Rehana Rossouw Nine employees of the department of trade and industry (DTI), who haven’t worked for four months, have begun legal action for severance pay until March 1997. The four have refused to be transferred from Cape Town to Pretoria. They were involved in a DTI business project which has now ground to a halt […]

Ann Eveleth The Investigation Task Unit (ITU) probing hit-squads in KwaZulu-Natal is to lose another key member: state prosecutor Carl Koenig will leave his post next week. Koenig will follow supercop Frank Dutton to take up a post with the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. His departure will be a blow […]

The row over extended doctors’ training is bringing pressure for other students to do community service. Philippa Garson and Joshua Amupadhi report Extending community service for postgraduates of all disciplines, including the medical profession, could help alleviate the funding crisis in tertiary education. A furious debate developed this week around plans by the Interim National […]

Justin Pearce JOHN ASPINALL, right-wing zookeeper, multimillionaire gambler and friend of Mangosuthu Buthelezi, is eyeing KwaZulu-Natal as the site for his next casino. This was confirmed by Lazelle Krog, the province’s director of policy and legislative development in gaming and betting. Aspinall’s casino empire is based in London, with operations in France and New Zealand. […]

TELEVISION: Charl Blignaut AS the public broadcaster of a developing nation, the SABC was given all its Olympic footage for free. But, not the type to pass up an opportunity to prove its commentators “can match the world’s best”, the corporation decided to make up for all the money it had saved by sending no […]

Controversy over the government’s banning of the gay rights group Galz is jeopardising the future of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair, reports Iden Wetherell IT would be difficult to imagine a more tranquil scene: the Harare Gardens in early August; the first hint of summer as temperatures climb; the scent of jasmine and the tinkle […]

Chris McGreal in Bujumbura THE United States paid Burundi’s new military dictator nearly $150 000 over the past three years to promote democracy and peace. A significant proportion of the money given to Major Pierre Buyoya’s Foundation for Unity, Peace and Democracy was to organise an international conference in Burundi, to include such notable peace-makers […]

Philippa Garson WHETHER doctors should get more training and give some service to society at the same time is less in dispute than whether the country — and the students — are ready for it. The Interim National Medical and Dental Council has been criticised for implementing radical changes to the profession before the legwork […]

Advice and inspiration from two previous Olympic champions helped Hezekial Sepeng to a stunning silver medal in the 800m in Atlanta ATHLETICS: Julian Drew HEZEKIAL SEPENG’S success in Atlanta and the rave reviews he is now receiving provide a stark contrast to the response his performances drew last year and serve to underline just how […]

SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi IT may sound Irish to disclose that the South African soccer season begins this weekend, five months after the first matches were played. It also happens to be true. At the beginning of the year it was decided to introduce a Premier League, run along the lines of the remarkably successful English […]