funds The new census figures prove that several provinces are not receiving a fair share of the national spending pie, writes Ann Eveleth South Africa’s poorest provinces may have to struggle with a “Cinderella” funding complex for the next five years, in spite of new census figures that prove they are underfunded. It will take […]

David Gleason : A SECOND LOOK Anglo American Corporation chair Julian Ogilvie-Thompson’s announcement last week that it is to become a United Kingdom registered company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange poses as many questions as it does answers. The decision to shift Anglo’s head office to Britain follows the path blazed […]

Maggie Davey Forty tons of apartheid government files are estimated to have been destroyed by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in 1993, according to Professor Charles Villa- Vicencio, director of research at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Villa-Vicencio was speaking at a workshop organised by Wits Graduate School last week on future access to […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 7.20am. PROMISING South African tennis junior Dirk Stegmann advanced to the quarterfinals of the Central African tennis satellite after he beat Marcel du Coudray 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) in the Zambian capital Lusaka on Wednesday. The 15-year-old from Willowmore will now meet top-seed Justin Bower on Thursday. Bower can […]

Andy Capostagno : Rugby Spring has always been a time of celebration. The time when John Barleycorn, cut down in the summer, returns to the fields with renewed vigour. But Gawain didn’t think much of spring, since it signalled the return of the Green Knight, who had a licence to chop off his head. And […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Bujumbura | Friday 9.00pm. BURUNDI’S government, opposition and rebels on Thursday wrapped up a third round of talks aimed at ending six years of civil war with an agreement to meet again in January, but with few concrete decisions. The next round is set for January 18 to continue a peace process begun […]

Jack Schofield The lock on your front door could soon be so small you’ll need a microscope to see it. And if that sounds insecure, bear in mind that what its inventors claim is the “world’s smallest combination lock” will also be fitted inside computers to keep hackers away. It could also be used in […]

Anthony Egan KING KHAMA, EMPEROR JOE AND THE GREAT WHITE QUEEN: VICTORIAN BRITAIN THROUGH AFRICAN EYES by Neil Parsons (University of Chicago Press) In 1895, three Bechuana chiefs -Khama, Sebele and Bathoen – travelled to Britain to meet Queen Victoria. This was no courtesy visit, but an attempt to protect their communities from the encroachment […]

Bill Ann Eveleth : IN THE ACT Minister of Health Nkosazana Zuma has the tobacco industry huffing and puffing over the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill, which aims to discourage young people from taking up smoking. Anti-smokers and a curious array of pro- tobacco lobbyists – including the Congress of South African Trade Union’s affiliated […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Friday 9.00pm. NIGERIAN authorities have imposed an overnight curfew on the oil town of Warri after clashes there left five youths dead and five soldiers wounded, a military officer said on Friday. The dusk-to-dawn curfew was ordered late on Thursday — the day of the clashes between youths of rival communities […]