Khadija Magardie A new initiative, spearheaded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and various Aids advocacy bodies, has been established to monitor potential human rights violations in clinical trials for HIV/Aids vaccines. The project is entitled South African human rights and community mobilisation intervention for HIV/Aids vaccine development and clinical trials, and is funded by […]

David Le Page Economists are never short of detractors, and the latter have jeered loudly this week following the release of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures for the first quarter of 2000. The derision follows the huge disparity between the predictions of most economists, who were expecting growth of between 2,5% and 3%, and the […]

Justin Pearce Ethiopia’s breakthrough into Eritrean territory two weeks ago ended a lengthy stalemate between two once-friendly neighbours, who had first gone to war almost exactly two years earlier. In May 1998 Eritrea moved its troops into several areas of disputed territory which had up to then been under Ethiopian administration. Heavy fighting, at the […]

trial Heather Hogan The trial of Wouter Basson, which began last year, has proved the most sensational showcase of apartheid-era atrocities in South African legal history. The court has heard evidence of, among other things, how: l In 1989, Civil Co-operation Bureau (CCB) member Abram “Slang” van Zyl received a monkey foetus from Staal Burger, […]

Barry Streek Former homeland leader Prince James Mahlangu, appointed to a senior government post in Mpumalanga after defecting back to the African National Congress from the United Democratic Movement last month, handed the UDM a medical certificate on his departure stating he had brain damage. Mahlangu, a former ANC MP who joined the UDM last […]

Cameron Duodu LETTER FROM THE NORTH To anyone who takes even a rudimentary interest in African history, the name Asante stands out as one of the most valiant of the nations that attempted to halt the incursions of the European powers in the 18th and 19th centuries. In fact, it was not until 1874 that […]

Riaan Wolmarans PREVIEW OFTHEWEEK There is one dance tune guaranteed to send people running towards the dance floor to groove to its pumping rhythm and beautiful melody. This tune is For an Angel, probably the biggest hit that top German DJ Paul van Dyk – who is playing in Cape Town and Johannesburg on June […]

The sheer, reckless imbecility of the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea is breathtaking. The fighting, which began in 1998 and flared again last week, seems totally pointless. Its ostensible cause is a dispute over demarcation of the two countries’ 1 000km border. To the extent that there is a half comprehensible explanation for the conflict, […]

Conditions for credible democratic elections do not exist in Zimbabwe, says an international pre-election observation team Mercedes Sayagues Zimbabwe’s parliamentary elections, to be held on June 24 to 25, have dim prospects of being free and fair. Even in the likely scenario that the violence engulfing the country will decrease as international observers arrive, the […]

Andy Capostagno RUGBY A new Springbok squad with a new captain and a Super 12 dream final in the same week. It’s almost enough to make you forget that, once again, the lone South African team got eliminated in the semifinals. Almost enough to make you forget that, once again, South Africa’s Super 12 franchises […]