Every point will be precious for Northern Transvaal and Natal in their scramble for a place in the Super 12 semi-finals RUGBY: Jon Swift TO SAY that the run-in to the semi-final stages of the Super 12 competition has reached the critical stage for both Northern Transvaal and Natal would be stating the obvious. And […]

Bronwen Jones PROTOTYPES of puncture-proof tyres just made at a factory in Carletonville mark the beginnings of what is expected to become a multi-million rand industry for South Africa. The main design project started in 1991, when military users asked the Defence Research and Development Council and Allthane Technologies International, to find a solution to […]

The exclusion of wine products from the EU free trade agreement negotiations has had wine farmers calling for tariff protection. Lynda Loxton reports South African wines have taken the world by storm, but the wine industry is growing restive about the possible unfair competition it could face from imports. This week, KWV chairman Lourens Jonker […]

Laurie Nathan takes Frederik van Zyl Slabbert to task for trying to sweep our racist past under the carpet FREDERIK VAN ZYL Slabbert’s article on the Barney Pityana-Dennis Davis debate and the Professor William Makgoba crisis at Wits University was a great disappointment (April 4 to 11). Instead of offering new insights on managing racial […]

SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi AGLANCE at the Coca-Cola Challenge Cup standings is likely to induce a sense of shock among regular football followers. Bloemfontein Celtic first, Vaal Professionals second, Wits and Moroka Swallows joint third, Manning Rangers fifth. Can this really be a competition involving all the First Division clubs? The best-placed ”big name” is Sundowns […]

SA Justin Pearce Adriana Naude knew her baby son would be taken out of South Africa immediately after being adopted. This was revealed this week by a private social worker, Riekie van der Berg, who organised the adoption granted in February against the wishes of the child’s natural father, Lawrie Fraser. Speaking to the press […]

CINEMA: Andrew Worsdale IN the last few years, Spanish cinema has enjoyed an unprecedented revival, thanks, in the main, to Pedro Almod_var’s amazing success on the international art-house circuit. His triumph was followed by, among others, Fernando Trueba’s Oscar-winning romance, Belle Epoque. Trueba is executive producer on Emilio Martinez-Lazaro’s The Worst Years of Our Lives, […]

There are fears that last-minute bargaining is watering down civil liberties in the new Bill of Rights, reports Marion Edmunds Kempton Park-style horse trading between the African National Congress and the National Party over the last week is sealing disputes over the Bill of Rights, prompting criticism the two parties together have retreated from the […]

ATHLETICS: Julian Drew FEW of the 1 500 or so crowd who actually showed up for last Sunday’s Pepsi All Africa International Athletics Meeting were still in the stadium when the highlight of the afternoon’s proceedings took place. The 800m, which was the last track event of the meeting, had just finished and the spectators […]

TELEVISION: Andrew Worsdale THE state of Britain’s independent TV drama took a nosedive in 1992, when Carlton Television won the franchise for the greater London area and started playing to the lowest common denominator. Class Act — SABC 3’s new Saturday night sitcom — financed by Carlton in 1994, is no exception. This 14-part series […]