Andrew Muchineripi Soccer Kaizer Chiefs and success were once synonymous. No South African season passed without the Amakhosi winning the national championship or at least one of the major knockout competitions. They were a great club, filling grounds throughout the country with a heady brew of attacking football. Ace Ntsoelengoe, Teenage Dladla, Fani Madida, Shane […]

Herbert W Vilakazi There is a most serious economic crisis facing this country, even though, like an earthquake or a tornado, it affects different communities differently, depending on how close they are to the epicentre of the destructive force. In recent years, our economy has barely been growing faster than the population; the level of […]

Robert Kirby : Loose cannon The last time I risked entering a South African airport lavatory without wearing protective clothing was at Port Elizabeth and it was the business class one. Not too bad. Before that was about seven months ago and was at Johannesburg International Airport. Remember that famous foul bogger in Trainspotting? Well, […]

Maria McCloy : In your ear There are signs that Gautengs second Muslim radio station, The Voice, is very different from South Africas other Muslim stations. Two stations in Cape Town have proved extremely popular, while Durban has a couple in the pipeline and Gauteng boasts Radio Islam. Shamima Shaikh, chair of The Muslim Community […]

Hadass Segal : Unspoilt places The road from Chipata to Zambias South Luangwa National Park is both a blessing and a curse. Just as you dislodge your stomach from your mouth, another pothole puts it right back for you. But it certainly is worth getting there. The fact that only 4x4s and overland trucks can […]

Mukoni T Ratshitanga and Bongani Siqoko Apartheid?s architect, Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, would be turning in his grave. The hospital named after him is now headed by a black woman. Dr Zola Njongwe is chief medical superintendent of Pretoria Academic Hospital ? renamed in April after being HF Verwoed Hospital since the death of the former […]

Ed Vulliamy in Washington The question that has haunted a billion parents for 20 years is poised to go before a judge and jury in an American court: is Barbie a wholesome toy for young children or a sex object? As the worlds billionth Barbie doll was sold last week, a song called Barbie Girl […]

The truth commission hearings into the SABC shed little light on the means and methods of its apartheid years, writes Ferial Haffajee There were no tears. There should have been. This weeks Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing into the SABC was a tragic affair. Tragic in the revelation of systematic and sanctioned brainwashing; sad in […]

Chris McGreal The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has blocked the United Nations latest attempt to investigate massacres of refugees during this years rebellion against Mobutu Sese Seko, throwing into jeopardy the entire mission and crucial foreign aid. Congo refused to permit investigators to travel to the northern town of Mbandaka this week […]

In 1982 The Star newspaper published a story exposing the Reverend Allan Boesaks affair with an official of the South African Council of Churches. The story was based upon information fed to it by security police. To justify its decision, the newspaper claimed that it was an expos of the security branchs dirty tricks. Yet […]