Before you can conquer new territory, you need to know where you are going Leon Forde Creating an accurate map of infinite, abstract cyberspace is not the easiest task for cartographers. Cyberspace, of course, does not exist. It is, to paraphrase novelist William Gibson, a consensual hallucination of space and surface – our brains perceive […]
Fiona Macleod Vervet monkeys who have been terrifying staff and patients at the Ga-Rankuwa hospital near Pretoria have become part of an ambitious pilot project to save the species in South Africa. Volunteers at the Vervet Monkey Foundation trapped the Ga-Rankuwa troop of 15 this week and moved them to cages in a Johannesburg suburb. […]
Steven Friedman worm’s eye view Do we need judges to do what elected politicians cannot? If a Constitutional Court case decided this week is a guide, the short answer is “yes”. The court this week ruled on the fate of people living on a Western Cape sports field who were spared eviction when High Court […]
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez used last week’s oil summit to demand justice from industrialised nations Charlotte Denny and Alex Bellos in Caracas Opec blamed the tax systems of rich countries for high oil prices last week as they rallied to the call by the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, to politicise the oil producers’ cartel as […]
Barry Streek Last-minute bargaining over the details of South Africa’s new gun control law continued this week, particularly over the numbers of weapons owned by people such as farmers and the protection of women and children in cases of violence. The latest amendments, due to be voted on in the safety and security portfolio committee […]
Thebe Mabanga and Ntuthuko Maphumulo It took R60-million, four years training, a 14-hour flight and one month down under for the South African Olympic heroes to return with only five medals. On Thursday they were welcomed at the Civic Theatre by a few invited guests, a clutch of curious bystanders and some Johannesburg municipality employees […]
Howard Barrell The crisis in the United Democratic Movement deepened this week as leaders of its two warring factions drew up battle lines and party president Bantu Holomisa prepared to visit its Eastern Cape stronghold to explain the suspension of the province’s leadership. Prime movers in the two factions – a “populist” faction headed by […]
President Thabo Mbeki and Tony Leon have been writing to each other again, arguing over HIV/Aids. They found a lot else to disagree about. Their latest correspondence, 54 pages of it, much of it technical medical and legal argument, was tabled in Parliament on Thursday. We publish excerpts You may … be unaware of the […]
carrying these days Nawaal Deane and Roshila Pillay It’s a liquorice allsorts bag of tricks when it comes to guns nowadays. You can get a pink-coated gun with a gold grip, or for a less fashion-conscious gunslinger, a pistol with sliding action and automatic reload. Gun ownership is soaring, at just over 190 000 yearly, […]
weapons Nawaal Deane and Roshila Pillay ‘Clear … aim… fire!” shouts the instructor, and with a series of explosive shots, the shooting session begins. A group of black 30-something women have discovered a new hobby: shooting. The shooting range is becoming a prime hang- out for women serious about protecting themselves. Standing in a row […]