Nicky Blumenfeld If anyone deserved superstar status at this year’s South African Music Awards, it was the Venda musician, Amon Mvula. His appearance provided refreshing relief from the rather dry gratitude and platitudes. On winning his second consecutive award, for the best Venda album, Mvula stood up and thanked his fans for their loyalty, in […]

The future is uncertain for tertiary institutions following far-reaching proposals for fundamentally restructuring higher education David Macfarlane Seismic upheavals are in store for South African higher education, if the government accepts recommendations formally delivered in a report to the minister of education this week. Likely to prove most explosive are proposals that institutions be combined […]

There is something bizarrely, tragically and profoundly wrong in the way our government is thinking about the nation’s health in the light of the HIV/Aids crisis. Heaven knows this point has been made to government leaders often enough before now – with evidence provided – by us and very many others better qualified to do […]

Chris Visser The biggest challenge facing the average investor is to structure a portfolio that affords the best possible returns for the lowest possible risk. Evidence published in the April 1998 issue of Insurance and Investments indicated that an investor with an offshore element in his portfolio can earn the same return as available domestically, […]

workers’ ownership scheme Thuli Nhlapo The Northern Province government has blocked a Tzaneen farmer’s efforts to sell land to his employees after accusing the farmer of trying to short-change his workers. The farm workers have denied the government’s claim and stood by their employer and the plan of owning shares on the avocado farm. In […]

Deon Potgieter boxing With the current proliferation of world- title-sanctioning bodies, fight fans are often left in the dark as to who the “real” world champions are. Added to the equation is wide-ranging evidence of corruption and favouritism in those selfsame bodies. There is light at the end of the tunnel, however. The boxing task […]

Some of sport’s long-running rows range from the petty to the frankly dangerous Kevin Mitchell Mark James might think he’s got the tiger by the tail in his “feud” with the equally stubborn Nick Faldo, but he doesn’t know the half of it. It’s all very well, a couple of golfers handbagging it in a […]

James Hall Swaziland’s parliamentarians this week voted to ban miniskirts in schools in an effort to retard the spread of HIV/Aids and considered a motion to sterilise all people with the disease. The man behind the Swaziland Senate directive banning miniskirts in schools was Majahenkhaba Dlamini, the son of a former prime minister and chief, […]

A South African father explains to his son, who lives in England, why the sensational All Blacks victory against the Wallabies does not spell disaster for the Springboks on Saturday Thanks for the letter of sympathy, son, although I do feel you go a bit far in suggesting we sue for peace and adopt ping- […]

Charl Blignaut LIFESTYLE One had to wonder, at some of the lower points of the evening, as the swirling lights hailed yet another African dawn, the corporate voice-over declared yet another renaissance-in-heels and the worst of the human zebras passed on the catwalk, what New York would make of it all. The four winners of […]