Mukoni T Ratshitanga and Bongani Siqoko Apartheid?s architect, Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, would be turning in his grave. The hospital named after him is now headed by a black woman. Dr Zola Njongwe is chief medical superintendent of Pretoria Academic Hospital ? renamed in April after being HF Verwoed Hospital since the death of the former […]

Ed Vulliamy in Washington The question that has haunted a billion parents for 20 years is poised to go before a judge and jury in an American court: is Barbie a wholesome toy for young children or a sex object? As the worlds billionth Barbie doll was sold last week, a song called Barbie Girl […]

The truth commission hearings into the SABC shed little light on the means and methods of its apartheid years, writes Ferial Haffajee There were no tears. There should have been. This weeks Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing into the SABC was a tragic affair. Tragic in the revelation of systematic and sanctioned brainwashing; sad in […]

Chris McGreal The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has blocked the United Nations latest attempt to investigate massacres of refugees during this years rebellion against Mobutu Sese Seko, throwing into jeopardy the entire mission and crucial foreign aid. Congo refused to permit investigators to travel to the northern town of Mbandaka this week […]

In 1982 The Star newspaper published a story exposing the Reverend Allan Boesaks affair with an official of the South African Council of Churches. The story was based upon information fed to it by security police. To justify its decision, the newspaper claimed that it was an expos of the security branchs dirty tricks. Yet […]

Steve Morris : Rugby It is one of the enigmas of the game of rugby that sides with all the potential and all the resources do not necessarily turn out to be the winners. This is certainly the case with this seasons Currie Cup. There are any number of individual cases to choose from that […]

Chris McGreal in Mombasa A week before his holiday on the Kenyan coast, David Galpin eyed the British Foreign Office warnings and decided he did not want to risk it. But his tour company assured him the reports of rampant killings and ethnic cleansing were overblown. Besides, they said, he would lose more than R15 […]

Madeleine Roux : Moveable feast When its clear the ship is about to be wrecked, dash down to the galley and retrieve a few bags of lentils. More than any other foodstuff, the lowly lentil is what you will best survive on when you wash up on the desert island. Plan on cultivating a bit […]

Dan Glaister What makes a movie star? Not glamorous looks, acting ability or charisma, according to the readers of the film magazine Empire. In a massive poll to choose the top 100 movie stars of all time, they plumped for the laconic attitude and sloppy charm of Harrison Ford. The list favours actors who are […]

The war in Angola is over, and the rebuilding has supposedly begun. But the people of this vast country are a long way from normal life, writes Mercedes Sayagues Such an odd sight: a woman pushing a brand- new, lavender-coloured, padded pushchair, more at home in a Johannesburg shopping mall than in a dusty quartering […]