FRIDAY, 11.30AM FIVE labour unions on Thursday declared a dispute with metal industry employers after the third round of industry negotiations deadlocked. The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation said its final offer of between 8% and 8,5% was rejected. The unions demanded between 13% and 23%.The National Union of Metalworkers of SA, the National Employees’ […]
It was from within the ANC itself that the opposition to child grant cuts came, forcing the minister of welfare to reassess her proposed scheme, writes Marion Edmunds PRACTICAL problems and criticism from within the African National Congress have driven Minister of Welfare Geraldine Fraser- Moleketi to back away from key parts of her controversial […]
FRIDAY, 3.30PM THE Forum of Black Journalists on Friday accused the English and Afrikaans press and the SA Broadcasting Corporation of knowingly colluding with successive apartheid governments. The accusation formed part of a submission handed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Johannesburg offices. In a statement outlining its submission, the FBJ said it will seek […]
ONE of the telling ironies of the KWV champagne swindle was the whereabouts of the managing director of the co-operative’s international division when the scandal broke. J “Kobus” van Niekerk, identified in KWV documents as having given the go-ahead for the manufacture of fake champagne for export, was himself abroad last week – leading a […]
Treaties are stealthily being enacted to empower transnational companies to take financial decisions out of the democratic arena, political theorist Noam Chomsky warned in a speech to the University of Cape Town GLOBALISATION is not all that it is claimed to be. It is punted to be about the miracles of the markets – and […]
Malcolm Bradbury THE FAREWELL SYMPHONY by Edmund White (Chatto & Windus, R110) UNDER one possible gaze, we can consider Haydn’s extraordinary Farewell Symphony as a musical tragedy. Performances flower but then fade; in the last movement, the musicians leave the stage one by one, extinguishing their candles, till only a single violin is left. Under […]
The biggest art shows in the world get under way this month. BRENDA ATKINSON on William Kentridge, South Africa’s most notable player THERE are few South African artists who can claim as expansive a career curve as William Kentridge, nor as consistently impressive a body of work. It seems that 1997 will consolidate his international […]
hot air Will the airship called Nelson ever get off the ground? It’ll be surprising if it does, writes Dawn Blalock JONATHAN HAMILTON has a dream: to transport people in gas-filled airships. Others suggest he is full of hot air. The 31-year-old Sandton entrepreneur is the founder of The Hamilton Airship Company, a business he […]
The Springboks are adapting to a new coach and being without some ditched World Cup stars, while the Lions are coming to terms with a new style of play RUGBY:Steve Morris WHAT we have right now in the build-up towards next Saturday’s first Test between the Springboks and the Lions at Newlands, is two potentially […]
Appealing to JCI’s Mzi Khumalo has not helped the NUM in negotiating retrenchments with the mining house, writes Ferial Haffajee `WE expected more heart from someone like Mzi; it was a heartless decision,” says the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) deputy general secretary Gwede Mantashe of Mzi Khumalo, JCI’s new chair. JCI has decided it […]