Marianne Merten The NGO-driven Ditikeni Investment Company exceeded its expectations when it received share commitments of more than R1-milllion at its launch last week. The aim of Ditikeni – “something to lean on” in Tshivenda – is to generate funding security for NGOs in the development sector, ranging from poverty relief, education, health, HIV/Aids and […]

Bill Clinton’s eight years in office have been a rollercoaster ride of scandal and comeback, disaster and triumph. Jonathan Freedland, who spent much of that time following the president, salutes a political genius with the common touch America has begun to say farewell. It will be a long goodbye, one that fits the outsized character […]

Andy Capostagno rugby With so many players on tour it would be tempting to dismiss South Africa’s first match as an irrelevant contest. On a rainy Wednesday evening in Tucuman the midweek Springboks finally beat Argentina A 32-21 and, after all, a win is a win. But if that’s what the coaching staff is telling […]

It is bemusing for a country that prides itself on a democratic tradition which it energetically exports round the world as a paradigm for modern nation states, that the outcome of its presidential election remained in suspense so long after the polls closed. A travesty, you may cry. A gross distortion of the will of […]

The Smashing Pumpkins were inspired by metal in a digital age to create a sound that, after their current tour, will be laid to rest Riaan Wolmarans It was very disappointing when, a few years ago, the Smashing Pumpkins were on their way to South Africa – and the concerts were cancelled. Then the band […]

Neal Collins soccer Three goals in his past four games; 12 in 15 this season. The man is a middle-aged miracle. He’s 34 and Teddy Sheringham can’t seem to stop scoring vital goals. On Wednesday night SuperTed shot Manchester United into the last 16 of the Champions League while Leeds, with their oldest player eight […]

Samoa’s David Tua has put poverty behind him to become a true contender John Rawling in Las Vegas Those passionless arbiters of sporting probability, the Las Vegas odds makers, may claim that the chances of Lennox Lewis losing his world heavyweight title on Saturday night are slim, but two nations beg to differ. New Zealand […]

Mail &Guardian reporter Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete has not shied away from tough talk that militates against a human rights culture in the police. Policing experts say the restraint promoted by former minister of safety and security, Sydney Mufamadi, has been replaced by Tshwete’s more gung ho approach to his portfolio. Some […]

Incidents of police brutality have not declined since 1994 – the numbers have even risen Khadija Magardie and Glenda Daniels As South Africa reeled from the graphic Special Assignment footage of police using humans as bait in a dog-training exercise, human rights experts this week said the incident was only the tip of the iceberg. […]

Cedric Mayson Spirit Level South African religion needs a revolution. Many who seek a united country are still inhibited from playing a positive role in transformation by relics of divisive colonial theology which leap to the front in conversations about Israel and Palestine, the conflicts in India or unity in our own country. Religious attitudes […]