CHEMICAL and biological warfare mastermind Wouter Basson had his trial postponed on Friday to May 2 in the Pretoria High Court. State advocate Anton Ackerman has indicated that he might bring an application requesting that certain evidence be heard overseas. The 61 charges Basson is facing include murder, fraud, theft and drug peddling.

SOUTH Africa’s 2006 World Cup Bid Committee has returned from Mali full of confidence after their latest meetings with a FIFA executive committee member. The delegation, headed by South Africa 2006 World Cup Bid Committee chief executive officer Danny Jordaan and South African Football Association president Molefi Oliphant football also met with federation executives and […]

THE Auckland Blues shrugged off their recent indifferent form to upset the previously unbeaten Wellington Hurricanes 22-14 in their Super 12 match in Wellington on Friday. The Blues outscored the Hurricanes three tries to one and were pushing for a fourth and a bonus point at the final whistle. The same two teams kicked off […]

Antjie Krog’s new play is about dialogue – across colour and history, and paint Michael Rautenbach Viewing Antjie Krog’s play Waarom is Di wat Vr Toyi-Toyi Altyd So Vet? at Potchefstroom’s Aardklop festival last October, critic Stephen Gray noted it was “surely destined to become a classic in the repertoire”. Now translated by Krog into […]

Andy Capostagno GOLF The Masters is just around the corner and, as has become the norm, it’s a case of who can possibly beat Tiger Woods. The hottest golfer on the planet has made fools of the odds makers so regularly that he is as low as 125-1 to win not just the Masters, but […]

There is often little connection between the importance of a constitutional decision and the uncertainty of the outcome of the actual case in which the issue is raised. Last year the Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma- controlled Department of Health behaved as expected. It botched up the introduction of the South African Medicines and Medical Devices Regulatory Authority […]

Cameron Duodu LETTER FROM THE NORTH I was extremely upset when I read the report by Anthony Sampson, author of the amazingly brilliant biography of Nelson Mandela, that it had been alleged in a forthcoming book that Mandela “was recruited as an ‘agent of influence’ by British intelligence”. It is also alleged that Mandela visited […]

Marianne Merten It is 9am at the tax court in Bellville, northern Cape Town, and the summonsed tax delinquents are sitting on the court benches – many looking sheepish that they have been caught. Andre Minnie requests a postponement to try get his “IRP5” form from Port Elizabeth. Peter Laque explains he needs time to […]

favour in SA Nawaal Deane ‘Ichi, ni, san, shi [Japanese countdown],” wham, grunt, slap. These are the sounds of two sweating opponents slamming into each other. One pushes his forehead into the other’s chest while gripping him in a bear hug to force him out of the makeshift ring. The opponent is thrown in a […]

Marianne Merten Driving from Cape Town to Khayelitsha, the green of the Western Cape’s first township golf range jumps out from the sandy, bush- covered surroundings. Water sprinklers are going at full force in the howling south- easter wind to ensure the greens and fairways are lush enough to satisfy even Ernie Els. The scenic, […]