Gaye Davis All three issues outstanding appear in the draft Bill of Rights of the new Constitution. They are: l Education: The ANC and NP clauses agree on the right to education in the official language of one’s choice in public educational institutions, where reasonably practicable, and that national legislation and policy will play a […]

Moyiga Nduru A banana war between two of Somalia’s main warlords is under way over the control of the lucrative banana export trade. The forces of General Mohamed Farah Aideed, the self-proclaimed president of Somalia, are pitted against the militiamen of his former financier, Ali Hassan Osman “Atto”. Aideed needs the revenues, estimated at around […]

THE advice to NGOs to “adapt or die” in a changing environment is becoming painfully repetitive. It is also superfluous, as we – the remaining NGOs –would not have survived until now if we had not constantly restructured, repositioned and transformed ourselves. In her response (“NGOs are not about to roll over”, April 19 to […]

Raising interest rates may not be enough to save the rand. Government needs to define a firm strategy for growth, argues Madeleine Wackernagel When the authorities finally moved to stabilise the battered rand, it was a case of too little, too late. If a hike in interest rates was the solution, the Reserve Bank should […]

BARBARA Hogan, the African National Congress MP hotly tipped to succeed Gill Marcus as chairman of the influential Joint Standing Committee on Finance, this week stepped down as a candidate for the chair. Hogan, who has been one of the committee’s most active members, said she had opted out of the running as she preferred […]

IN February of 1994, two months before the elections, I returned to South Africa. Accompanied by a friend, I embarked on a four- week journey to explore the Northern Cape, Namaqualand and the Karoo, areas which have always fascinated me. Because I have lived abroad for so many years, my perceptions and expectations were influenced […]

Nervous citizens may worry that the enshrining of the right to silence in the Constitution will encourage crime. Is this true? THE right to silence accorded to people accused of criminal offences is deeply rooted in our law, and dates back about 300 years in Anglo-American legal systems. It means that no person can be […]

Mungo Soggot THE Taiwanese journalist barred by the United Nations from covering a conference in Midrand said this week it was the first time in his 30-year career the UN had banned him. Taiwan is not recognised by the UN which says it does not allow journalists working for Taiwanese state-backed news companies to cover […]

Graham Hopwood THE managing director of Namibia’s most controversial parastatal has been sacked by the TransNamib board of directors. The board issued a statement saying that Francois Uys was retiring from TransNamib at the end of April by mutual agreement. Speculation is rife that Uys was given a package of nearly N$3-million in exchange for […]

Telkom has five years to connect four million lines. Can it meet the challenge of universal service without a substantial restructuring? Aspasia Karras reports Telkom is probably the most vilified of South Africa’s parastatals. Seen as inefficient and bureaucratic, consumers’ greatest frustration is the lack of an alternative. While cellular technology promised to provide an […]