CHARLES MANGWIRO, Quelimane | Friday THE number two leader in Mozambique’s powerful official opposition party, Renamo, has been axed for allegedly betraying party leader Afonso Dlhakama in return for financial reward from the ruling Frelimo party. Raul Domingos, Dlhakama’s right-hand man in Renamo, was formally expelled from the party by Renamo’s national council meeting in […]

THE European Commission is to propose a ban on the import of all meat products from the area around Camperdown in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands where there was an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on a farm last week, an EU official said. The Commission, the European Union’s executive body, will put the proposal to the […]

MARIAM ISA AND OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Friday SOUTH Africa’s central bank is keeping interest rates steady, in line with analysts’ expectations, saying domestic fundamentals for keeping inflation low remain favourable despite steep global oil prices. Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni reassured jittery markets by saying he was confident the bank would meet its newly […]

Guy Willoughby theatre It may seem unfair to begin a review of a spanking new South African play by spanking new South African players by talking about their ‘minence grise – dramatist-cum-drama school mogul Deon Opperman – but Opperman, if not his prot’g’s, may appreciate the irony. Opperman’s response to the challenges of changing audience […]

Kenya Bob Woolmer >From the pavilion The first mini-World Cup Knockout was attempted in Bangladesh in 1998 to raise funds for the development of cricket throughout the world, and it proved to be a tremendous success. Capacity crowds watched some very exciting cricket. There is no doubt this latest competition, in Kenya, will be as […]

Emma Brockes Body Language It is difficult to approach the subject of tantric sex with a straight face and an open mind when you have browsed the reading list of the SkyDancing Institute. SkyDancing, “an ancient metaphor for the ability to achieve ecstatic states”, is an organisation founded by Margot Anand, teacher of tantra and […]

The artist commissioned to create a sculpture of Gandhi hopes her statue will inspire all South Africans Anthea Garman Maria Smith Williams, the African-American sculptor who is to do a life-size bronze of Gandhi for the Durban parks department, was attracted to the project because the sculpture had to be of Mohandas Gandhi in his […]

African Frontiers is a new Mail & Guardian series highlighting science and technology in Africa. We’ll celebrate the talents of African pioneers across a multitude of disciplines, and attempt to capture the joy of discovery as much as the challenge of resolving practical problems on our continent Belinda Beresford african frontiers When all around them […]

Andy Colquhoun rugby Underdogs in sport have always clung to truisms. They have sworn that it is only “11 against 11”. They have dismissed precedent by pointing out “sport is played on the field not on team-sheets”. And (my favourite) they have talked down the opposition by pointing out “they only have two arms and […]

Douglas Adams’s first novel was was an instant bestseller. Now dogged by writer’s block, he has turned to new projects Nicholas Wroe Soon after The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was published in 1979, Douglas Adams was invited to sign copies at a small science fiction bookshop in London’s Soho. As he drove there, some […]