Gwen Ansell A father who banned you from playing, and a childhood accident that lopped off the tips of a couple of fingers don’t sound like a promising start for a jazz musician. Bheki Mseleku in tomorrow’s (Saturday, September 6) final Joy of Jazz concert at the Pretoria State Theatre proves how remarkably you can […]

The energy ministry proposes to stop exports to boost local employment, writes Mungo Soggot The Minister of Minerals and Energy, Penuell Maduna, wants to cut or stop altogether the export of diamonds from South Africa – a strategy that would severely threaten the survival of the De Beers diamond cartel. The minister’s special adviser on […]

FRIDAY, 3.30PM SEPARATISTS on the Comoro island of Anjouan have put up such fierce resistance to government troops that the OAU has urged the government to withdraw. OAU special envoy Pierre Uere has urged the government to pull out its 300 troops after at least 30 were killed in an aborted invasion attempt that began […]

The Angella Johnson Interview Dingaan Thobela, two times boxing world champion and all-round Mr Nice Guy, has a rather unusual day job. When he’s not in the ring trying to knock people out, he’s putting them in the ground. The world-famous Rose of Soweto moonlights as a funeral director. Not that you’d think, looking at […]

PRISON SHIPS ON HOLD EVEN though the correctional services department has decided against buying ships for use as jails, private companies could still be asked to tender for operating floating prisons, correctional services commissioner Khulekani Sitole said on Friday. He said after viewing two hulks for sale in Ukraine and a British floating prison, the […]

FRIDAY, 11.00AM: A DRAFT affirmative action Bill requiring every business to have an affirmative action policy will be published for comment before year’s end, Labour Minister Tito Mboweni told the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday. The Bill will follow the Malaysain affirmative action model rather than the American one, in that it […]

Sechaba ka’Nkosi With less than two weeks to go before the annual meeting of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), there is growing uncertainty within its membership about its future and the influence the federation still has in South African politics. In the rapidly changing political and economic climate, it is being reduced […]

Madeleine Wackernagel Oxfam, the British-based charity, is calling on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reconsider their debt-rescheduling plan for Mozambique. A decision on the extent of the relief to be offered to one of the world’s poorest countries will be made on Tuesday. Much has been made of the great economic […]

FRIDAY, 5.00PM: IMPROVED performance and a revised government rescue package have ensured that the ERPM gold mine will be saved from closure for the time being. Outgoing chairman Lionel Hewitt said on Thursday the mine’s new management had manged to bring the mines operations close to break-even in the past few months since it recorded […]