdog Reporters Without Borders on Thursday occupied the Tunisian national tourist office in Paris to protest the arrest of journalist and rights activist Sihem Bensedrine. Robert Menard, the non-governmental group’s president, said he intended to remain in the office until she was released and promised that he would be joined by […]
It is the season of the crowd-pleasers. That’s because it’s summer in the northern hemisphere, though we’re freezing down here. We’ve had Pearl Harbor, The Mummy Returns and Shrek; still to come are Evolution, Bridget Jones’s Diary and – oh dear – Dr Doolittle II. This week’s blockbuster, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider should do very well indeed.
THE South African cabinet on Wednesday defused a political row over the multi-million dollar salary paid to the former head of South African Airlines (SAA). It admitted that there had been irregularities in negotiating US national Coleman Andrews’ pay package but said both government and the former boss of the airline’s parent company Transnet had […]