adversity Mark Lamport-Stokes : Cricket Yin and yang; darkness and light; setback and advantage. Any of these stark contrasts could be used to encapsulate the burgeoning career of Zimbabwean fast bowler Henry Olonga. In the space of the last 18 months, the popular 21-year-old has had to face square on the numbing adversity of being […]

Chris Gordon Diplomatic attempts to pull together Angola’s peace process have reached the 11th hour, with a unanimous vote by the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on the Angolan rebel group Unita for non-compliance with the peace accords. The sanctions will come into effect on September 30. The next moves now depend on […]

The fiction of Ian McEwan has often dealt with lives abruptly altered. This excerpt from his new novel, Enduring Love, depicts the impact of a freak accident The beginning is simple to mark. We were in sunlight under a turkey oak, partly protected from a strong, gusty wind. I was kneeling on the grass with […]

power’ entrenched at Wits Mahmood Mamdani South Africa has a gender commission, a minorities commission, a human rights commission, but not a race commission. Could it be that the framers of the Constitution presumed that majority rule would necessarily be majority race rule, and so there would be no need for a commission to offset […]

FRIDAY, 11.00AM: THE European Union’s R600-million-a-year aid package for South Africa is not being spent due to technical problems, leading to the EU cutting disbursements. It is believed that SA’s slow spending of the aid money will make it difficult for EU officials in Brussels to secure further development assistance programmes for Pretoria when the […]

Robert Kirby : Loose cannon A lot of commentators are playing down the question of who will take over leadership of the National Party now that FW’s going. ”Who cares?” they cry. ”The NP is a spent force,” they mutter. ”It matters not who pilots a stalled wagon-train.” I have to disagree. The future health […]

John Rodda It’s time for that big Olympic Moment – not another medal ceremony but that heart- stopping, economy-booming (or busting) pronouncement which comes twice every four years. This Friday in the Olympic city of Lausanne Juan Antonio Samaranch, now in his 17th year as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will step up […]

THURSDAY, 4.00PM ALLAN BOESAK, former head of the now defunct Foundation for Peace and Justice, made a suprise appearance in the Cape High Court on Thursday with his co-accused Freddie Steenkamp, the foundation’s former bookkeeper. They were only due to appear in court on September 15, when counsel for Boesak intended bringing an application for […]

THURSDAY, 4.00PM FIGHTING on the breakaway Comoran island of Anjouan left two government soldiers with bullet wounds, an army source said on Thursday after the government claimed to have put down the separatist insurrection there without bloodshed. Independent reports on the extent of fighting were difficult to obtain as telephone and transport links were cut […]

THURSDAY, 1.00PM: MAMELODI Sundowns on Thursday recieved a massive sponsorship boost from Reckitt & Colman Pharmaceuticals to the tune of R7-million for the next 24 months. Accepting the sponsorship, Sundowns chairman Abe Krok said soccer in South Africa has become a big business. “Sundowns have worked hard to become one of the country’s top clubs […]