John le Carre is credited by some with originating one of the most powerful analytical tools since sod’s law: the explanation of human endeavour and its frustration in terms of the conspiracy and the cock-up theories. It is perhaps time it was brought to bear on South Africa’s most critical problem: crime. Over recent months […]

Marion Edmunds THE government is to investigate importing Cuban teachers to shore up the state school service. Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu said this week he planned to go to Cuba later this month to look at the country’s maths and science teachers. He dismissed suggestions that the government’s redeployment programme – where state teachers were […]

Three former editors have distanced themselves from the submission by Independent Newspapers to the truth commission, reports Jacquie Golding-Duffy EX-EDITORS of the former Argus Company, the new management at Independent Newspapers and journalists are involved in a heated debate regarding the Independent group’s submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In an extraordinary move, […]

What exactly is South Africa doing in its new, state-of-the-art Antarctic research base? Lesley Cowling reports PICTURES of Antarctica show a pristine wonderland: stunning white snow and poster- blue seas, penguins in their zoot suits, the wildest cleanest place on earth. But it’s also the coldest, windiest place on earth. In winter there’s no light, […]

Iden Wetherell in Harare PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe this week led a high-powered team to London to drum up investment in Zimbabwe’s faltering economy. Government sources in Harare have been upbeat about the interest shown by British companies. But it remains to be seen whether this will translate into money and jobs. Investment is vital to […]

Stuart Hess and Mungo Soggot finally got to see the report that caused all the trouble THE dossier which prompted a government inquiry into rugby and this week’s high court battle between rugby supremo Louis Luyt and Sports Minister Steve Tshwete contains little more than press clippings and court papers. Documents handed to Tshwete by […]

Gustav Thiel A RASTAFARIAN is taking the Law Society of Cape Town to court over its refusal to allow him to qualify as a lawyer because he has a criminal record for cannabis possession. The Law Society says it cannot allow Garreth Prince, who completed his legal studies at the University of the Western Cape […]

ancestral land Caitlin Davies in Maun A NEW initiative by the Botswana government to remove Bushmen from their ancestral lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve – to make way for tourism and mining – has backfired, with hundreds of Bushmen agreeing to accept cash in return for moving, but then changing their minds. “People […]

Need computer information in a readable form? Try these PCReview books, writes BARBARA LUDMAN THE boffins who write the Mail & Guardian’s PCReview supplement have now turned out an entertaining series of guides to the computer age. First up is Irwin Manoim’s Buying the Right Computer (R49,95); next comes Mish Middelmann’s The Lowdown on Windows […]

A fund set up to encourage banks to finance housing in high-risk areas has not been used, reports Mungo Soggot THE government agency set up to entice banks into lending money for housing in high-risk areas has concentrated on areas where it admits there is no risk. In its two years of existence, the Mortgage […]