Gaye Davis CONDOMS should be distributed to prisoners and those with HIV or Aids should no longer be segregated, a special work group investigating health care in South African jails has recommended. The Department of Correctional Services has always ruled out condoms for inmates on the grounds that this would encourage sodomy, which is illegal […]

Moroccan sensitivities over the Western Sahara-Polisario dispute almost resulted in the sabotage of South Africa’s initiative in North Africa, reports Gaye Davis TOP-LEVEL diplomatic efforts — including a telephone call from President Nelson Mandela to the king of Morocco — brought Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo’s recent North African trip back from the brink of disaster. […]

Ricardo Dunn Every Thursday from 8:30 to 9:30pm, the airwaves of Western Cape’s Bush radio 89.5 fm are tickled pink with an hour of gay programming. Africa’s only “queer” radio programme is a serious exercise in “camp” dialogue and commitment to positive images of gay people. In the Pink, a programme produced by and for […]

CINEMA: Andrew Worsdale LIKE a film by Quentin Tarantino, Get Shorty begins in a diner. And, like a Tarantino movie, it has lots of characters who go off on wild monologues about the weather and, specifically, about Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil: main guy John Travolta is an obsessive movie fan. In Get Shorty, Tarantino […]

David Brink of Absa has taken exception to Martin Welz’s description of him as ”Sanlam’s former money man brought in to clean up the mess left behind by Absa’s founding chief executive, Piet Badenhorst.” (M&G, January 26 to February 1 1996) ”The facts are,” Brink said, ”before joining the board of Absa, I worked as […]

Students criticise Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu for ignoring their grievances, but the budget simply cannot be stretched to wipe out student arrears totalling R100-milion. Jacquie Golding-Duffy reports THE most powerful university student group in the country is not impressed with Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu’s refusal to negotiate on the R100-million accumulated student debt. Stephanie Alais, […]

March 1: New South Wales v Transvaal, Sydney; Wellington v Auckland, Athletic Park March 2: Natal v Western Province, King’s Park March 3: Waikato v Canterbury, Hamilton; Otago v Queensland Carisbrook March 5: Australian Capital Territory v Transvaal, Canberra March 9: Western Province v New South Wales, Newlands; Otago v Transvaal, Carisbrook; Australian Capital Territory […]

THE starting point of staging a live music event is deceptively simple. But simply having an idea is not enough for enthusiasts or opportunists. Festivals need funds, and financial input from the public and private sectors is a feature of festivals internationally. In the event that a sponsor is sought, it is necessary to ensure […]

Stefaans Brummer CREDIT card giant MasterCard International has infuriated local police by flying a self-acknowledged South African crook overseas in a botched cloak-and- dagger operation intended to entrap members of a powerful South African fraud syndicate. Now MasterCard stands accused of bypassing South African police, withholding information and obstructing local investigations. MasterCard denies the charges, […]

Simon Segal WITH cellular telephones now virtually passe, satellite television is set to become the next yuppie symbol. Behind the scenes an intriguing corporate battle is unfolding between M-Nets Multichoice and SABC. There is potential for substantial losers and winners. The big question is whether SABCs decision to go analogue makes commercial sense in a […]