The Department of Correctional Services is in the dock over its treatment of HIV-positive inmates Marianne Merten and Aaron Madadasane A man who contracted HIV while incarcerated in Pollsmoor prison six years ago is suing the minister of correctional services in the Cape High Court. The Department of Correctional Services said this week it was […]
Robert Kirby loose cannon I am inspired to write this article (in ebullient defence of our worthy and misunderstood presidential representative) by the quite unseemly attacks made on his character and intellect in last week’s Mail & Guardian (“Mbeki’s malaise goes deeper than Parks”). Really! When a newspaper sinks to such murky invective simply because […]
Thebe Mabanga IN YOUR EAR Religion provides a rich source of interesting debate on a range of moral issues and radio has wisely latched on to its pulling power. Commercial stations do not touch religion with a bargepole. You see urbanised black people spend their Sunday mornings recovering from a Saturday night of clubbing, playing […]
Clare Boylan Body Language When asked what age a woman ceases to feel the torments of the flesh the Princess Metter-nich replied: “I do not know. I am only 65.” Last week Marj Thoburn, a 60-year-old marriage guidance consultant, rocked a youth-obsessed boat by stating at a conference that people over 50 were more likely […]
A new report uncovers a secret SADF project to ‘cure’ homosexuals by giving them sex changes Paul Kirk Sex-change operations, medical torture and chemical castration were perpetrated on national servicemen in a bizarre programme to cure “deviants” during the apartheid era. To this day dozens of victims of the programme are crippled and disfigured, stranded […]
Iden Wetherell President Robert Mugabe can be forgiven for feeling rather besieged this week. He is on the receiving end of importunate members of Parliament reminding him of their sterling work on the electoral front and promises made of preferment. He is deeply hurt by the lyrics of songs belted out by opposition supporters at […]
innovations A new privacy-issues battle has erupted on the Internet over the use of a surreptitious yet invasive device called the “Web bug”, which allows online advertising companies to track your surfing habits without your knowledge. Unlike the more widely recognised “cookies”, which you can disable in your browser, the “Web bug” is virtually undetectable. […]
Dave Simpson CD OFTHEWEEK Mexico and pop generally go together like Cliff Richard and a bottle of tequila (worm included). History throws up only Los Lobos of La Bamba fame (who were actually from Los Angeles), and Gram Parsons’ Flying Burrito Brothers – as Mexican as a beef dripping sandwich. Mexican pop has existed for […]
Barry Streek With 24,3-million hectares under its control – about 20% of the surface area of South Africa – the state is far and away the country’s biggest landowner. Even then, that figure excludes vast tracts of state-owned land, such as land owned by parastatals like Transnet and the 2,9- million hectares owned by the […]
The Cape Comedy Collective has prospered in a town notorious for fab ideas and feeble follow-through Guy Willoughby ‘Is South African comedy Joe Parker?” the question was raised unexpectedly by Sam Pearce, co-director with stand-up comic Mark Sampson of the year-old Cape Comedy Collective (CCC), during a hip-hop interview around the present/future of Kaapse laughter. […]