David Webster In an extract from his new book, Into the heart of Darkness, journalist Jacques Pauw describes a bizarre confession from the crack-smoking hoodlum who is now on trial for Webster’s murder His head was bouncing and hopping like a rubber ball on his broad shoulders, while clutched between his thumb and forefinger was […]

for you Jane E Brody The buzzword of a few years ago was beta carotene, a substance found in fruits and vegetables that was supposed to protect against cancer. Then scientific studies showed no particular benefit from taking beta carotene in pill form. Now it seems another substance in fruits and vegetables may account for […]

Are unions losing sight of the fight for workers’ rights in their quest for investments, asks Charlene Smith In the rush to tap into the R250-billion held in retirement funds, are trade union investment companies at risk of selling their souls? If they manage to overcome the barriers employers are almost certain to set up, […]

Pat McDermott : Cricket Australia in Australia are, as any touring team who has visited the home of sledging, the hand-held frosty and unremitting competitiveness on the field of play will tell you, remains a cricketing journey beyond the reach of the faint-hearted or the foolhardy. And while Hansie Cronje’s South Africans approach their 11-week […]

Andy Duffy Independent investigators in the North West province are probing alleged irregularities in education department contracts worth more than R130-million. The contracts include a massive school textbook order, where half the books never reached the schools, and irregularities in at least two Reconstruction and Development Programme education schemes in the province. The investigation, ordered […]

SUHARTO TO GET TOP HONOURVISITING Indonesian President, Mohamed Suharto, is to receive South Africa’s highest honour, the Order of Good Hope, at a special ceremony at President Nelson Mandela’s residence this weekend. The award-ceremony will be Suharto’s last stop in South Africa before he leaves for Cananda on Saturday. Last month the award was given […]

Iden Wetherell The collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar and pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have forced President Robert Mugabe’s government to disclose how it intends to fund the substantial payouts it has promised veterans of the country’s liberation war. But it is unlikely that this week’s announcement of far-reaching budgetary revisions and drastic […]

Janet Smith In a cyber world, girls are not necessarily made of sugar and spice and all things nice, nor do virtual crocodiles necessarily eat them smeared in caramel. But Codi (see cover picture), with her Fifth Element bob and her hot-stuff lycra playwear, is as spunky as good girls from reality are sweet. Born […]

Jonathan Romney New music Four months ago, Robert Wyatt became a grandfather at the age of 52, and it’s fair to say that the role suits him down to the ground. He has the right beard for the part, and he makes the kind of music you’d rather hope a grandfather would make – melancholic, […]