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/ 2 March 2001

On tour in a sun-stunned vacuum

Test cricket in Guyana, a country with a passion for politics, has had its volcanic moments John Young Guyana is the only one of the countries that the South African cricket team will be visiting in the next two months that is not a volcanic island. Politically, however, Guyana has experienced eruptions on a volcanic […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Farewell to the master

Australia’s amateur had a transcending pre-eminence in the history of sport Frank Keating Some sporting pundit in the United States the other day tried to forecast the huge impact Tiger Woods looks sure to have on golf. All he could think of as a comparison for what Woods might be headed for was an historical […]

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/ 2 March 2001

UN TO PROBE SEX ABUSE

THE UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) has decided to investigate allegations that seven Danish peacekeepers sexually abused a 13-year-old Ethiopian girl – the day after a Danish army internal inquiry cleared them of any wrongdoing. The seven allegedly assaulted the girl, then forced her to clean the floor while they verbally abused her […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Tracking causes of deaths is ‘crucial’

Khadija Magardie One of the most crucial ways of moni-toring the health of the nation is through mortality statistics. In a chapter on “Health status and determinants” in the South African Health Review, the authors argue that statistics need to be compiled more rapidly and the current disease notification system “needs attention”. The South African […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Now you see her …

Sophie Radice Body Language About 10 years ago I remember my mother telling me that she and another very good-looking friend in her early fifties had decided that they had reached the state of invisibility. I didn’t understand because at the time I was more concerned with different kinds of female invisibility, the kind where […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Employers fail to make use of training fund

Glenda Daniels and David Macfarlane A hefty R975-million is in the kitty for skills development, yet about half South Africa’s employers are not claiming grants to implement training. This emerged at a two-day Skills for Productive Citizenship conference last week that launched a skills development strategy in South Africa, which has a 40% unemployment rate. […]

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/ 2 March 2001

UGANDAN ELECTION PUT BACK

THE date of Uganda’s presidential election has been put back by five days from March 7 to 12 after a meeting of representatives of all six candidates contesting the presidential poll. “We needed more time to hold the election as we had not printed the voter card and we had to incorporate the changes from […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Tobacco use in SA drops dramatically

Khadija Magardie Both legislators and the country’s anti-smoking lobby no doubt will welcome findings that tobacco use has dropped dramatically in South Africa. According to the latest South African Health Review, consumption of tobacco in South Africa “has fallen for eight consecutive years since 1991”. In the year 1998/1999 more than 30-billion cigarettes were released […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Millions for MK veterans go astray

A R5-million ‘donation’ from a United Kingdom armaments firm has not reached its intended target war veterans Paul Kirk Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of millions of rands donated by British Aerospace (BAe) to the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans’ Association (MKMVA) a few months before the company was named as the preferred bidder to supply jets […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Dutch aid to NGOs goes on

Barry Streek The Dutch government would continue supporting NGOs after it cut back on its development assistance to South Africa in 2004, the country’s Prime Minister, Wim Kok, said this week. It would continue current levels R750-million over five years but South Africa did not fit into Holland’s criteria for aid, which include levels set […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Squatters freeze while mayor eats salmon

THULI NHLAPO, Johannesburg | Friday IT was raining last weekend when the Greater East Rand Metro mayor Bamvumile Vilakazi was inaugurated at a glamorous celebration at the Kopanong hotel in Benoni. In African culture, they say the rain signals blessings from happy ancestors. Because his name is Bamvumile, (they have agreed), it could be assumed […]

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/ 2 March 2001

The Old Man at 80

Keith Gottschalk pays tribute to poet and novelist Tatamkhulu Afrika, who turned 80 late last year We’re here to commemorate Tatamkhulu Afrika the human being; to salute Tatamkhulu the citizen activist; and, last but not least, to celebrate Tamtamkulu the writer, by rejoicing on his 80th birthday and bagging his free autograph at his 12th […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Making Rands & Sense

The Mail & Guardian, with Alec Hogg and the Moneyweb team, will launch a brand-new business section, Rands & Sense, to be published weekly in the M&G from March 9. Rands & Sense will bring M&G readers a business section anyone can understand, with insights from leading analysts. The section will be compiled and written […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Durban deputy mayor in fraud probe

Paul Kirk The National Directorate of Public Prosecutions is close to completing a probe into allegedly corrupt practices involving the deputy mayor of Durban, councillor Logie Naidoo. This comes a week after the forensic investigative unit of the Durban municipality began a probe into Visvin Reddy the chair of the Durban unicity tender board and […]

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/ 2 March 2001

RADIO PRETORIA AT END OF ROAD

THE Afrikaans community radio station Radio Pretoria has lost its broadcasting license and will have to close down soon. The executive chairman of Radio Pretoria, Mossie van den Berg, said the Independent Communications Authority of SA had rejected the station’s application for a temporary licence. Van den Berg said more than 500_000 “Boere-Afrikaners” listened to […]

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/ 2 March 2001

The ANC’s best-kept secret

Thuli Nhlapo The Doornkuil Farm south of Johannesburg that the African National Congress leased to the Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Military Veterans’ Association is neglected. Except for few lean cows chewing long grass inside an electrified fence, there was little sign of life. A face-brick mansion on the property was empty. Peeping through the windows, we […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Life and the electricity department

David Beresford another country Afew years ago a water charge of more than R300 000 mysteriously appeared on my municipal services account. Living in a two-bedroom house with little more than a splash-pool by way of indulgence where water is concerned, I pointed out the obvious error to the municipal authority and forgot about it. […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Dunns feel they’ve been ‘done’ again

A land dispute with its roots in the days of King Cetshwayo is before the high court in KwaZulu-Natal Niki Moore ‘I don’t like being called coloured,” says Pat Dunn emphatically. “I am a human being first and a South African second.” Dunn is embroiled in a land claim dispute that takes up every waking […]

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/ 2 March 2001

MYSTERY DEATHS OF RHINOS, LIONS

SEVEN of the 17 rare black rhinoceros in the world-famous Ngorongoro crater and six lions have died from unidentified causes. Several hundred other animals are believed to have died from lack of water during a prolonged drought in the area in northern Tanzania. An 11-member team is investigating the cause of death of the animals, […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Students take dispute with university to HRC

Marianne Merten The Human Rights Commission (HRC) wants the University of the Western Cape (UWC) to explain an across-the-board reduction of marks for final-year management students. The students’ marks for their labour relations course were reduced by the chair of the management department. HRC Western Cape coordinator Victor Southwell said provisional findings showed the reduction […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Let them eat salmon

As Thokoza residents who’d had their shacks demolished shivered in the rain, the new mayor of the area threw his second inauguration party Thuli Nhlapo It was raining last weekend when the Greater East Rand Metro mayor Bamvumile Vilakazi was inaugurated at a glamorous celebration at the Kopanong hotel in Benoni. In African culture, they […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Don’t eat the baboons …

Fiona Macleod food It was during a bizarre encounter between some Gauteng hippie-vegan types and the red-meat-and-beer-boep toughs who belong to the Phalaborwa 4×4 Club that I recently came across an exciting range of vegetarian convenience foods. The Gauteng vegetarians/vegans, most of them members of South Africans Against Vivisection (Saav), were visiting up north for […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Iscor shares soar on unbundling plans

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday SHARES in South African steel giant Iscor soared on Friday on the second day after it announced plans to split into two separate companies in a bid to unlock value. Shares in the steel and mining group rocketed to a new year high of R28 a share in early trading […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Students owe loan agency R2bn

Ntuthuko Maphumulo The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) managed to collect only 10% of the R2,3-billion owed to it. But manager Craig Stewart is not worried about the unpaid R2,1-billion. There are students in the scheme who have only recently graduated and begun finding employment, Stewart says. With the help of the South African […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Kruger National Park R36m in the red

Fiona Macleod The Kruger National Park, South Africa’s premier tourist attraction, is experiencing a cash crunch running into millions of rands. An internal memorandum by park director David Mabunda last week says he expected the park to be R36,6-million in the red by the end of February. “The current overdraft (as at February 18) stands […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Did the Bard or his pals do dope?

Smoking pipes excavated from Shakespeare’s home contained traces of tobacco, suggestive evidence of cannabis and, most surprising, signs of cocaine Shaun Smillie William Shakespeare or at least his contemporaries were doing cocaine, dabbling with dagga and experimenting with a range of drugs that would impress even the most desperate of junkies. These are findings of […]

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/ 2 March 2001

FALCONBRIDGE, IMPLATS DEAL TO FLY

CANADIAN mining giant Falconbridge has formed a “strategic alliance” with Impala Platinum Holdings (Implats) to undertake joint exploration for platinum group metals. Under the five-year agreement, Falconbridge will conduct grassroots exploration for new high quality platinum group metals projects worldwide. Implats will participate by contributing early stage project funding. After the earn-in phase for each […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Stars might be missing

Sydney medallists have been excused from the South African national championships this weekend? Grant Shimmin athletics Despite media releases to the contrary, fans won’t have the opportunity of seeing all of South Africa’s Olympic medallists from Sydney in action at the South African senior track and field championships, which take place at the King’s Park […]

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/ 2 March 2001

It takes guts to go the distance

Rob Adam RIGHT TO REPLY The open letter to Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Ben Ngubane (“Dear Mr Minister, give us a sign …”, February 23 to March 1) by Artslink employee Mike van Graan involved anattack on Ngubane himself, as well as a range of poorly integrated criticisms of national arts and […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Companies vie for piece of labour litigation pie

Khadija Magardie Both newcomers and veterans in the field of private dispute resolution are jostling for first place in the booming labour litigation industry. Most say their motives are philanthropic to provide a service where business and labour can resolve issues without resorting to lengthy and often costly litigation. But there are significant pickings involved, […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Cop opens fire on protesting crowd

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Olifantshoek | Friday A POLICEMAN has been arrested after shooting eight supporters of the African National Congress (ANC) during a political protest in Olifantshoek in northwestern South Africa. The policeman opened fire on some 200 protestors with an automatic rifle after they hurled stones at him, a police colleague and a member of […]

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/ 2 March 2001

Split will hamper ‘skills revolution’

David Macfarlane An empty Department of Education stall at the Department of Labour’s national skills development conference last week spotlight- ed the degree of cooperation between the two departments. Speaker after speaker at the conference highlighted the criti- cal need for close collaboration between the departments of labour and education, if the national skills development […]