Andy Duffy One of the country’s most influential ambassadors has rejected an invitation to join Western Cape Premier Hernus Kriel’s provincial Cabinet. Kriel, who is to reshuffle and expand his Cabinet in line with the province’s new Constitution, approached LT Links, South Africa’s ambassador to the European Union, to persuade him to take a seat […]

Madeleine Wackernagel The world’s central banks hold 28 years’ worth of gold supply, and signs are they are not going to step out of the market in a hurry. First Australia, then Russia and the Swiss, and now the Germans have sold down their reserves in the past few months. Other European central banks could […]

A Second Look : Timothy Trengove-Jones aIt is a truism that the love which once dared not speak its name is now unstoppably voluble. On stage, on screen, in the media, yes, even on the streets, homosexuals are articulating their presence with increasing confidence. And, on November 25 1997, almost 100 years after the (in)famous […]

Angella Johnson It was a sunny spring day in September when Andr Swart and his wife Lenie drove through the manicured grounds of their sprawling commercial farm. They had been to church, a high point of the weekly social calendar for their tight-knit Afrikaner farming community. As their car pulled into the garage four men […]

The word scandal is so easily bandied about these days that it has lost some of its meaning. Perhaps, when contemplating the activities of Don Mkhwanazi, head of the Central Energy Fund, it is worth reminding ourselves of the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of the word: something which occasions “general feeling of outrage and indignation”. […]

Ferial Haffajee At least eight women will have been raped by the time you read to the end of this page. Three years into the new democracy and a woman is still raped every 36 seconds in South Africa, perhaps even more frequently if the growing numbers of reported rapes indicate an increase in the […]

FRIDAY, 11:30AM: The shortlist of bidders for the government-owned resort company Aventura was announced on Thursday by Public Enterprises Minister Stella Sigcau. Among them: Kopano ke Matla, which is Cosatu’s investment trust, and includes Protea Hotels, Rennies Travel, Samrand, the International Finance Corporation and a Danish group, the Danish People Holiday Landsorgnisationei; Sanco Consortium, which […]

blood Robert Armstrong : Rugby As teenagers New Zealanders learn that rugby union is a potent symbol of their nationhood. And by early manhood those who have made the grade are regarded as icons in every town, from Whangarei to Invercargill. When England face the All Blacks on Saturday they must come to terms with […]

Golden moans It’s all sleaze, bullies and damn lies this week. And most of it took place in the allegedly calm, tranquil and like, shoo hey peace man, city of Cape Town. Several reports of abuse of musicians have been filtering in from the weekend’s huge Benson & Hedges Golden Tones kwaito and d’gong bash. […]

David Webster In an extract from his new book, Into the heart of Darkness, journalist Jacques Pauw describes a bizarre confession from the crack-smoking hoodlum who is now on trial for Webster’s murder His head was bouncing and hopping like a rubber ball on his broad shoulders, while clutched between his thumb and forefinger was […]