The Government of National Unity is faced with a litmus test of its commitment to gender rights: whether to change existing abortion legislation for a “freedom of choice” Bill proposed by pro-choice activists, medical and legal An ad hoc parliamentary committee is considering submissions on abortion from all sectors of the community and the anti-choice […]

Kader Asmal, the Minister of Water Affairs, has entered the debate on the controversial plan for a steelmill at Langebaan. Eddie Koch and Rehana Rossouw report WATER Affairs Minister Kader Asmal wants a “total reassessment” of the impact that Iscor’s proposed steel mill will have on the ecology of the Langebaan lagoon — and will […]

Jacques Magliolo Nervousness among smaller stockbrokers was highlighted this=20 week by Frankel Pollak Vinderine’s (FPV) takeover of Hayes=20 Cutten & Co, a stockbroking firm which concentrates on=20 futures trading. Hayes Cutten & Co’s John Cutten says the move was prompted=20 largely by the changes likely to materialise with the=20 imminent deregulation process which the JSE […]

CINEMA: Stanley Peskin HOLLYWOOD has enshrined famous composers in romantic=20 titles: Chopin in Song to Remember; Brahms and Schumann in=20 Song of Love; Liszt in Song Without End and now Beethoven=20 in Immortal Beloved. But perhaps the chief influences on=20 writer/director Bernard Rose are Peter Shaffer and Milos=20 Forman, whose film about Mozart was called […]

A SERIES of spats between officials of the Northern and Eastern Transvaal governments over who has the right to administer the Bushbuckridge area, a tract of land that straddles the two provinces, could escalate into a mini- border war involving two strong ANC regions. The premiers of each province agreed last year that the territory […]

Television: Hazel Friedman DOLLY RATHEBE and her evergreen Inkspots, George Lee=20 singing the Ghana blues and The Radio Rats — South=20 Africa’s quintessential rock band — articulating the angst=20 of a generation over boiled eggs and Spring rolls. This is=20 just a sample of what you can expect to see from May 18 to=20 September […]

Opera: Coenraad Visser THE PROBLEMS with Pact Opera’s revival of Puccini’s=20 treasured masterpiece La Boheme start in the pit, where=20 Gert Meditz’s moribund and clumsy conducting shows scant=20 regard for Puccini’s soaring lyrical lines. Nor does he=20 seem to realise that there are two sets of lovers involved,=20 to portray two different types of love, […]

South African firms will have to go global, but do our=20 company directors understand how to operate across=20 international borders? Jacques Magliolo reports International competition is rapidly becoming a way of life=20 in South Africa; however, the ability of local directors to=20 understand how the new global village will function in the=20 immediate future is […]

Rehana Rossouw After months of negotiation and consultation, the University of the Western Cape (UWC) is expected to announce next week that it has a new rector — Professor Cecil Abrahams. The announcement has been delayed by weeks of sensitive negotiation about the rector’s salary package and tenure, which has been improved considerably. Unlike Professor […]

Simon Segal THE South African art market is benefitting from the more=20 favourable economic conditions. Stephan Welz & Co’s art auction this week might not have=20 been as exciting as the record-breaking 1993 auction, but=20 it does indicate a firmness in South Africa’s art market.=20 Although some people anticipated that prices would be=20 higher, R2,8-million […]