Cedric Mayson SPIRIT LEVEL A double page spread in the current issue of The Teacher highlights the challenge of religious education faced by our schools. In the old days, religious education was frequently boring, indoctrinated, or ignored. We need to bury it for good to rest in peace or pieces. Our new Constitution states that […]

Born in a township, she spent her first six months in jail with her mother. As a successful singer forced into exile by Pretoria, she became a symbol of resistance. Now back home and with a new album, she has become a totem of the African renaissance Maya Jaggi When Miriam Makeba left South Africa […]

Children’s books must bear many re-readings Lesley Cowling The words “bedtime story” conjure up a cosy picture: mom or dad cuddled up in bed with little one, both happily absorbed in a book. The reality, of course, is quite different. The child, instead of falling off to sleep after one reading, insists on hearing the […]

Robert Kirby CHANNELVISION A good deal of last week’s SABC current affairs output was given over to Mr Thabo Mbeki. In two faintly embarrassing appearances he generously donated us the benefit of his wisdom. First up was the annual State of the Nation speech, which turned out to be more a state of the state […]

Jubie Matlou The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Affairs intends to create a black commercial farming class as part of its overall strategy of land reform and redistribution. This strategy is contained in a policy proposal from the ministry that calls for the establishment of a commercial farmer programme seeking to empower the country’s estimated […]

Tour boss has the credentials to put some backbone into the weakest of teams – he’s a former secret police chief Neal Collins in London It’s probably safe to say that Zimbabwe has recently slipped rather low in the average Englishman’s top 10 holiday destinations. Ticket sales for the first Test against the Southern Africans […]

The economic turmoil in Zimbabwe appears to have begun when an IMF and World Bank- inspired adjustment programme was implemented Rehad Desai News coverage from Zimbabwe has typically centred on the abuse of human rights unleashed following President Robert Mugabe’s defeat in the recent referendum. Coverage has therefore tended to produce more heat than light. […]

STEVEN MANN, Cape Town | Friday 12.45pm. CONTRARY to widespread media reports and statements by senior government officials, Correctional Services Minister Ben Skosana on Friday insisted his department is still in command of the country’s prisons. “At no point … did I lose control of the administration of my department,” Skosana told Parliament. His comments […]

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila said that a transitional parliament will be inaugurated on July 1. Speaking to members of civil society and politicians, Kabila said a 300-member constituent assembly will be set up under his long-stalled democratization program. He said in the speech, which was broadcast over state radio, that he will […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Friday 6.00pm. GOVERNMENT, farmers and militant war veterans agreed at talks in Harare on Friday to set up a land commission to oversee the peaceful transfer of white-owned land in Zimbabwe to landless blacks. David Hasluck, director of the Commercial Farmers Union, said the proposal has been agreed at a three-hour […]