Uganda’s president may still be popular, writes Mercedes Sayagues, but ethnic mistrust and corruption are poisoning the country When the 5Y-ANV Islander plane carrying Lieutenant Colonel Jet Mwebaze crashed in the Rwenzori mountains of southeastern Uganda last month, five lives, a stash of money – said to be US$1-million – and the reputation of the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 11.50pm. SOUTH African tennis star Wayne Ferreira trounced world number three and US Open champion Pat Rafter in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 at the Lyon Grand Prix tennis tournament on Friday. Ferreira will play fourth seeded Spaniard Alex Corretja in the semifinals on Saturday. The South African has now won […]

Scorpion Publishers in Thohoyandou in Northern Province are soliciting short stories by South African writers on the “African renaissance”, to be published in a collection dealing with that subject. Submissions should be sent to Scorpion Publishers, Box 3116, Thohoyandou, 0950. For further information on the book, contact Dr Thilivhali Mudau on (012) 793- 0531.

Howard Barrell : OVER A BARREL Nigeria and South Africa, radically different in so many ways, are similar in at least one respect: the way language, at least the English language, is used by many of their political intellectuals. This became apparent last year when I spent two months in Nigeria co-teaching a few courses […]

One of the most mysterious places in the world will be the most highly surveyed, writes Alex Bellos Cold War technology is being adapted to fight drug smugglers and illegal miners who are threatening the Amazon jungle. A surveillance system (known by its Portuguese acronym, Sivam, and being set up by the Brazilian government) will […]

Renowned cultural writer Mark Gevisser talks to Matthew Krouse about his journey to the essence of one of Johannesburg’s unique forgotten heroes In the city of Johannesburg, overrun with live chickens and minibus taxis, Anstey’s building retains its stark majesty. Not only because it’s a well maintained survivor of the city’s New York age, but […]

Sex is a growing global industry and South Africa is no exception. It’s just the tax collector who is missing out, write Ferial Haffajee and Tangeni Amupadhi At the Caligula nightclub near the bottom end of Hillbrow, where seedy gives way to slightly more respectable, the stripper lays out her props on the mirrored catwalk. […]

David Shapshak in Tokyo So you live in an African country and you want to buy a good reconditioned second- hand car. With not much to find in the local yellow pages, nor much variety in the pricey domestic market, what do you do? Simple, you buy and import a foreign car. The success of […]

Martina Hingis is still smiling after frittering away a huge lead in the tennis rankings, reports Jon Henderson For burn out, read chill out. If Martina Hingis is indeed slipping inexorably from her pre-eminent position in women’s tennis, we could be witnessing one of the most pleasing declines in the history of sport. Rather than […]

Black-chip companies are the belles of the business ball, but Mike Metelits warns that a bearish hangover is looming To borrow from the fashion world, the new blue is black. Blue as in blue chips, companies which are considered the aristocrats of the financial markets because of their good returns and reliability. Black as in […]