John Grobler Even if pickled fish did not feature on the menu of Namibian Fisheries Minister Abraham Iyambo’s wedding reception, it remains the aftertaste following his recent “wedding of the millennium” which prompted calls for his resignation. Several unions have called for Iyambo to explain his position or resign after The Namibian newspaper reported that […]

shock William Keegan According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS): “A general resurgence of inflation seems less likely than further disinflation or even deflation.” This may seem a dry, even unremarkable, assertion until you consider who made it. The BIS is one of the world’s most prestigious financial institutions, the “central bankers’ bank” based […]

Marianne Merten `I have no more tears left,” says Keith Mentor, whose three-year-old granddaughter, Chantine Veldsman, was shot in the head at point-blank range last Saturday in Mitchells Plain. The little girl clung to life at Cape Town’s Red Cross Children’s Hospital for two days. On Monday Chantine was declared brain dead and the life […]

Charlene Smith President Thabo Mbeki is expected to provide an outline of his new government’s economic policy, and proposals for the implementation of an “African renaissance”, at next weekend’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Durban. The forum, according to briefing papers issued to delegates, is predicting a more flexible stance on inflation under Mbeki, more […]

Peter Bradshaw After the flop that was Johnny Mnemonic, the idea of casting Keanu Reeves in another virtual reality thriller must have taken a lot of nerve. Either that or they really wanted Ben Affleck but Ben wasn’t available. In any case, I must admit that if I had been offered a chance a year […]

THURSDAY, 1.00PM: A FURORE has broken out over transport parastatal Transnet’s award of lucrative public relations contracts to Simeka TWS Communications, because Transnet MD Saki Macozoma sits on Simeka’s board. National Party MP Daryl Swanepoel has accused Transnet of a “gross conflict of interest”, and claims that Simeka was awarded Transnet contracts irregularly. Swanepoel claimed […]

Shaun de Waal Not quite movie of the week British director Stephen Frears has often taken a notable interest in the particularities and peculiarities of human relationships, and his best films explore them from a number of angles and in different milieux. His 1986 feature My Beautiful Laundrette posited a gay love affair between a […]

THURSDAY, 11.30AM: ITALY beat Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions 3-0 on Wednesday, breaking the deadlock in Group B of the World Cup. The Lions suffered one goal from Italy’s new star, Luigi di Bagio, and two from Christian Vieri. Unfortunately, the Africans handicapped themselves in the 43rd minute — Raymond Kalla was sent off for an overly […]

Jonathan Ancer talks to some of the `seditious’ students who were blamed for the 1976 Soweto riots Twenty-three years after the June 16 Soweto uprising, the “seditious” students convicted of inciting the rebellion are influential members of the new South Africa they helped to create. There’s an MP, a Department of Foreign Affairs official, a […]