OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Friday AFRICA’S two most powerful nations, Nigeria and South Africa, have demanded that Zimbabwe abide by its laws in its controversial program to confiscate white-owned farms. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and South African President Thabo Mbeki, after two-and-a-half hours of talks with embattled President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, stopped short of […]

JUSTIN ARENSTEIN and SIZWE SAMAYENDE, Middelburg | Friday THE foot-and-mouth outbreak in Mpumalanga this week, which could drive the South African meat industry to the brink of disaster, could well have been caused by cattle imported from a neighbouring country. The outbreak, which has seen Swaziland close its border with South Africa for imports of […]

Anthea Johnston music Jazz, as everyone knows, started more than a century ago in the Deep South. In the early years of the 20th century jazz migrated north and settled in cities like New York and Chicago. It was always recognised as the United States’s unique contribution to music and is enjoyed by millions around […]

Steve Whiting cricket Aworld-record unbeaten ninth wicket partnership of 66 between Yolande van der Merwe and captain Kim Price could not prevent an eight-wicket loss as South Africa began their bid to be women’s world cricket champions with a difficult match against India in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Thursday. The South African total of 128 […]

The ANC’s East Rand mayoral nominee, Bavumile Vilakazi, appears to have been one of the party’s few active candidates in Gauteng. The former MDM foot soldier has spent the past month addressing meetings, listening to problems and using his charisma to win over voters. In Thokoza, former ANC activists have formed the Displacees Ratepayers’ Association […]

Andy Capostagno rugby It would be tempting to believe that South Africa’s entire post-season tour had been building up to Saturday’s encounter with England at Twickenham. The Springboks played 7s rugby against Argentina and barely deserved last-gasp victories in colourless encounters with Ireland and Wales. All utterly irrelevant as long as England are beaten. But […]

They’re travelling all over the world and three of them scored four of the five goals in Spartak’s game against Arsenal last week Amy Lawrence As the ball glided around on an ice-rink pitch in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, there was something surreal about the fact that four of the five goals in a game between […]

Innovations Here’s another good reason not to misbehave at your upcoming office Christmas party. Scheduled to go on sale next week is the SpyPen, a tiny digital camera squeezed into a slim upright frame not a great deal larger than an average ballpoint. The SpyPen takes and archives low-resolution (352×288 pixels) images that can then […]

Belinda Beresford The Medicines Control Council has approved the use of a generic drug, Biozole, on public health grounds. The council’s acknowledgement of humanitarian arguments potentially opens the door to the mass importation of cheaper medicines to combat Aids and its side effects. The ruling comes after the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) illegally imported 3000 […]

MC Sparky The annual award ceremony at the Ablelarde Sanction in Brixton, Johannesburg, is set to delight unsigned bands, general public and major publications alike. “Our commitment to cheap booze, contraband cigarettes and teddy bears remains unchallenged … the struggle continues.” This vague statement boldly pasted on the inner wall of the Abelarde Sanction in […]