Saturday: In the hot, dry and windy conditions various veld fires spring up in the greater Cape metropolitan area. Sunday: The fire starts in the mountain ranges around Hout Bay in the Silvermine area of the Cape Peninsula National Park. A historic house at East Fort above Chapman’s Peak Drive is destroyed. Staff from the […]

motive Chris McGreal The long-suffering people of the Democratic Republic of Congo have little inclination to dwell on how the bombs that kill their families and destroy their homes are delivered. The hundreds who died last year in Makanza, Goma or Kisangani might have fallen victim to aircraft from an array of countries. After all, […]

An historian has urged a commission to quiz those involved in Patrice Lumumba’s murder. Ian Black reports from Brussels Evidence of direct Belgian government complicity in the execution of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba must be made public and those implicated questioned, a historian demanded last week. Lugo de Witte, a Flemish expert on Africa, called […]

Ebrahim Harvey Crossfire Seen against the background of preceding developments, the reaction to recent statements by Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has exaggerated the significance of what he said. Most of Manuel’s policy pronouncements and the impending “big bang” in economic reforms reported last week were said many times last year: the need to accelerate […]

Andy Capostagno Golf The weather gods have smiled mercifully on Randpark for the 89th South African Open. After the ceaseless downpours that reduced last week’s Alfred Dunhill Challenge to 54 holes at Houghton, the sun has shone, the wind has helped the drying process and although more rain is forecast for the weekend, it should […]

Dense uncontrolled alien vegetation fuelled the flames which scarred the Cape Peninsula this week. As the worst fires in decades ravaged the area, scientists blamed vast tracts of alien vegetation for the scope of the inferno in the current dry, hot and windy conditions. It has proven a combustible mix. From Noordhoek, Kommetjie and Hout […]

Mercedes Sayagues An 800m-long queue curls around a petrol station in downtown Harare. Elsewhere, queues cause car accidents and fights. Angry drivers are frantic for diesel – Zimbabwe staggers with barely a one-day supply left and erratic deliveries. Far worse than the woes of the 4×4 crowd is the problem for commuter buses and factories. […]

The conservative policies behind the government’s broad economic framework have propelled South Africa back on to the foreign investment community’s radar screens. Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has cut government spending and brought the budget deficit to below 3% of gross domestic product, inflation has hit a 30-year low, and interest rates are on a […]

bombings Ivor Powell New evidence of police involvement in Cape bombings has come to light in the questioning of police informer Deon Mostert by the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD). Top police sources told the Mail & Guardian that Mostert has identified a Cape policeman, who he alleges was involved in planting bombs, as part of […]

Scotch Tagwireyi and Connie Selebogo Will it be a group of talented players who click together or a well-drilled and determined team that does the trick when 16 African countries meet in Ghana and Nigeria this week for the 22nd African Cup of Nations? The 16 nations have gathered their best local- and foreign-based players […]