Howard Barrell A Security Council resolution has given South Africa a brief respite from having to make good its various undertakings to provide military support personnel – and perhaps combat troops as well – for the United Nations peace support mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The council has decided to suspend any further […]

hard place Marianne Merten The University of Stellenbosch is fighting a battle on two fronts: not only is it trying to convince black students that it is no longer a Broederbond bastion, but it is also struggling to honour its commitment to remain a centre of the Afrikaans language. After taking office in 1993, rector […]

Robert Kirby CHANNELVISION Even though it was two weeks ago, I feel I should respond in kind to the good- natured invective from Roberta Durrant which was published while I was taking a break from this column. Roberta was complaining about a critical notice I gave to two of her searing new local tragedies, Big […]

New proposals could see water being delivered by private companies on the basis of financial sustainability, not need Glenda Daniels South African public sector unions have been caught off guard by the government’s announcement to fast-track regulations to privatise water delivery. Unions said this week they were still trying to work out the implications in […]

A WARRANT of arrest has been issued against presidential spokesman Parks Mankahlana for failure to appear in an Mpumalanga maintenance court. Mankahlana is being sued for child maintenance by Thalitha Mthetwa, 37, who claims he is the father of her eight-year-old son. Mthethwa and her lawyer waited hours for Mankahlana to arrive before the court […]

Iden Wetherell There are 120 seats at stake in this weekend’s parliamentary elections and for the first time since independence in 1980 an opposition party is contesting them all. Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he is not looking at sending a handful of MPs to Parliament in Harare. He intends to […]

Belinda Beresford Position, position, position is the guiding maxim in property. But Donald Gordon, former head of Liberty Life and now head of Liberty International, is finding that possession is equally important. Having, metaphorically speaking, built a palatial mansion in South Africa called the Liberty Group, Gordon moved on to the more select address of […]

Helene Dancer CD OFTHEWEEK LTJ Bukem does in his debut album just what Daisy Buchanan does to Jay Gatsby in F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby:he puts you in a little cloud and pushes you around. United Kingdom musician and DJ LTJ “Danny Williamson” Bukem has this year released Journey Inwards on his Good Looking […]

Paul Kirk A group of United States pollution experts has described the air south of Durban as “toxic soup”, saying that the oil refineries around the city are emitting up to eight times the internationally acceptable amount of benzene. The survey by an American NGO, Communities for a Better Environment, detected a variety of other […]

Lynda Gilfillan Hunters from all over the world are increasingly setting their sights on the Eastern Cape as a game-hunting destination. The game and wildlife industry is claimed to be the only growth point in the beleaguered South African livestock industry – up 40% last season – and the Eastern Cape is cashing in. It […]