JUDGES in Angola warned on Thursday that they will take action if their working conditions are not improved and their salaries boosted. The average wage for a magistrate has stayed at $80 for several years now, despite sharp rises in the cost of living. The judges claim they submitted a wage proposal to the government […]

FOOD and fashion retailer Woolworths Holdings Ltd unveiled an 11% drop in interim headline earnings on Thursday, blaming stunted consumer spending despite a recent raft of interest rate cuts. Woolworths, which this week unveiled a restructuring plan to help refocus its businesses to try and allay market woes, reported headline earnings falling 16 cents in […]

Peter Dickson Simmering tensions between the African National Congress and the United Democratic Movement over the strike at Volkswagen’s Uitenhage plant exploded in the provincial legislature this week as the ANC accused the UDM of fomenting the labour dispute. Introducing a snap debate on the strike on Monday, Eastern Cape MEC for Finance and former […]

Brenda Atkinson MIXED MEDIA It’s been a good month for eye-catching advertising and provocative media commentary. Andersen Consulting’s recently launched electronic commerce ad campaign hits where it hurts. Featuring a sheep in wolf’s clothing trying to blend in with a pack of the real yellow-eyed beasts, the advert poses the rather chilling question: “Trying to […]

Religion has a packaging problem. It is like a supermarket with thousands of products on the shelves which really deal in two things only: calories and cleansing. Kilometres of competing packets turn a simple matter of eating, drinking and washing into a nightmare of choice when all you need is more or less to bounce […]

Howard Barrell and Barry Streek New National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk may be the ultimate victor as the African National Congress’s desperate bid to exploit the firing of maverick Western Cape MEC Peter Marais fizzled out this week. A plot to give Van Schalkwyk a seat of power – the premiership of the Western […]

A Wits University professor’s admission that he faked clinical trials has rocked the international medical community, reports Khadija Magardie The University of the Witwatersrand is poised to decide on the fate of the disgraced head of its haematology and clinical oncology department, Dr Werner Bezwoda, who has been accused of misrepresenting the results of a […]

Gavin Foster Your 12-year-old daughter goes to an indoor karting venue with friends and is hurt when a wheel flies off her kart on the track. “You’ll pay for this,” you tell the manager of the track. “No I won’t,” is his response. “Take a look. Your daughter signed an indemnity.” The following day you […]

Gavin Foster MOTOCROSS Two KwaZulu-Natal teenagers have swapped the calmness of the classroom for the hurly-burly of world championship motocross racing. Grant Langston (17) goes into his third year of grand prix (GP) competition with a very good chance of winning fame and fortune, while 15- year-old Jarrett de Jager leaves for Europe next week […]