evil In an extract from his book, Into the Heart of Darkness, journalist Jacques Pauw describes his meeting with Paul van Vuuren, whose only regrets were that he lost the war, was exposed and had to confess It is Sunday lunch on the farm “Drooglaagte” west of Warmbaths in the Northern Transvaal bushveld. The burly, […]

Mail & Guardian reporters The beginning of November was D-day for radio stations: one in five songs or 20% of their music must now be a home-brew. Although a number of radio stations are below that quota, only one has applied to the Independent Broadcasting Authority for a broadcasting exemption. Highveld Stereo’s station manager Malcolm […]

Intel maintains its dominance of the microchip market by suing companies that compete with it. Tim Jackson tells the story of one of these battles In the mid-1980s, George Hwang decided to start a new business combining his own expertise in process technology and manufacturing with the talents of Bob Woo, a friend with an […]

centre Wonder Hlongwa Controversial Durban businessman Vivian Reddy, who was suspected of being the mysterious Sarafina II donor, has once again attracted attention for his generosity. Last week he announced an “eight digit” contribution to the Curries Fountain Stadium Sports Development Centre. The Mail & Guardian has learnt that Afrisun, a company in which Reddy […]

Thebe Investment Company pioneered a new South African corporate culture but black business still has far to go, writes Charlene Smith Seven years ago there were no black companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange; indeed there was not a single black corporation. Pondering this, Vusi Khanyile, then finance head of the African National Congress, […]

FRIDAY, 10.30AM: KWAZULU-Natal Finance MEC Ben Ngubane on Thursday told the provincial legislature that the Ulundi government is drafting legislation that will lead to department heads being jailed for spending beyond their budgets. Ngubane said that he also intends setting up a commission of inquiry to establish the reasons for the province’s financial problems and […]

The Generations leading actor has `committed suicide’, write Charl Blignaut and Janet Smith This week, notorious advertising executive Hilda Letlalo unceremoniously committed suicide in an SABC studio – and viewers of South Africa’s most popular locally produced soap opera won’t get a chance to see her demise. That’s because Vinoliah Mashego, the award- winning TV […]

Andy Duffy The president’s office is paving the way for Nelson Mandela to break his promise to South Africa that no teachers would be kicked out of their jobs. Department of Education officials and teaching unions both view the president’s promise, made last year, as binding and a key political obstacle to dismissing state teachers. […]

processors Steve Shipside It’s a depressingly familiar scenario. Your film comes back with 10 underdeveloped pictures, 10 overdeveloped, three shots of your thumb, and four cases of red-eye that make close family members look like Zoltan, Hound of Dracula. Precisely that disappointment is driving the digital photography market, says Steve Hoffenberg, director of the Digital […]

Neil Manthorp : Cricket South Africa’s cricketers have both endured and enjoyed a very, very long week in Perth since their arrival last Friday. The veterans of the 1994 tour, and the 1992 World Cup, wasted little time in reacquainting themselves with the delights of southern hemisphere hospitality while the Oz rookies discovered just what […]