Timothy Wood American notes In January United States President George W Bush was regarded as an illegitimate usurper who would stumble in the absence of an authoritative mandate. In May he is having an early last laugh with a budget and tax relief package that is nearly everything he campaigned on. Intriguingly, the battle over […]
Adam Sweeting CD OFTHEWEEK Reveal (Warner Bros) is the second album REM have made since the departure of drummer Bill Berry, and (on disc at least) it finds them settling into a convincing identity as a trio. The puzzle is how to fit the born-again REM into their own 20-year legacy. While Reveal undoubtedly reveals […]
Scotch Tagwireyi and Nicolas Dieltiens The South African Reserve Bank has managed to hide alleged evidence of maladministration that is in the hands of its former employee Nicolaas Alant by reaching an out of court settlement with him. Wednesday’s agreement forces Alant to return all documents he obtained from the bank while working there. He […]
Alec Hogg boardroom talk If the way one handles money is the measure of a man, Bellville’s IT whizz-kid Mark Shuttleworth ranks right down there with former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje. The manner in which greenbacks corrupted his spirit may have been subtler, but like the disgraced cricketer, it’s been effective. Many people […]
No complaints as South Africa’s hopes prepare to take on Brumbies Andy Capostagno There are many factors that have propelled the Sharks to the Super 12 final, but four words are as important as any: “No complaints on tour.” That was the motto Rudolf Straeuli chose at the start of his first season as a […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The Mozambican public prosecuting authorities on Tuesday charged six people for the assassination of Carlos Cardoso, the editor of the independent newssheet, Metical. The six, who include businessman Ayob Abdul Satar and former bank manager Vicente Ramaya, were arrested following a six-month investigation. According to the prosecution Satar and Ramaya, former […]
Chris McGreal Malcolm Rifkind, leader of the Tories’ Scottish election campaign, chose to run around the old Zulu battlefields. David Frost wants to pursue elephants. Rory Bremner has yet to decide but he is probably one of those who wants to meet Nelson Mandela. The three are among an array of British celebrities, politicians and […]
Charlene Smith Over one weekend recently 80% of patients admitted to Johannesburg hospital were HIV-positive. Sixty per cent of the hospital’s paediatric admissions are HIV-infected and at least half of all patients are HIV-positive. The hospital is ill-equipped to deal with the crisis, seriously lacking in both medical staff and drugs. In a letter to […]
Nona Cummings Body Language ‘A fib,” granny taught me, “is never a good thing.” Especially those epics that require sustaining like boasting at a party that you once climbed Everest when it was a koppie near Ficksburg. But despite the risk of exposure involved, I, like many others, still lie, flatter, exaggerate and outright deceive. […]
Barry Streek South African statistics officials are determined that this year’s census will be the most accurate in the country’s history but it won’t include questions about whether people are HIV-positive or have Aids. More than 40-million South Africans will be asked 69 questions based on where they sleep on the night of October 9, […]