The Gabon experience takes you back to the Seventies. It’s costly but rewarding, if only for the expansive rainforests Savannah Sefor The hardest thing to find in Gabon are the Gabonese. It’s not the only strange contradiction in the tiny West African state where forests cover more of the land than people. It’s one of […]

Cedric Mayson SPIRIT LEVEL ‘God is not a Christian,” is a typical Desmond Tutu sound bite. He uses it to restrain his too-churchy colleagues from tying God up in hymn books, creeds and clerical collars. Many sincere but misinformed Christians find it difficult to accept that they worship the same God as the Jews and […]

Michael Berger CROSSFIRE Like most scientists, most South Africans in all probability, I have been puzzled and disconcerted by President Thabo Mbeki’s involvement in Aids issues. These concerns have been validated by our president’s letter to other heads of state, currently available on the Internet in full from The Washington Post Web page and published […]

For very good reasons, diplomacy – at least the effective variety – is seldom conducted in public. Among the best of these reasons is that diplomacy often involves saying unpalatable things, and secrecy often provides the most benevolent circumstances under which to say them. Secrecy allows the parties involved the freedom to exchange views which, […]

Andrew Muchineripi SOCCER Unless I have taken complete leave of my senses, the Olympic Games football tournament is considerably more significant than the Castle Cup Southern Africa championship. The quadrennial Olympic Games is the biggest multi-sport festival, is steeped in history, and the football matches attract crowds bettered only by those at the venue hosting […]

Luvuyo Kakaza Singer Margaret Singana died a pauper on April 22 – a further indication of the plight of South African performing artists. Somehow her death served as a reminder of Simon ”Mahlathini” Nkabinde, who also died penniless last year. Singana (63) was a household name, together with Miriam Makeba and Letta Mbulu, in the […]

Former South African President Nelson Mandela met Burundi’s army chiefs on Friday.

Phillipa Garson CLASS STRUGGLE It will be interesting to see whether Western Cape’s education MEC Helen Zille’s ambitious plan to improve schools’ performance reaps rewards. Zille may speak for the Democratic Party, but her policies are not so far removed from those of the national government, which is also introducing evaluation schemes to turn non- […]

The advancement of black executives still has a long way to go, says a recent report into black empowerment Johnny Masilela A document aimed at triggering renewed debate around the otherwise controversial concept of black economic empowerment (BEE) is about to be taken on a countrywide roadshow. Black Economic Empowerment: Myth or Reality? was originally […]

DANIEL SIMPSON, Berlin | Friday 2.20pm. GERMAN Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder urged southern African governments on Thursday to accelerate economic reforms to unlock greater private investment from the world’s third biggest economy. Addressing African leaders in Berlin, Schroeder said the region should not be seen as a basket case and offered German companies the potential for […]