Micro-lenders accuse government of ignoring recommendations for regulating the industry, writes Sechaba ka’Nkosi A row is brewing between a coalition of small-scale development lenders and the government for ignoring proposals that could save millions of consumers from rampant exploitation by money lenders. The Alliance of Micro-Enterprise Development Practitioners singles out the departments of trade and […]

Ann Eveleth The Johannesburg High Court battle over Transnet’s suspension of Joe Ndhlela ended this week in defeat for the executive director. Ndhlela’s bid to overturn his suspension was dismissed with costs. He faces an inquiry into charges of bugging, weapons possession and corruption. Ndhlela’s court bid made public the disciplinary charges Transnet had refused […]

The Angella Johnson Interview His name reminds me of the opening words of the national anthem Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. “Snuki Zikalala Africa,” I find myself chanting hypnotically after each of his news reports for SABC television. Okay, I know that sounds really Eurocentric, but you’ve gotta admit, it does have a certain lilt. Zikalala, who […]

Marianne Thamm Until he attended a rehearsal of La Bohme: Noir, Hal Shaper’s reworking of Puccini’s tearjerker La Bohme which will premiere with an all-black cast in Cape Town in December, Brian Williams had never seen an opera. The former trade unionist and once- unskilled building worker, now provincial director of the Department of Labour […]

FRIDAY, 1.30PM MOTHEO Construction has announced its intention to sue the Mpumalanga government for breach of contract, unless the provincial housing department pays it R12,5-million due for work completed on a rural housing project. Motheo director Alfon Meyeridricks said the company’s credit facilities and relations with suppliers and contractors have been affected by the government’s […]

In the May 9 to 15 issue the Mail & Guardian reported that magistrate James van Wyk had granted bail to Dan Mabote, a man accused of raping a seven-year-old girl. The girl, Mamokgethi Malebana, had disappeared. An M&G reporter was informed by the clerk of the Germiston Regional Court that Van Wyk heard the […]

Gustav Thiel Residents of Betlong township outside Delmas have approached the Human Rights Commission (HRC) for assistance after they were allegedly assaulted by white South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers. They claim their attempts to lay charges against their assailants have been ignored by local police. Both the SANDF and the police say, in […]

problem Madeleine Wackernagel : Taking Stock As analysts and the markets fte the Gencor-Gold Fields creation of Goldco, the directors of JCI and Lonrho must be feeling increasingly left out in the cold. Not only did their plans for closer relations meet with a very muted response, but now speculation is growing that the Duiker- […]

A top Apla commander talks to the M&G to counter a `smear campaign’ against the PAC leader. Marion Edmunds reports The role of Pan Africanist Congress leader Bishop Stanley Mogoba as state witness in a terrorism trial nearly 10 years ago is being quietly touted as a key reason why he should not try for […]

Of the countries of the Southern Africa Development Community which committed themselves to “promoting an independent and pluralistic African press” in the Windhoek Declaration, only South Africa has made notable progress towards media independence, says John Manyarara, chair of Trust Fund Board of the Media Institute of Southern Africa in its annual report of 1996/1997. […]