Opposition parties are preparing to use the death penalty to whip the ANC. Will the ANC be able to withstand the pressure, asks Marion Edmunds A political fight over the death penalty is brewing between the African National Congress and opposition parties – one in which ANC leadership finds itself at odds with majority opinion. […]

As international wines become collector’s items never to be drunk, Melvyn Minnaar wonders what’s happening in the local industry They’re tasted well enough, most likely from little tulip-shaped tasting glasses. But then they’re deftly ejected from the taster’s mouth into what has been known as a spittoon since Queen Victoria. The examiner moves on to […]

From Collins Dictionaries: 1896 Radioactivity 1897 Aspirin 1898 Krypton 1899 gamine 1900 Labour Party 1901 Fingerprint 1902 Teddy bear 1903 Tarmac 1904 Fifa 1905 Sinn Fein 1906 Suffragette 1907 Allergy 1908 Borstal 1909 Jazz 1910 Girl Guide 1911 Air raid 1912 Schizophrenia 1913 Isotope 1914 Vorticism 1915 tank 1916 Dada 1917 Cheka 1918 Bolshie/Bolshy 1919 […]

The inventor who gave the world the pollution sniffer and the microwave oven has also made a brilliant contribution to the world of ideas – the Gaia theory. Fred Pearce reports James Lovelock, independent British inventor and Gaia guru, added to his trophy cabinet this month when he went to Japan to claim the Blue […]

Madeleine Roux The oasis that is the Andries Stockenstrm guest house comes as more than a surprise. The gigantic house with its wide, yellowwood plank floors gives on to a spacious stoep and a garden crammed with fruit trees. A delicious smell of rich wine sauces, herbs and fruity pud wafts through the house. Beatrice […]

The recent rape of a matriculant by four fellow scholars has highlighted that not even schools are safe any longer. Andy Duffy reports The 17-year-old Mitchells Plain schoolgirl should have been writing matric these past couple of weeks. Instead, she sits alone at home, victim of a gang rape. For legal reasons, the girl cannot […]

Steve Morris Rugby We would have to take Springbok coach Nick Mallett’s word on the fact that disgraced prop Toks van der Linde intended no deliberate harm during his unsavoury tap dance on the head of French Barbarian David Dantiacq. The French centre and his Gallic counterpart, referee Joel Dume, had different perspectives on the […]

Bongani Siqoko Boxing Legendary champion Roberto Duran knows very well that if he is to get another crack at a world title, he has to win his fight on Saturday. Duran meets Englishman David Radford in a 10-round light-heavyweight non-title fight, in the Jumbo Cash & Carry “Amabutho Empi” boxing extravanganza at the Carousel on […]

Chris McGreal The United Nations has accused the new government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) of showing little more respect for human rights and democratisation than Mobutu Sese Seko’s dictatorship. A report was released as UN investigators returned to Kinshasa to probe massacres of Rwandan Hutu refugees in the east of the […]

Ferial Haffajee Zwelakhe Sisulu is expected to quit the SABC for one of many tempting media executive positions being dangled before him. Senior SABC insiders believe Sisulu is likely to leave in the next “three to six months”. He has not taken the option of extending his contract as chief executive – which came up […]