2000 party Neal Collins SOCCER Shortly after England had been knocked out of Euro 2000 in Belgium on Tuesday night, the BBC screened a documentary detailing the violence which had taken place in Brussels and Charleroi last weekend. At one point England’s finest young men, tattooed, earringed, drunk and overweight, were goading the Belgian police: […]

In the diamond area of Sierra Leone, rebels and members of the pro-government militia mine side by side Chris McGreal in Kenema The rebels were easy to spot. The three young men in stylish clothes, wearing sunglasses in the light drizzle, quickly caught the eye of the Lebanese businessman. He beckoned the youths toward an […]

One of South Africa’s most scenic and sensitive natural areas in the Eastern Cape is dotted with illegal homesteads Fiona Macleod The government is planning a new national park on the Wild Coast of Pondoland, in the Eastern Cape, which is expected to end the illegal development of holiday homes by rich whites along the […]

Khadija Magardie Various refugee organisations around South Africa used this year’s Africa Refugee Day to slam aspects of new refugee legislation as “irresponsible”. At gatherings and celebrations countrywide to commemorate June 20 – a day declared by the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity to highlight the plight of the continent’s refugees – […]

Peter Robinson Over the past few weeks South African cricket has been twisting and turning in mostly self-inflicted agony. But now we know the “Hansiegate” scandal not to be the product of bumbling Indian policemen or even, as was suggested at one stage, a devious Australian plot, what exactly is to be done next? In […]

Howard Barrell OVER A BARRELL Helen Suzman was speaking with little fear of contradiction. “Some odd characters,” she told the assembled Democratic Party faithful on Monday, “have been joining the party.” She had the good grace this week – at a ceremony to name the DP’s parliamentary caucus room in Parliament after her and to […]

Justin Arenstein Former Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa has assembled a rogue’s gallery of disgraced politicians and shady financiers to fund his new R390-million casino hotel development in Maputo. The deal is one of a series involving Phosa and other prominent Mpumalanga figures under investigation by South Africa’s Scorpions unit and police commercial crime teams. Scorpions […]

Paul Kirk A trio of former Durban policemen who openly flaunt the sizeable fortunes they amassed while in the service of the organised crime unit were arrested this week for, among other things, running an extortion racket. The suspended head of the KwaZulu-Natal organised crime unit, Piet Meyer, and two of his closest friends – […]

Olympics Mark Ouma Having learned from her mistakes at the Atlanta Olympics four years ago, Gabriela Szabo plans to fulfil her dream of becoming an Olympic champion in Sydney next September. The 1999 World Female Athlete of the Year, Szabo intends to continue her success this year. What has never come to light before is […]

Grant Shimmin OLYMPICS With many of the athletes who’ll be their national team-mates in Sydney in September already named, the battle to get to this year’s Olympics is just beginning for most of the country’s finest track and field exponents as the European season gets into full swing. In fact, the sport’s biggest circuit could […]