A noisy office is not only irritating, it can affect your work performance, writes Peter Baker Colleagues talking, telephones ringing, e-mails bleeping, photocopiers whirring: these everyday sounds make up an “acoustic wallpaper” in most offices -and one that can affect productivity and stress levels. Noise impairs people’s ability to perform simple tasks such as remembering […]

Sechaba ka’Nkosi A high-level investigation headed by Eastern Cape Premier Makhenkesi Stofile into allegations that three senior provincial African National Congress members are “ANC members during the day and United Democratic Movement members by night” has run into snags. The people who first made the allegations against the three party members have failed to provide […]

Tangeni Amupadhi One of eight policemen being investigated for killing Josiah “Fingers” Rabotapi two weeks ago has admitted wrong-doing in the death of a suspect. Henry Beukes, who has been the subject of investigation for at least three murders of suspects in his 22-year career, acknowledged in 1994 he used more than necessary force in […]

Emanuel Shaw II is too sick to appear in court but well enough to attend meetings. Mungo Soggot reports from Monrovia Emanuel Shaw II, the Liberian politician who insinuated himself into South Africa’s state oil industry, has tried to deceive the Johannesburg High Court by filing a fraudulent doctor’s note purportedly signed by Liberia’s minister […]

Adam Haupt spoke to Moses Molelekwa about the exotic ingredients on his new album, Spirits and Genes Moses Taiwa Molelekwa recently captivated Cape Town audiences at West End with the launch of his second album, Genes and Spirits. The show was broadcast live to P4 Radio’s ever- smooth constituency and the West End crowd itself […]

A new theory suggests kids learn their behaviour from their peer group, not their parents. But should we let home life off the hook, asks John Diamond The Jesuits, it turns out, were too optimistic by half. Give them your boy until he is seven by all means, but the best they’ll be able to […]

Andrew Muchineripi Soccer Those good people who occupy the houses around Minolta Loftus in a beautiful, tree-lined Pretoria suburb are accustomed to the blue banners of the Blue Bulls and the smell of braaied boerewors. Come noon on Sunday the streets around the citadel of Pretoria rugby are in for a cultural shock as thousands […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Friday 7.00pm. THERE are still two South Africas and they should not be termed white and black, but rich and poor, Cuban President Fidel Castro told Parliament to thunderous applause on Friday. The one South Africa, Castro continued, receives 12 times the income of the other; in the one 100% […]

Experimental choreographer Robyn Orlin previews the most magnetic work on offer at this year’s wildly varied [email protected] festival When the first scent of jasmine hits Johannesburg it’s the signal that Arts Alive, the festival that wakes the city from its winter slumber, is hotly imminent. This year is the Dance Factory’s sixth annual festival in […]

Wonder Hlongwa South Africa’s branch of the international corruption watchdog Transparency International has accused certain newspapers of feeding public perceptions that corruption increased after the African National Congress took power. In its first report since its inception last year, Transparency International South Africa (Tisa) accuses the newspapers of being influenced by their political agendas. It […]