In the 1950s severe weather caused worldwide death and destruction estimated at $4-billion a year; by the 1990s that amount had escalated into tens of billions of dollars Charlene Smith Global warming and its effect on the proliferation of infectious diseases has far-reaching implications for areas such as the economy, interstate trade relations and tourism. […]
Pule waga Mabe The shortage of doctors in most rural hospitals is a growing concern within the ranks of the Rural Doctors’ Association of South Africa (Rudasa), which is now calling for the national Department of Health to establish a rural health unit. Rudasa’s concern follows the failure of compulsory community service for doctors to […]
Robert Kirby CHANNELVISION Any television documentary bearing the name Cliff Bestall is sure to be of distinctive quality. Last week’s Special Assignment was no exception, an extended programme about the so-called numbers gangs that conduct a reign of terror in South African prisons. Any details of the daily brutalities dished out by the gang members […]
Mail & Guardian reporter More than ever before technology has become an integral part of our lives. From our cellphones to the Internet, from home computing to corporate efficiency, technology surrounds us and makes our lives work. The Mail & Guardian will reflect the importance of this growth industry through high-quality journalism in its rejuvenated […]
Salim Vally and Patrick Bond A quick and somewhat bloody ”teach-in” on foreign policy was held at the Wits University Great Hall last Friday, in the form of a vibrant human rights protest. United States Secretary of State Colin Powell was forced to spend an extra hour hemmed in on campus by demonstrators, learning why […]
Jubie Matlou CROSSFIRE Iwas taken aback by the recent comments by Sandile Memela in his Mind Blast column in City Press. In one column Memela attacks black journalists who have become ”house niggers” (my interpretation) in white media institutions. In another he attacks black journalists who have left the township for the leafy suburbs. Memela’s […]
Sipho Seepe no blows barred Corruption takes many forms, but a common thread that runs through all of them is the misuse of power and/or resources for private benefit or advantage. The benefit can take the form of protection, special treatment, commendation, promotion, or the favours of women or men. Broadening our view of corruption […]
Marianne Merten Five Khayelitsha fishermen have asked the Cape High Court to allow them to catch their quota of hake despite a looming interdict by their employer, one of the country’s biggest fishing companies. The legal battle comes in the wake of a complicated paper trail of closed corporations, dormant entities and conversions to private […]
Mboniso Sigonyela The R377-million purchase of Kagiso’s media assets by rival empowerment group New Africa Investments Limited (Nail) could leave the latter in contravention of the Broadcasting Act. The acquisition gives Nail’s media arm, New Africa Media (NAM), effective control of at least three private stations, Jacaranda (77,7%), Kfm (70%) and East Coast Radio (90%) […]
Neil Sonnekus Film & Television Two new documentaries one on cinema screens and the other to be screened on TV look into South Africa’s tortured past. The results are varied. Long Night’s Journey into Day tells the stories of four cases that appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: the Amy Biehl, Matthew Goniwe, Robert […]