Anthony Browne Directors of BP Amoco, the world’s largest oil producer, will this week face a revolt by shareholders who want investment diverted to renewable energy. The annual meeting will vote on a groundbreaking resolution urging the firm to abandon its Northstar oilfield in Alaska and reinvest the money in solar power. The resolution was […]

In Saron, an ANC-ruled town, the mayor and his deputy are fighting for their political lives Marianne Merten Most mornings a handful of protestors converge on the modest white municipal building next to the post office in Saron, a quiet hamlet at the foot of the Swartruggens Mountains in the Western Cape. They are there […]

Howard Barrell The African National Congress is showing its first public signs of embarrassment over its submission to the Human Rights Commission’s (HRC) panel on the media which has drawn a mixture of sharp criticism, threats of legal action and ridicule from a variety of newspapers. In a curious statement on Wed-nesday, the ANC reiterated […]

A dispute between an academic and a respected university raises questions about management styles Khadija Magardie The bitter wrangle between the University of Natal and its former head of social anthropology, Professor Caroline White, may set a precedent that will erode democracy in the country’s tertiary institutions. An internationally renowned academic and writer, White was […]

Stephen Gray REVIEW OFTHEWEEK Arrived at last in Johannesburg – via the Pretoria Art Gallery, the Labia Museum in Muizenberg and the Bellville Gallery of the show’s sponsor, Sanlam – is the retrospective of the work of the neglected South African artist, Harry Trevor. Perhaps retrospective is too sweeping a description, as Trevor’s career was […]

in the ANC Howard Barrell OVER A BARREL A local historian told a colleague recently that he feared the African National Congress might be going doo- lally. “Why?” asked my colleague. For two reasons, the historian answered: one, the government seems intent on rewriting HIV/Aids science; and, two, the ANC appears obsessed about the Mail […]

John Brand Last week’s “Bosses mustn’t have babies”, was a shocking story. The shock, however, lay in the reporting, not the judgment. The story was a litany of twists and distortions, distressing enough in themselves but made doubly so when read in the light of the editorial, a few pages on, that employed the ringing […]

Barry Streek The South African Police Service (SAPS) has a shortage of 7E000 personnel and 371 vehicles, according to Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete. It will need an extra R7,8-million to hire the personnel and R471,5-million to finance the vehicles, Tshwete said in reply to a question tabled in the National Council of […]

Shaun de Waal CD OFTHEWEEK The Million Dollar Hotel (UNI/Interscope) is the soundtrack to the forthcoming Wim Wenders film of that name, based on a story by U2 singer Bono and inspired by a real hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Bono is also the moving force behind the soundtrack. First off, there’s a song with […]

The small town of Vermaaklikheid could provide a model for low-cost housing Barry Streek The Cape Town holidaymakers who descended on the southern Cape village of Vermaaklikheid 15 years ago were a mixed blessing for the local community. They created jobs – but they also created a housing shortage, buying sites and farm workers’ cottages […]