MUSLIMS and Hindus are about to find themselves in some highly unusual company as they bid for marital recognition under the new constitution as the gay and lesbian community begins to demand unrestricted marital recognition. The two religious groups – particularly Muslims – have been clamouring for legal recognition of their religious marriages for nearly […]
NATAL academic Francie Lund thought she was bringing good and bad news when she presented a report in Parliament last week, bearing internationally acclaimed proposals for a new system of child welfare. But the headlines have screamed only the bad: “Shock to single mums”; “Plans to slash child grants”. “I am bemused,” Lund said. “I […]
waste Eddie Koch AN African National Congress senator acting as an official observer in the European Parliament (EP) last week persuaded African and Caribbean countries not to support a resolution from the Green Party demanding that large amounts of toxic mercury waste dumped in KwaZulu-Natal be returned to Europe for disposal there. The Green Party […]
The Internet is changing the world’s economy, but does not always benefit those who need it most, writes Victor Keegan in London WE are constantly told how globalisation has shifted the balance of economic power towards multinational corporations at the expense of practically everyone else. Yet in the most exciting area of the world economy […]
MUSIC: Glynis O’Hara SATURDAY morning it was a case of: Don’t call me, I’m recovering from Senegal’s Baaba Maal. Everyone who attended his show at Mega Music last Friday night deserves a little medal with the citation: “I endured heat, sweat, crushed toes, squashed ribs and conquered claustrophobia – all for my little Baaba.” The […]
Chris McGreal in Arusha, Tanzania LUC DE TEMMERMAN’S defence strategy is as brazen as the crime itself. Standing before the first genocide trial since Nuremburg, the Belgian lawyer denied there ever was any slaughter of Rwanda’s Tutsis. And if there was a genocide, then the world has got it all wrong. The real victims were […]
Much delayed, the new Labour Relations Act could fall flat if a key element, the CCMA, fails to fulfill its brief, reports Max Gebhardt BUSINESS and labour are worried that the new Labour Relations Act (LRA) could trip up before it even gets off the starting blocks on November 11. Its success hinges on whether […]
SPEAKING of marriage, South African religious leaders say they would fully support President Nelson Mandela if he chose to make Graca Machel the next first lady of South Africa. While most religious leaders who spoke to the Mail & Guardian this week said they didn’t want to interfere with Mandela’s “democratic rights”, the general consensus […]
THERE are strong arguments for South Africa’s withdrawal from the arms trade. But – the decision having been made that we cannot afford to shut down the industry – it is difficult to understand the furious objections from some quarters at the proposed sale of weapons to the Rwandan government. Critics who oppose weapons shipments […]
THE Athletics South Africa rigging scandal broken by the Mail & Guardian last week was followed up by the rest of the media. Officers of ASA went on radio to defend themselves against the charges. The following are some extracts from the broadcasts: * “I haven’t read the article from this morning.” – Bernard Rose, […]