Johannesburg’s night A Johannesburger through and through, Mark Varder has realised, after a hijacking, that his city is the near-death experience I am sitting on a green vinyl chair on the second floor of the Bramley Police Station. It is 7.30am. The man across the room is about to speak on the phone. “Hell-o-o-o-oh,” he […]

David Beresford : A Second Look Life tends to be made up of a series of images, snapshots from the past. One particularly powerful image from my past is of cricket. It was the early 1970s and I was living in Richmond, near the park. I had shaken the dust of South Africa off my […]

Anthony Kunda in Lusaka The detention of former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda in connection with the botched military putsch of October 28 last year has brought frustrating privations for journalists. The government has not introduced any new legislation to restrict the media. But the police seem to have become paranoid, especially about journalists from independent […]

Metro The positions of station and programming manager at Radio Metro are up for grabs. Maria McCloy reports on the likely candidates Three of the countrys top radio personalities are tipped to be in the running for top jobs at Radio Metro, one of the SABCs biggest money-spinners. The three Bob Mabena, Tim Modise and […]

Ferial Haffajee The Independent Newspaper Groups ambitious transformation programme has been dealt a blow by labour protests against its plans. All four trade unions at the groups flagship Gauteng Newspapers have resigned from the regional affirmative action monitoring committee. Sparked by a disputed appointment in the advertising department, the row has grown. Now staff allege […]

Wonder Hlongwa and Ann Eveleth The role of police in the brutal Shobashobane massacre will come under the microscope for the first time next week amid fears that senior police management will try to shift the blame to a single station commander. Eighteen Inkatha Freedom Party supporters were convicted early last year for shooting and […]

Raparazzi! Residents of Pretoria whose slumbers were disturbed by the squeal of car tyres on Wednesday night might be interested to know that the noise signalled the arrival of the paparazzi phenomenon in the capital. The high-speed car chase was precipitated by Rapport newspaper, whose photographers have been camped for a fortnight outside the home […]

Mukoni T Ratshitanga Allegations of corruption have been levelled against Khayalethu Home Loans (KHL), a subsidiary of the South African Housing Trust charged with arranging low- cost housing loans. KHL is chaired by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki’s special adviser, Frank Chikane. It has been alleged that KHL paid more than R300 000 for one year’s […]

Sechaba ka’Nkosi The African National Congress’s biggest alliance partner, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), will spend most of 1998 campaigning against the ANC’s lynchpin policy. At the centre of the looming confrontation is an assertion by senior ANC leaders in Mafikeng during its conference last month that its Growth, Employment and Redistribution […]

Faried Esack Shamima Shaikh (37), South Africa’s leading Muslim gender equality activist, passed away in the early hours of January 8 at her home in Mayfair, Johannesburg. She had cancer. Shaikh left behind her husband, Naeem Jeenah, and two sons Minhaj (9) and Shir’ah (7). Shaikh was a member of the national executive committee of […]