Steven Friedman WORM’S EYE VIEW If Thabo Mbeki is serious about African solidarity, he might try encouraging it at home. An important feature of the early Mbeki presidency has been its stress on Africa. Besides the “African renaissance’s” new status as a symbol, Mbeki has been far more concerned than his predecessor to encourage peace […]

torturer Howard Barrell The top National Intelligence Agency (NIA) official suspended from work on allegations that he stole R3-million from the agency is the same man who commanded the African National Congress’s infamous Quatro detention camp in Angola during the days of the worst excesses there. Sizwe Gabriel Mthembu, suspended from his job as head […]

Neil Manthorp Cricket Ten consecutive home victories equals the all-time record set by India in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Like India, South Africa achieved these wins with the help of carefully under-prepared pitches that could only assist the home side. Indian batsmen play spin better than any other side, even if the ball […]

WHO IS … MENGISTU HAILE MARIAM? At the height of the Mengistu terror in Ethiopia, the families of people executed by militias attached to the Kebeles or street committees were forced to reimburse the state for the bullets used to kill their loved ones if they wanted to reclaim the bodies. Thousands of people were […]

Donna Block SHARE WORLD Media shares have been one of the most volatile sectors of financial markets, as multimedia corporations fought to gain and retain market share. Last week three major news organisations -NBC, The Washington Post and Newsweek – announced they would be forming a “content-sharing” partnership. What is different about this media partnership […]

Stephen Bierley Tennis In a few days men’s professional tennis will officially and triumphantly announce, in an attempt to enter the next millennium with something approaching a bang, that it has re-invented itself. Its top nine tournaments will be re- branded as a cohesive unit and its end-of- season tournament re-titled, while the ranking system […]

NEW FICTION THE ARTIST’S WIDOW by Shena Mackay (Vintage) Now out in paperback, this is Shena Mackay’s first novel since her Booker- shortlisted The Orchard on Fire (1996). Though perhaps not quite as gripping, The Artist’s Widow has some interesting ideas and amusing characters. Through a private viewing of paintings by the recently deceased husband […]

John Stremlau SECOND LOOK Whatever ails former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, his presence in a private Pretoria clinic carries a political disease that could weaken South Africa’s international image and the vitality of its foreign policy. Human rights define South Africa, domestically and internationally. It is the mainspring for the nation’s extraordinary prestige and […]

The agency set up to ensure all South Africans have access to a telephone is unable to deliver this mandate on its own, reports Ann Eveleth The Universal Service Agency’s (USA) ambitious plan to roll out hundreds of rural “telecentres” to connect remote areas to telephones and the Internet has virtually run aground in the […]

With the high crime rate, South African drivers are increasingly signing up for breakdown cover, reports Jacqui Pile It’s a South African nightmare – being stranded on the side of the road with a flat tyre, or even worse, being involved in an accident far from home. Breakdown and emergency cover is increasingly being considered […]