No image available
/ 9 March 2001

The feminine mystique

Khadija Magardie Body Language A close friend of mine, being born, as she woefully puts it, “without flowing-in-the-wind, shampoo-ad locks”, has had a love-hate relationship with tubes of hair straightener since her teens. Of course, like the numerous women who still use skin-lightening creams, it is entirely her prerogative to use disguises to hide things; […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

Generics manufacturer enters the fray

Belinda Beresford One of the largest manufacturers of copycat drugs in the world kicked the issue of generic drugs into play this week by applying for a compulsory licence to import eight Aids drugs into South Africa. Cipla, a company based in India, on Wednesday formally requested compulsory licences on the anti-retrovirals in a letter […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

Change is pain

Jaspreet Kindra Banking on Change by Helena Dolny (Viking) Rainbow Nation revisited by Donald Woods (Andre Deutsch) So was there a concerted effort led from the top to remove anti-apartheid activist Helena Dolny from the helm of the Land Bank? And did Dolny, a lefty in her own right and the widow of the South […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

Lotto operator flush while charities starve

BARRY STREEK and OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday THE state lottery had accumulated sales of more than R2bn by the end of last year, but only R4,1m has been paid out to 80 charities in emergency funding, Minister of Trade and Industry Alec Erwin has disclosed. This represents just more than 1% of the money […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

Take note of the Fort Wood factor

whipping boy Fort Wood, sire of sensational Horse Chestnut, has been easily the most inspirational force in the local breeding industry in recent years. The American-bred stallion has also produced a number of big-race winners and continues to spawn quality horses. Mike de Kock, who trained Horse Chestnut for the Oppenheimers, attacks with a fair […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

Gang boss faces further asset seizure

Marianne Merten Gang boss Chris “Ougat” Patterson, who once handed over the R14 500 monthly bond payments on his Plattekloof mansion in cash, has been forced into reduced circumstances. He and his family have returned to his modest Factreton, Cape Flats, house currently the subject of an investigation under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

Capital gains tax: New draft rules

Kathy Thersby The latest draft legislation on capital gains tax (CGT) was released last week, and the public have until March 12 to comment. The full draft legislation can be found at www.sars.gov.za under CGT. These are some of the most important changes to the first draft: l October 1 is the implementation date. l […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

Drug firms ‘being made scapegoats’

JAN HENNOP, Johannesburg | Friday THE world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, who were given a bloody nose in the Pretoria High Court this week, say they have become scapegoats for the South African government’s own inability to treat people living with HIV/Aids. Mirryena Deeb, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PMA), accused […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

Rugby could learn from the men in white

Neal Collins You wait years for an all-conquering England team to come along and what happens? The whole edifice threatens to fall down around your ears. England proved again at Twickenham last Saturday that their current crop of rugby players and coaches are a little bit special. After record wins over Wales and Italy, Scotland […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

Fourth Quarter Page Impressions

Site Avg Mnthly Impressions Quarterly % change mtnsms.com 88 928 345 45% iafrica.com 19 808 418 11% M-Web network of sites 19 214 938 4% Africam 14 379 852 23% Webmail 12 475 498 -1% News24.co.za 4 332 510 4% IOL 4 088 423 -6% Woza 4 075 520 -14% Ananzi 4 035 993 29% […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

Canada’s mines set to confront minister

David Le Page and Mungo Soggot Canadian mining interests are preparing to give Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka a heavy critique of the draft Bill on her visit to Canada next week. The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada is understood to be preparing a written submission on the Bill for the […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

Resist attempts to stifle criticism

Jonathan Jansen a second look There are three, among many other, cases that demonstrate the growing threat to intellectuals in our democracy, and to a democracy for all South Africans. These cases are the debate on HIV/Aids, the debate on the presidency and the debate on education. The debate on HIV/Aids was striking for the […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

For those fancying a bet on our economic recovery

Alec Hogg boardroom talk During a week when financial results from South Africa’s largest insurance companies grab the investment community’s attention, a share-price boom by a relatively small outdoor advertising business is easy to miss. Also, after seeing the price of Corpcom shares virtually double in the past 10 trading days, a natural assumption is […]

No image available
/ 9 March 2001

Bring on the bratwurst

Sean O’Conner food My dear friend Elize was in mortal danger of over-salivating prior to last week’s Community Chest Carnival, held at Maynardville in Cape Town. Having never been to the Carnival before, she’d heard how important it was for her taste buds to peak at the right time. So she stopped smoking that morning, […]

No image available
/ 8 March 2001

Schoolgirls burned alive in locked hostel

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Thursday AT LEAST 27 schoolgirls have been burned alive and scores more injured after a blaze broke out in a hostel at their school in central Nigeria where they were locked in to stop them meeting boys. Police said at least 23 students had died, but reporters said the toll was […]

No image available
/ 8 March 2001

LESOTHO PLANS POLL IN 2002

LESOTHOS Independent Electoral Commission announced on Wednesday that the country’s long awaited general elections will be held in 2002, on a date yet to be announced. IEC chairman Leshele Thoahlane said eligible voters would be able to register to vote between August 13 and September 9 at 1_300 registration centres. The final voters’ list is […]

No image available
/ 8 March 2001

INTERNET BANK FRAUD THREAT

INTERNET banking fraud could become a major problem because criminals could net larger amounts of money than were currently being stolen at automatic teller machines, says Banking Council CEO Bob Tucker. He said theft at ATMs remained an issue of serious concern and that the situation needed to be addressed. Tucker was speaking at a […]

No image available
/ 8 March 2001

Fraud suspect feels Scorpions sting keenly

JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Nelspruit | Thursday FORMER special government advisor Pieter Rootman lodged 25 complaints against the elite Scorpions investigation unit for alleged gross human rights violations after being arrested on R1m fraud charges last week. Rootman said Scorpions investigators were guilty of “unconstitutional conduct” when they raided his Pretoria home and arrested him. The investigators […]

No image available
/ 8 March 2001

FARM WORKERS WANT HALT ON EVICTIONS

FARM workers have called on the government to place a moratorium on all evictions until it establishes special courts to handle rural violence cases. The Mpumalanga Labour Tenants Committee said on Wednesday that the abuse of farm workers would increase if offers by fascist American organisations like the Ku Klux Klan to protect white farmers […]

No image available
/ 8 March 2001

Ashanti climbs off the canvas

MARK BENDEICH, London | Thursday AFRICAN gold mining firm Ashanti Goldfields Co Ltd took the axe to the value of its mine assets on Wednesday, plunging the bottom line into red ink, but the troubled group looked to be turning a corner. “It looks fine to me,” said analyst Mike Jones of brokerage Canaccord Capital, […]

No image available
/ 8 March 2001

ANGOLAN REBELS CLAIM FURTHER GAINS

ANGOLAN UNITA rebels said on Wednesday they had shot down two government helicopters in the central Angola and claimed to have inflicted more casualties on government forces, the Lusa news agency reported. The rebel movement led by Jonas Savimbi claims to have killed more than 200 people and destroyed 23 military vehicles in fighting in […]

No image available
/ 8 March 2001

AIRLINES FREEZE FLIGHTS TO BURUNDI

KENYA Airways, Regional Air and Ethiopian Airlines on Wednesday suspended flights to Bujumbura, the Burundi capital, because of deadly fighting there between rebels and the army, an airline official said. The suspension went into effect immediately, said the official with Air Burundi, which provides airport ground services for the three companies. Clashes between Hutu rebels […]

No image available
/ 8 March 2001

US lashes Sudan for ongoing slave shame

SHARON BEHN, Washington | Thursday A DINKA tribesman who escaped from slavery in Sudan’s largely Muslim north has appealed to the United States to help him free other southern Sudanese still being held in bondage. “Now I will use my freedom to free my people who are still in bondage and have no voice,” said […]

No image available
/ 8 March 2001

SWAZILAND RUNS DEFICIT AS DONOR AID DWINDLES

SWAZILAND will run a budget deficit of around 469 million emalangeni in 2001-02 because donor aid has dried up and the wage bill has soared, says Finance Minister Majozi Sithole. He told the House of Assembly that a slight economic recovery was possible this year as more investors are attracted to Swaziland thanks to improved […]

No image available
/ 7 March 2001

World battles barbaric female genital mutilation

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Rome | Wednesday HEIGHTENED awareness about the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in poor countries would help save lives and promote development, international leaders and experts at a conference have heard. Backed by former European Union Commissioner Emma Bonino, Italian Nobel Prize winner Rita Levi Montalcini and Aidos – an Italian NGO […]

No image available
/ 7 March 2001

TEENAGE KILLER TO BE TRIED AS ADULT

After telling disbelieving friends all weekend that he was going to shoot up the school where he was taunted for being skinny, a smiling 15-year-old Charles “Andy” Williams allegedly opened fire in his San Diego high school bathroom killing two teenagers and injuring 13. It was the worst act of violence at an American school […]

No image available
/ 7 March 2001

RAPE COUNSELLORS BACK AT WORK

MPUMALANGA’s embattled health department has bowed to public pressure and withdrawn all disciplinary charges against doctors and nurses who tried to help rural rape victims get counselling and free anti-Aids drugs. Rob Ferreira hospital superintendent Dr Thys van Mollendorf and three senior managers were charged with gross misconduct last month after allowing the Greater Nelspruit […]

No image available
/ 7 March 2001

PRESIDENTIAL GUARD TO BLAME FOR VIOLENCE

AN independent election watchdog has blamed Uganda’s presidential guard for violent weekend clashes in the west of the country that left one person dead. National Election Monitoring (NEM) called on government to demilitarise the electoral process and to restore public confidence in the elections by withdrawing the guard from areas where the president is not […]

No image available
/ 7 March 2001

OLD MUTUAL PROFITS SURGE

OLD Mutual, the South African life insurer listed in London, has reported a 38% rise in operating profits for 2000 but warned business conditions may prove challenging in 2001. South Africa’s largest life insurer proposed a final dividend of 3.1 pence, making a total for the year of 4.7p, up 18%. – Reuters CUSTOM SHARE […]

No image available
/ 7 March 2001

KZN OFFERS TO HELP WITH FOOT & MOUTH

SOUTH Africa has offered to help the British government fight the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease there. The provincial agriculture minister of KwaZulu-Natal province said his province, having battled an outbreak of the deadly livestock disease, was sympathetic with the “harrowing and anxious time” Britain was going through. Foot-and-mouth disease broke out in Britain in February, […]