Sipho Seepe no blows barred It would be tempting to dismiss outright the allegations against the three leading businessmen, Cyril Ramaphosa, Matthews Phosa and Tokyo Sexwale to oust President Thabo Mbeki from office as preposterous. Indeed, many organisations including the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the South African Communist Party and some members of […]

AT least 2.5 million people have died since August 1998 as a result of civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to preliminary results of a study to be released early next week. The study by the International Rescue Committee, a New-York based refugee relief organisation, examined five provinces in the eastern part […]

South Africa are almost home and dry in their bid to qualify for the World Cup again Ntuthuko Maphumulo If Bafana Bafana manage to overcome Zimbabwe on Saturday, expect Soccer City to erupt as victory would almost guarantee South Africa a place in next year’s World Cup finals in Japan and Korea. Beating our northern […]

Cosatu held its biannual central executive committee meeting from April 24 to 26. The meeting discussed a host of issues. Zwelinzima Vavi reports on the debates on the nature of democracy in South Africa and the anti-privatisation campaign that may culminate in a two-day strike The allegations of a conspiracy against the presidency sparked reflections […]

whipping boy Champions Day indeed! David Ferraris pulled off a training feat of epic proportions at Turffontein on Saturday when he saddled six of the day’s nine winners and earned more than R1-million in stake money. In the process Ferraris all but ensured that he would regain the champion trainer crown. A good day for […]

Marianne Merten Cape Flats chess champion Kenny Willenberg (16) has qualified for the African under-21 champion in Nigeria later this year after winning the prestigious domestic closed championships he almost missed out on. Growing up in the gang-ridden, high-crime area of Belhar on the Cape Flats, Kenny and his younger brother Craig (14) have beaten […]

Khadija Magardie An influential United States-based cancer research association has bolstered the already serious charges of scientific misconduct against disgraced oncologist Dr Werner Bezwoda. According to the American Society for Clinical Oncology (Asco), the former University of the Witwatersrand professor falsified the results of more clinical trials for breast cancer treatment than initially thought. The […]

James Hall Swaziland’s Office of Public Prosecutions has announced a crackdown on diviners and traditional doctors who are capitalising on the fears of defendants in court cases to peddle “protection” that will win favourable judicial rulings. “Traditional healers play an important role in the health of people in Swaziland and in my country,” says Director […]

Publishing in South Africa suffers a number of vicissitudes. In a new book, publishers Nicholas Combrinck and Maggie Davey engage in a dialogue on the subject Combrinck: Rarely do trade publishers [publishers for a general retail market, as opposed to educational publishers and so forth] make a serious return on their publishing, and rarely in […]

Providing anti-retroviral drugs and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV are not always feasible with South Africa’s health-care infrastructure David McCoy Now that we’ve celebrated a victory over multi- national pharmaceutical companies for access to cheaper medicines, what are we going to do about preventing mother-to-child transmission of Aids and access to anti-retroviral drugs? While activist […]