AREAS ACT Drew Forrest AN inner-city housing specialist has warned that the tough official line on illegal immigrants is hampering the regeneration of South Africa’s urban slums. Carien Engelbrecht, Planact’s housing co-ordinator and former legal adviser to the South African National Civics Organisation, sees a parallel in the effects of the Group Areas Act on […]

Critical Consumer Pat Sidley EVER wondered why you get off a long-haul flight feeling tired, clogged up or — worse still — carrying the start of your fellow passenger’s cold? The likely answer is not to be found in the mysteries of jet lag and circadian rhythm, but in the air you have been breathing […]

A frustrated new minister of water affairs warns his civil servants that he expects attitudes to change, or else reports Paul Stober THE first clear sign of problems between new cabinet ministers and old-guard civil servants has emerged in a scathing speech by Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Kader Asmal to his department. The Weekly […]

Cosatu and the ANC are determined to stem the rising tide of xenophobia, reports Drew Forrest RESISTANCE to hardline Home Affairs Ministry policy on illegal immigration is crystallising in both the ANC and its trade union ally, the Congress of South African Trade Unions. This week Cosatu’s Neil Coleman hit out at “the narrow chauvinism” […]

THIS week’s imprisonment of stockbrokers Greg Blank and Andrew Forbes has been hailed by some experts as a victory against white-collar crime, yet their convictions in fact highlight inadequacies of our legal system. “Rather than demonstrate the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s ability to rid itself of insider traders,” says a corporate lawyer, “the convictions set unwanted […]

The White Paper on the government’s reconstruction and development programme could be a black day for fringe benefits. Reg Rumney reports THE White Paper released this week on the ANC’s grand plan to right the economic wrongs created by apartheid could spell bad news for the few perks employees have left. The White Paper released […]

Krish Mackerdhuj believes that conditions for cricket unity are now worse than three years ago CRICKET: Paul Martin THE President of the United Cricket Board, Krish Mackerdhuj, has made an unprecedented attack on “old regime” attitudes and actions — especially internationally — among senior cricket administrators and officials. He said the united front forged three […]

Undaunted by the crackdown on the truckers’ blockade, Turning Wheel is gearing up for more action. By Sibusiso Nxumalo IN an exclusive interview, the leader of the Turning Wheel International Workers’ Movement has shed the first light on the mysterious organisation behind the Mooi River Plaza truckers’ blockade. Richard Madime is a member of the […]

Moveable Feast Marino Corazza DURING our courting years one of the simple treats my wife and I would indulge in when we had a little spare cash was to have dinner at La Lampara in Norwood. La Lampara is a fishing boat lamp used at night to attract the fish. The eaterie had similar beckoning […]