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/ 10 November 2006
A tiny Scottish island where residents routinely leave their houses and cars unlocked has suffered its first burglary in living memory after a visiting workman stole £60. The culprit, who was later caught, was fined £400 and ordered to pay compensation to his victim.
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/ 10 November 2006
In a bid to consolidate his power base in a Cabinet already dominated by supporters of embattled ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, KwaZulu-Natal Premier S’bu Ndebele has appointed two known backers of president Thabo Mbeki and a neutral figure to his Cabinet.
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/ 10 November 2006
This week, we expose a new business front set up by the African National Congress (ANC) to seek profit on its behalf. The Chancellor House group of companies has acquired ”empowerment” stakes in a range of businesses. Often these opportunities have depended on the government’s discretion. This means the ANC, as ruling party, has been both player and referee.
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/ 10 November 2006
The African National Congress’s Chancellor House group has targeted investments in sectors of the economy where government institutions dish out opportunities such as business rights or contracts. When companies in which Chancellor holds a share compete for such opportunities, the ruling party becomes both player and referee. Chancellor’s biggest known deal is as part of a manganese consortium. Here are others.
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/ 10 November 2006
The battle for media freedom took another knock last week when the Cape Town High Court denied journalist Gasant Abarder’s right to appeal against an order to testify in a civil defamation case. Abarder had been subpoenaed to testify in a civil defamation dispute between two private litigants.
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/ 10 November 2006
The "Selebi dossier", made public this week, is a fascinating chronicle of Paul O’Sullivan’s relentless pursuit of his own case against Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi that has taken him to the heart of a Scorpions probe of the country’s top cop.
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/ 10 November 2006
Former Limpopo premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi received a R100Â 000 payment from a businessman whose company won multimillion-rand tenders from his government, the Scorpions have alleged. This is just one of a range of cash benefits that allegedly flowed to him after a R750-million pensions administration contract was awarded to Cash Paymaster Services.
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/ 10 November 2006
Was the government swayed by diplomatic expediency and ruling-party funding needs when it granted strategic mineral rights to an African National Congress business front and Russia’s third-richest man? Vicki Robinson and Stefaans Brümmer report.
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/ 10 November 2006
Viktor Vekselberg, the 48-year-old Russian oligarch, is not known for his corporate ethics. Described by <i>Forbes</i> as a "deal junkie", Vekselberg is ranked the third-richest Russian and the 44th richest person in the world by the magazine. His net worth is about $10-billion, accumulated predominantly through metals and oil.
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/ 10 November 2006
A small but increasingly vocal group of United States parents and educators is pushing for homework to be abolished for younger children on grounds that it serves no purpose. According to two new books on the subject, American children are being robbed of time to enjoy hobbies, sports and even family time because of too much homework.