Mungo Soggot THE lawyer representing Bernadette Gibson – the woman who suffered vaginal acid burns – has petitioned the Appellate Division for a higher damages award, claiming she is mentally unstable. Gibson, bankrupted after pursuing an ambitious multi-million-rand claim in the supreme court, said this week she did not know lawyer Peter Soller had filed […]

The bail system being applied by KwaZulu- Natal courts is contributing to a rise in political tension, reports Ann Eveleth INKATHA Freedom Party leader Biva Nkwenyana appeared in court last month in connection with three separate murder cases – including one allegedly committed after his first court appearance – but he is still out on […]

The nature of SA art awards is changing to fit new realities. HAZEL FRIEDMAN reports THE FNB Vita Art Now Award exhibition will soon be a thing of the past due to “the closure of many art galleries in South Africa”, says Vita director Phillip Stein. But there is no need as yet to write […]

African radio is switching from being a vehicle of the state to one of commercial enterprise. Peter van den Akker reports A TAXI driver called Antwi, in Ghana’s capital Accra, roars with laughter. “She is a sugar mammy herself!” he exclaims, and to get his message across to his passengers, he points repeatedly to the […]

Applications for amnesty from the the PAC and ANC are pouring in to the truth commission, and with a likely extension of the cut-off date right-wingers will also be able to apply, writes Eddie Koch PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela is expected to cap a week of dramatic developments around the truth commission by announcing on Friday […]

KwaZulu-Natal farmers who have resorted to radical private security measures “are fuelling racial tensions, reports Ann Eveleth EX-KOEVOET soldiers are patrolling the rugged terrain of Weenen after a spate of farm murders in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, say prominent farmers and police in this frontier town. The Weenen Farmers’ Association hired the guards after the son […]

Rehana Rossouw ATTEMPTS by Pan Africanist Congress members to ease the departure of its president, Clarence Makwetu, have been stymied by his insistence on contesting his position at the organisation’s congress this weekend. While Makwetu has not been blamed entirely for weaknesses in the PAC, senior members believe his deficient leadership has contributed to the […]

Angella Johnson IT was a Friday evening when “Joseph” and “Sinah” settled their two youngest children into bed and retired to their room. As was their custom, they made tea with a herbal concoction bought from the local sangoma. This time, unknown to them, it had been spiked with a deadly poison. On drinking the […]

Ecologically fragile land in the Drakensberg is to be planted with pines, reports Eddie Koch WATER and Forestry Affairs Minister Kader Asmal is under fire in KwaZulu-Natal from organisations across the political spectrum over his ministry’s decision to allow some 3 000ha of ecologically fragile land on the Drakensberg escarpment to be planted with commercial […]

Bafana Khumalo ONE of the most enduring images I have of Hugh Masekela is that of stocky man surrounded by a band, hand raised and confronting an audience of rowdy revellers who would rather be sitting at a shebeen regaling each other with stories of sexual conquest than listening to jazz music. This would sometimes […]