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/ 17 September 2004

Three held for Jakarta bombing

A husband and wife have been arrested in connection with last week’s bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, which killed nine people and injured 180, Indonesian police said on Thursday. Rahmatullah, his wife Farida, and another man, Agung Yulianto, were arrested on Wednesday night on suspicion of helping to recruit and coordinate the suicide squad thought to have conducted the bombing.

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/ 17 September 2004

Getting hungry in Hungary

It seems everyone’s heading east to visit the European Union’s closest neighbours. We’ve heard about how cheap it is, about the cheery disposition of the people and the fabulous architecture. But no one’s been raving about the restaurants. It’s time they did — and over Hungarian cuisine in particular.

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/ 17 September 2004

Magical realism

"It was in a bathroom at the top of the Soutpansberg mountains that I met my Venda prince — and I knew at first glance that I wouldn’t be able to resist him. He had a deliciously rounded bottom and wore a simple, stylised loin cloth." Intrepid travel off the map can provide unexpected dividends. A journalist realises some of her deepest fantasies in a bathroom on top of the Soutpansberg.

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/ 17 September 2004

Triumph or tragedy?

There have been exaggerated projections about the impact of 2010 on South Africa’s tourism industry, including one assertion that "millions" of new jobs will be created and another that the obligation of playing host will galvanise the government into finally controlling the country’s crime rate. <i>Escape</i> explores whether the 2010 World Cup will translate into economic victory for South Africa.

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/ 17 September 2004

The last laugh

"It was to be the biggest post-apartheid era arts scandal since the investment of millions of rands in a scam that led to the temporary closure of the State Theatre in Pretoria and the loss of hundreds of jobs," writes Mike van Graan.

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/ 17 September 2004

Taking the rap

The tactics of Peter Tatchell of gay rights pressure group Outrage! to persuade fans to reject the homophobia of the Jamaican ghetto will hardly have endeared him to the black community at large. Homophobia in the music industry is no reason to pull out the race card, writes Joseph Harker.

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/ 17 September 2004

Disgruntled heads take on premier

Free State Premier Beatrice Marshoff is facing a legal challenge to her authority by the heads of two key provincial government departments — who are believed to have the support of the African National Congress in the province. In July she announced a reshuffle of the provincial Cabinet, shifting four provincial directors general to different departments — in what was seen as a bid to consolidate her grip.

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/ 17 September 2004

All(pay) in the family

While she was social development minister of Gauteng, Angie Motshekga helped a trust — in which her husband played a key role — to land a stake in the lucrative provincial contract to pay pensions. Motshekga, now Gauteng’s education minister, this week denied that her then-department had recommended in 2002 that the trust be given a 6% empowerment shareholding in Allpay Gauteng. Allpay, a division of Absa, is answerable to the social development department in its R170-million a year pensions contract.

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/ 17 September 2004

Sympathy, not standstill

The national public service strike did not succeed in shutting down South Africa on Thursday. But the government was wrong-footed by the strike turnout and the extent of public sympathy for the action, according to a strategically placed observer. While the strike call appears to have drawn a patchy response, the government was caught on the hop by the extent of public sympathy for teachers, nurses and other civil servants.