David Beresford Another Country During my peregrinations in search of a diagnosis – for the cramped handwriting and touch-typing blunders that were eventually diagnosed as Parkinson’s – I consulted an orthopaedic specialist. After tapping various joints and peering at me suspiciously, he pronounced the problem to be “writer’s cramp”. I asked him whether it was […]

Riaan Wolmarans Every little thing he did was magic. Or at least a crafty illusion, but it really appeared as if he didn’t mind singing Every Breath You Take for the umpteenth time. The audience certainly didn’t mind – Sting’s performance at the MTN Sundome on September 24 was anything but tedious. It makes a […]

scope Ivor Powell Restrictions on the government’s investigations into alleged irregularities in South Africa’s R32-billion weapons deals could see senior government officials accused of nepotism and self-interest let off the hook. The latest probe in a series that have produced no visible results was mooted by Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota after the release to […]

Sechaba ka’Nkosi The SABC is to axe its controversial acting head of news, Snuki Zikalala, next month. It announced this week the appointment of veteran journalist Barney Mthombothi. Senior editors have handed to SABC board chair Vincent Maphai a list of grievances against Zikalala. The board meets on Wednesday, when his fate is expected to […]

REUTERS, London | Friday BRITISH chocolate makers are to investigate reports of widespread child slave labour on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast and insist they will take action if such “abhorrent practices” are discovered. Ivorian cocoa producers and international cocoa traders say a British television documentary exaggerates how West African children have been lured into […]

Khadija Magardie Entering Dr Manuela Costa’s medical practice in a nondescript, semi-deserted building in Wynberg, near Alexandra, patients are greeted by a poster carrying a poem. It reads: “Bless the people who cross this threshold, Bless the souls who need to be here … But take away the anger; take away the hurt, Take away […]

A collection of art works currently on sale offers a good opportunity to take another look at the African art debate Yvette Gresl With all the African art works flooding flea markets, roadside stalls and curio shops, regular mortals who’d like to collect such objects often wonder how one begins to distinguish between fakes and […]

The idea that software could ever be sophisticated enough to identify pornographic images is sheer fantasy, writes Avedon Carol Moralists and Net-nanny software hucksters have put a lot of effort into convincing the public that our kids are unsafe on the Internet and that we need to put strict controls on what people can see. […]

Rory Carroll and agencies The captain and three crew members of a Greek ferry that sank killing at least 65 people have been charged with multiple counts of murder. Investigators were focusing on reports that the Express Samina, carrying more than 500 passengers, was apparently on automatic pilot minutes before it hit a well-marked rocky […]

The dream was of a personal jet-pack and not just for the high flyer. However this blue skies technology never took off David Hambling This 21st century is not what it was cracked up to be. It is not that I actually wanted to live in a gleaming glass skyscraper attended by robot butlers, and […]