Andy Capostagno rugby It may be too soon to start talking of another golden era in Natal and Springbok rugby, but when New Zealanders start to complain of illegal tactics you know that something radical is happening. New Zealanders like to praise South African teams for trying hard and losing. It is not in their […]
Greg Mills Second look Former United States president Bill Clinton has said: “The worst sin America ever committed about Africa was the sin of neglect and ignorance.” Under his presidency Africa’s profile rose in the US. Clinton made the first proper visit by a US president to Africa in 1998, and followed this up with […]
It is bitterly ironic that the scene of one of South Africa’s greatest sporting triumphs should also be the scene of one of its most appalling sporting tragedies. Six short years ago the images that flashed around the globe from Ellis Park were of a jubilant young nation: Nelson Mandela celebrating with Francois Pienaar as […]
Jaspreet Kindra It is boom time for the Pan Africanist Congress. The probe into the arms deal and the controversy surrounding the African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni’s acquisition of a Mercedes 4×4 has raised the party’s public profile tremendously. The PAC emerged from its annual policy conference last weekend with a real chance […]
Mail & Guardian reporter Last week’s soccer tragedy highlights the need for a closer inspection of rules and terms governing the broadcasting of matches still shrouded in secrecy on the nation’s airwaves. The televising of soccer matches in South Africa is an incestuous circle whose power relations are determined by the highest bidder. At the […]
Tova Herzl A Second look The 27th day of the month of Nissan, this year on April 20, was chosen by the state of Israel soon after its inception as the annual commemoration of the Holocaust and the heroic and all but futile attempts to rise up against it: it is the anniversary of the […]
A seventh league title in nine years could not ease the pain of losing in Munich and Alex Ferguson’s team might split up David Lacey and M&G reporters A championship hat-trick is still sufficiently rare in English football to be worth a second glance. Yet such are the changed priorities among top clubs that no […]
Ntuthuko Maphumulo soccer Bafana Bafana have a hectic schedule in the coming two weeks. They play Italy on Wednesday in Perugia and four days later take on Mozambique in Maputo in a Cosafa Cup match, followed by a World Cup qualifier at FNB against Zimbabwe on May 5. The friendly against the European powerhouse ranked […]
Nawaal Deane and Mungo Soggot Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi has denied he fled the scene of the Ellis Park soccer stampede, amid allegations from other police officers that, after attending as a spectator, he abandoned the stadium and only returned later in a police helicopter. Selebi dismisses any suggestion that he fled the scene, […]
Neal Collins says there are lessons to be learnt from Britain in order to avoid a repeat of Wednesday’s disaster Like a lot of far more talented individuals, I’ve played football at Ellis Park. In front of 101 000 people, or so they reckoned when they counted the receipts. The same Ellis Park that hosted […]