Water crisis: It’s not about when or how much you can water your garden. It’s about how ongoing mismanagement and environmental damage have ruined resources Eddie Koch A front-page article in a national newspaper recently reported on how the Johannesburg city council was encouraging suburban residents to spy on neighbours who might be illegally watering […]

Karen Harverson George Sombonos — owner of the R100-million Chicken Licken, the third biggest fast food chain in South Africa — is unperturbed and mildly surprised by the uproar caused by the successful outcome of his court case against US hamburger chain McDonald’s. He admits to feeling “very relieved” at the verdict delivered last week […]

Reg Rumney The investment of around 3 000 debenture holders in the troubled Owen Wiggins Trust group is still at risk. For the first time since March 9 the curators of Owen Wiggins, whose troubles bear similarities to the Masterbond saga, have formally contacted investors. The curators, in a circular dated September 29, have poured […]

Karen Harverson Real estate company Seeff plans to launch its own bank within two years based on its latest venture, launched in Gauteng this week, to offer home loans through the company. With Boland Bank as its partner and financial backer, Seeff offers a one-stop operation where customers can buy and sell property, register property, […]

The appointment of a national attorney-general could avoid a recurrence of the ‘McNally issue’, argue Dr Jeremy Sarkin and Suzie Cowen THE criminal justice system is in crisis. It lacks legitimacy and is seen as ineffective. It is in this context that the danger of giving attorneys-general independence, without creating mechanisms for effective accountability, has […]

The French flair of Thierry Lacroix for Natal and the poise of Joel Stransky for Western Province will be vital in a tense Currie Cup final, but the two pairs of locks will also be key factors RUGBY: Jon Swift THERE are some haunting shadows in the importance placed on this weekend’s Currie Cup final […]

Theatre: David Le Page A NAKED queen scrabbles in the dirt of a filthy dungeon, fighting off rats with a crucifix and babbling her way almost deliriously through the Lord’s Prayer. This is the opening of French Gray (at the Market in Johannesburg), a story not only of Marie Antoinette’s last hours, but of her […]

Ann Eveleth Deputy President Thabo Mbeki avoided confrontation with French President Jacques Chirac over France’s controversial nuclear testing programme and its handling of the recent Comoros coup during a state visit to Paris this week. Mbeki made the official state visit at Chirac’s invitation to discuss a financial protocol and an agreement on the protection […]

Janet Wilhelm Appearance: Historically disadvantaged patriarch with a penchant for dark designer suits and flash cars. Must be difficult to belong to a disadvantaged group? Not if you had the job of bantustan (sorry, homeland, sorry, independent state) leader. As Bophuthatswana president he consoled himself with lavish government spending — and evidence to the Skweyiya […]

Cinema: Stanley Peskin RUTH PRAWER JHABVALA’S sharp, engrossing screenplay for Merchant Ivory’s Jefferson in Paris provides a richly complex experience. The film begins in Pike County, Ohio, where the history of Thomas Jefferson (a very accomplished Nick Nolte), the third president of the United States (1801- 1809), is probed by a journalist. Interviewing a black […]