Robert Kirby Channel Vision I thought I might introduce my brand new assignment as the Mail & Guardian’s television ruminant with a merry thought from Mr Theo Erasmus. Mr Erasmus – or Thunderbox Theo as he’s known to his professional intimates – is general manager of SABC3. According to rumour, Theo earned this moniker from […]

Barry Streek African National Congress MP Pierre-Jeanne Gerber is Parliament’s biggest landowner: in his declaration of interests he has listed 255 properties he owns. Gerber, who resigned from the New National Party in April, has a built a 60m-long house on the platform of an old station, Malan Stasie, outside Wellington. He bought the station […]

Shaun Harris taking Stock You can search for and buy just about anything over the Internet these days – cars, books, shares, even (and it’s a sad reflection of the country’s recent high interest rates) repossessed houses. But apart from the convenience, is it worth it, what’s the catch? Surely the online companies must be […]

Barry Streek reports how a top-secret satellite and missile development centre has been turned into a specialist training unit for students The apartheid government’s top-secret satellite and missile development centre, worth billions of rands, has been transformed into a specialist training unit for physics graduates to study and research satellite communications. Last year, 36 students […]

Aids to SA’ Aaron Nicodemus A leading Aids researcher says military bases in Angola and northern Namibia – belonging to the old South African Defence Force (SADF), the African National Congress’s armed wing and the Inkatha Freedom Party – are primarily responsible for the rapid and uneven spread of the disease in South Africa. Dr […]

MILLENNIUM COUNTDOWN The US ruled the last century and will rule the next. What will it do with its power, asks Madeleine Bunting The 20th century was designated as having belonged to the United States long before we saw its end looming. As early as the Forties its combination of military strength evident in Europe […]

In a country where the war-weary people say they have no idea what is being fought for on their behalf, the one certainty is that the next dictator will be a popular man – after he has gone out of style, writes John Matshikiza In recently published letters and diary extracts, Che Guevara, the Argentinean-born […]

The Mail & Guardian is pleased to announce the following appointments: Hoosain Karjieker: Karjieker joins the M&G as financial director from MultiChoice Africa where he was finance manager. Zanele Gumbi: Gumbi joins us as marketing manager from Avon World, where she was accounts executive. Before that, she was accounts executive at the Sowetan. Barry Streek: […]

THE Department of Sports and Recreation on Thursday announced its director-general, Mthobi Tyamzashe, would be retained in the department as the new adviser to Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour. Balfour said Tyamzashe, who was director-general for five years, would stay on as his advisor until the end of the year. Balfour said Denver Hendrick would replace […]

GOLDEN Lions skipper Hannes Strydom will miss his team’s Currie Cup semi-final match against South Western Districts in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Lions on Thursday named Strydom in their starting line-up, but a hamstring injury suffered a fortnight ago against Boland has ruled the lock forward out for the second game in succession.