Peter Dickson The Eastern Cape government has nipped in the bud an audacious plan by councils in the province to give themselves multimillion-rand golden handshakes ahead of the local government elections. MEC for Local Government and Housing Gugile Nkwinti gave the mayors of East London, Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Despatch less than 12 hours to […]

A group of Afrikaners has called for amendments to the Constitution to protect minority rights Howard Barrell A group of prominent Afrikaans-speaking intellectuals has called for a “new historical agreement” to protect Afrikaans and other minority languages and cultures in South Africa. It has called for urgent amendments to South Africa’s Constitution to entrench the […]

Philip French retro-thriller of the week No 2 John Singleton has done little of consequence since his impressive debut Boyz N the Hood in 1991. His reputation will not be greatly enhanced by Shaft, a much-hyped revival of the tough, libidinous private eye impersonated by Richard Roundtree in a series of blaxploitation thrillers in the […]

Despite businesses moving from the city centre, the outgoing city manager says Johannesburg is not a city in decline, writes Glenda Daniels He is public enemy number one to the union movement, but one of the legacies Ketso Gordhan, city manager of the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council, will leave behind is a long-awaited metropolitan policing […]

The rehabilitation of state-owned sisal farms is one of the major projects of the newly established Community Public Private Partnership programme Barry Streek An ambitious and innovative programme has been launched to promote economic development in the impoverished rural areas of South Africa by linking communities with government structures, the private sector and NGOs. The […]

Andrew Muchineripi soccer The Rothmans Cup semifinals line-up this weekend has a strange look with no Kaizer Chiefs, no Sundowns and no animated Paul Dolezar screaming instructions from the sideline. Only Orlando Pirates among the big guns have reached the last four of a competition that seems to have lost a little sparkle, perhaps because […]

Piers Pigou Testimony from former Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) special operations commander Hein Grosskopf this week has raised further questions about the quality of amnesty findings by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Grosskopf’s testimony casts doubt on the decision this year by a three-member amnesty committee, chaired by Judge Andrew Wilson, that granted amnesty to […]

Jaspreet Kindra ‘Use condoms and do not sleep with just anyone!” President Thabo Mbeki is warning the amaQadi community of the dangers of HIV/Aids. The significance of this piece of advice from a man who has been questioning the link between HIV and Aids for about a year eludes the nodding rural community gathered in […]

Paul Kirk An ingenious scheme to make millions out of Road Accident Fund claims has backfired after a smooth-talking lawyer skipped the country with stolen funds in excess of R34-million. Before leaving South Africa last month Ian Stokes disposed of his expensive assets for a fraction of their value, selling his penthouse to Springbok rugby […]

Tangeni Amupadhi The last hunter-gatherer Bushman/San community in Namibia is facing total extinction after authorities announced plans to build a refugee camp in the eastern part of the country. Environmentalists and senior !Kung leaders, including politicians and traditional chiefs, have expressed concern that an area that can barely sustain 6?000 San people is now expected […]