Piers Pigou Apartheid assassin Ferdi Barnard’s revelations before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) amnesty committee this week about destabilisation before the 1994 election have again raised questions about the extent of security force participation in the Boipatong massacre. Barnard claimed that hitmen provided guns to Zulu hostel dwellers to carry out a series of […]
The explosion of Israeli-Palestinian violence over the past few days is, in the strange manner of such negotiations, a product of the fact that a final peace agreement is tantalisingly close and thus at its most vulnerable point. The two sides have been grappling over “final status” issues; the signs are there that they were […]
Mail & Guardian reporter A virus thousands of times narrower than a human hair has been shown to have an armoured coat organised like the chain mail of medieval knights. It probably protects the DNA of bacteriophage hk97, a virus that affects only bacteria, just as chain mail deflected arrows while allowing movement. Researchers report […]
Stewart Hennessey Body Language >From Samuel Richardson’s instructive novel for young women, Clarissa (1747), to What a Young Woman Ought to Know (hot in the early 1900s), to the modern dating bible, The Rules, all the oh-so-earnest advice being dispensed to young women can be distilled into one dull command: don’t put out. This is […]
Thuli Nhlapo The director of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), South Africa’s top labour body, has been called to explain her remote German ancestry before a commission of inquiry following allegations of racism by disgruntled staff members. The bizarre decision to call the director, Thandi Orleyn, to testify about her ancestry was […]
Durban’s Ocean View place of safety faces allegations of rape, assault and child abuse Paul Kirk Police are investigating six cases of sexual assault and several instances of child abuse and neglect at a place of safety in Durban. One of the sexually motivated assaults, a rape, occurred during a supervised visit to the beach. […]
Glenda Daniels The tardiness of employers in registering and paying their skills development levy to get training going is behind their inability to meet affirmative action targets. While more than R100-million a month is rolling in to the South African Revenue Service (Sars), which gives the money to the Department of Labour for training and […]
Barry Streek A controversial proposal by the board of the SABC to refer senior appointments to the Cabinet for approval is likely to be challenged in Parliament. Chair of the SABC board Vincent Maphai told the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on communications in Parliament this week that the appointment of three senior executives, including its […]
He is one of the greats of 20th century music, but his career has soared and dipped, as has his personal life, encompassing political protest, religious conversion and rumours of secret marriages. Adam Sweeting on a ‘Byronic hero’ who, in his 60th year, is surprised to find himself winning over a new generation It would […]
Paul Kirk Amid growing complaints about unchecked air pollution, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Mohammed Valli Moosa has vowed to crack down on one of the country’s worst offenders – Eskom – as part of wide-ranging plans to combat the problem. Moosa said: “It would be unfair for us to crack down on industry […]