n Nelson’s Dictionary (1st edition). “Haggis. A meal-on-wheels which the Scots keep as pets preparatory to devouring them amidst scenes of great cruelty on the evening of January 25 each year, under the pretext of feeding the poetic impulse.” Dear Walter, Where did I leave you ? Ah, yes, in the desert with Gertrude the […]

THURSDAY, 3.20PM MORE than 78 million shares worth R1,3bn were traded in a busy day on the JSE today. The market took a dip following a global trend, and local traders were nervous about what Wall Street would do. There were indications the US markets were heading for another nosedive. The all share index closed […]

Marion Edmunds A top Department of Foreign Affairs lawyer has backed President Nelson Mandela’s controversial stance on Libya, advising him to support Moammar Gadaffi’s refusal to hand the Lockerbie bombing suspects to Britain and the United States. The department’s chief legal adviser, Albert Hoffmann, told Mandela’s office that according to international law, Libya was right […]

THURSDAY, 11.00AM: The long-delayed Lotteries Bill was finally approved by Parliament on Wednesday, and chances are good South Africa will have a national lottery by early 1999. The Bill, which was first drafted five years ago, has undergone repeated amendments since then to accommodate South Africa’s already flourishing casinos and horse racing pools. The Bill […]

A new book alleges Kerzner made a deal with the NP to evade extradition to the Transkei to face bribery charges, write Madeleine Wackernagel and Mungo Soggot Pik Botha has denied sensational allegations that the National Party government agreed to shield the gambling supremo, Sol Kerzner, from bribery charges in the Transkei in return for […]

Wonder Hlongwa The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has been forced to sack or discipline about 20 staff members in the last year for offences ranging from poor work performance and drunkenness to fraud and rape. Equipment valued at thousands of rand, including cars, computers and cellphones, has been stolen or abused in this time […]

Marion Edmunds South Africa’s jet-setting MPs may find their frequent flights cancelled if they do not work harder in Parliament. African National Congress chief whip Max Sisulu is to crack his whip with a new vehemence, after introducing strict disciplinary measures for slack ANC MPs in caucus this week. Sisulu says they could be fined […]

Ross Jennings of the Community Agency for Social Enquiry (Case) presented a document at last weekend’s Gauteng youth summit which suggests that young people are still not responsible enough in their sexual encounters. It is based on Case and Central Statistical Services research from 1993, 1995 and 1996 that shows 73% of the province’s youth […]

leader Gustav Thiel A new messiah has emerged in the faltering attempt to launch an umbrella movement to protect the rights of the Afrikaner community: former Progressive Federal Party MP Frederik van Zyl Slabbert. A leading instigator of the initiative, Nasionale Pers non-executive chair Ton Vosloo, said this week that leading Afrikaners “simply do not […]

Chris Gordon and Peta Thornycroft Both Unita, Angola’s rebels, and the ruling MPLA government say the United Nations sanctions imposed on Unita this week will not spark off a new war. Speaking from New York, Unita’s ambassador to the UN Jaime Vilasanta, putting a brave face on the UN move, said the sanctions would change […]