Anthony Egan A LIFE AT LAW: THE MEMOIRS OF IA MAISELS QC by Isie Maisels (Jonathan Ball) Israel Aaron Maisels, Isie to his friends, was one of the greatest defence advocates in the legal history of South Africa. Born in Johannesburg, he attended a government school, Marist Brothers’ School (forerunner to the present Sacred Heart), […]

Richard Bowker Following conferences in London in 1991 and Accra in 1994, the Third International Conference on Oral Literature saw 40 delegates from around the globe – from Brazil to Zimbabwe, from the United States to Japan – converge on the University of Cape Town. Ruth Finnegan, author of Oral Literature in Africa, got to […]

Ferial Haffajee South African radio listeners, whether they tune into Zulu, Tsonga, English or any of the other eight South African language news services, have grown used to the staid bulletins of the ”Here is the news at one o’clock” variety. Yfm, Gauteng’s one-year-old commercial radio station, has broken out of the straightjacket culled from […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT and AFP, Johannesburg | Thursday 9.30pm. THE United Nations Security Council voted on Thursday extended sanctions against Libya for a further four months to press Tripoli to surrender two Lockerbie bombing suspects. UN Security Council president Sir Jeremy Greenstock noted that the 15 members were formally offering to suspend the sanctions as soon […]

SEGUN ADEYEMI, Lagos | Thursday 6.15pm. THE Nigerian government announced on Wednesday that it is to embark on an accelerated massive importation of fuel within the next few weeks in an effort to end the prolonged fuel scarcity in the country. Speaking from the capital Lagos, special adviser on petroleum matters Aret Adams said the […]

MIKE METELITS, Johannesburg | Thursday 3.00pm. A NEW twist in the Reserve Bank’s repo system of lending short-term money to banks emerged Wednesday, as the Bank overestimated market liquidity demands by about R300-million, offering R7,1-billion while tendering banks only took up R6,8-billion. This shortfall indicates that liquidity conditions in the market are easing, making banks […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Maseru | Thursday 10.30am. THE Lesotho government and 11 opposition parties on Wednesday signed a draft bill for the creation of a transitional body to steer the kingdom to fresh elections. South African Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi, who chaired deliberations on the bill, said it will create a 24-member structure called […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 11.00am. DINGAAN THOBELA blew his much-hyped big comeback at Nasrec on Wednesday night, fighting to a draw with Argentina’s Carlos Baldomir. The scores were 115-113 to Baldomir, 116-112 to Thobela and 114-114. It was not a sparkling performance for the South African, who simply did not show the dynamism required […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 7.20pm. AGRICULTURE Minister Derek Hanekom said on Thursday that the department of agriculture and land affairs views the controversial training of Tuli elephant calves in Brits as a pilot project to determine whether it could be an alternative to culling. Hanekom said training the elephants could give them a better […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 11.30am. PRIZE money for the Comrades Marathon has increased dramatically, with R100000 now lined up for the winners of the mens’ and womens’ races. The Comrades Marathon Association on Tuesday announced that an increase in the entry fee from R75 to R80 has helped push the total prize money up […]