Robert Kirby: Loose Cannon Say what you like, the African National Congress is proving itself a paragon of what many modern democratic governments should strive to become. No more so is this ranking emphasised than in the ANC’s great resilience and, with that, fortitude, vision, determination, tenacity, sheer nerve and, when all else fails, that […]
Smoking cigarettes can prevent breast cancer in women carrying rare genes that predispose them to the disease, suggests a highly controversial new study. An international team, co-ordinated by Steven Narod of the Women’s College hospital in Toronto, looked at the relationship between lifestyle and breast cancer in more than 300 women with inherited mutations in […]
unrest Mail & Guardian reporters The army weapon and ammunition heists in Bloemfontein may have been intended to fuel instability in Lesotho. This scenario was flighted by security experts this week as police made their first arrests. Lesotho has been racked by protests since claims by opposition parties that the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy […]
away Ann Eveleth The Government cannot achieve its land reform targets within existing legislative, procedural and resource limitations, according to the findings of a multi-pronged research project conducted by the National Land Committee. Market-based restrictions, misconceived legislation, narrow legal definitions and a lack of co- ordination between different government departments are some of the obstacles […]
Krisjan Lemmer With less than a year to go before the centenary of the Anglo-Boer War, there has been muttering in the Dorsbult Bar about the belated discovery by the Brits that Lord Herbert Kitchener, the war hero, was a bit of a cad. The BBC’s Reputations series appears to have stumbled upon the fact […]
Iden Wetherell A banking crisis is followed by economic collapse. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) steps in with a harsh rescue package. Student-led anti-corruption protests precipitate the fall of a dictator whose rule has only recently been praised as providing regional stability. Zimbabwe may at first glance appear far removed from Indonesia. But recent events […]
Bongani Siqoko World Cup fever has hit South Africa harder than the Sydney flu, and businesses are cashing in on the frenzy of fans. When Bafana Bafana open their World Cup campaign on June 12, they will be one of the best-dressed teams in the tournament, says Kappa South Africa marketing director Sthe Buthelezi. The […]
Ferial Haffajee The title might be A Grave Called Home if the homeless who make their shelters in city graveyards could sell their script to a movie-maker. Their stories range from the macabre and heart-wrenching to the downright comical – like that of the squatter couple who made headlines last week when they were spotted […]
Andrew Muchineripi Soccer Bafana Bafana are just one week away from the greatest challenge of their seven-year existence. Next Friday evening in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, they face World Cup hosts France. It will be the opening Group C match for the countries and both realise that a victory would leave them well […]
John Reader’s Africa: ABiography of the Continent is one of the titles shortlisted for The Sunday Times’s Alan Paton Award for Non-Fiction, the winner of which will be announced on Friday June 5. The other shortlisted titles are From Protest to Challenge, Vol V, by Thomas Karis and Gail Gerhart, Mokoko: The Makgoba Affair by […]