John Grobler Angolan civilians began fleeing into Namibia this week as both the Luanda government and its Unita foes started forcibly recruiting soldiers. But both could find it hard to recruit willing soldiers to a new war, Angolan watchers said. Last Saturday June 20, about 100 Angolan civilians crossed into Namibia from southern Angola. The […]

Angella Johnson: VIEW FROM A BROAD `You’re going to train with the Springboks? Lucky cow!” was the general outcry when I told a group of female friends over lunch that I was spending a day with the national rugby team. Some of them (the white ones, that is) wiggled pleasurably in their seats. “Oooh, that […]

Roy Collins World Cup As the Nigerians jump to the instructions of coach Bora Milutinovic in the shadow of their magnificent temporary home, the Chateau de Belinglise at Elincourt-Sainte Marguerite, 64km north of Paris, it is clear that one player is working in splendid isolation. The Nigerians being less happy campers than the Dutch or […]

Suzy Bell On show in Durban IF there are at least two reasons for deciding not to emigrate to New Zealand, they are Durban actors Bheki Mkhwane and Ellis Pearson. But while us fickle Durbanites flocked to see the Americans (Jim Rose Circus) in their hundreds at the Playhouse Opera last week, this smaller, less […]

Mukoni T Ratshitanga A senior Gauteng transport department official is facing 10 charges of misconduct after an internal probe found he held a taxi permit despite his position as the province’s chief negotiator with taxi associations. In April, the former MEC for transport ordered that Lennox Magwaza be suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, […]

Mail & Guardian reporters One of South Africa’s top nuclear scientists has been given two weeks to leave the country after the Department of Home Affairs accused him of fraudulently obtaining citizenship. Marcel Dube, who has lived for many years in Zimbabwe, was appointed executive general manager (technical services) at the Atomic Energy Corporation (AEC) […]

Cheap long-distance calls, and no special kit. Telkom should be worried, write Kevin Wilson and David Shapshak It sounds too good to be true. From a normal telephone you can place a long- distance call over the Internet and pay a fraction of the standard rate. The mechanics of how the Internet carries phone calls […]

Benny Malatji: RIGHT TO REPLY I find it annoying to read every week about your paper’s distortions of the situation on the campus of the University of the North, Turfloop. I refer here to a string of Andy Duffy’s articles (“Student council turns Turfloop turmoil into profit”, May 29 to June 4; “SRC blows R1,3m […]

If all goes to plan, controversial Aids drug Virodene could soon get the go-ahead, reports Andy Duffy A team of top medical experts, funded from the public purse, has been helping prepare the controversial Aids drug Virodene for clearance for human trials. The group, established by the Medicines Control Council (MCC), is working closely with […]