Staff Reporter

Peter Dickson Hundreds of Eastern Cape Muslims are heading for the West Bank to help fight Israel. The Eastern Cape residents have banded together under the banner of a recruitment body formed by six local Muslim community organisations called Friends of Palestine, which says it is prepared for the men to sacrifice their lives in […]

divide In a bid to win votes, parties in KwaZulu- Natal are fielding candidates in areas other than their traditional strongholds Jaspreet Kindra Political parties in KwaZulu-Natal are taking special steps to increase their appeal beyond their customary, often racially designated, support bases to bag as many seats as possible on the proportional representation list. […]

Ntuthuko Maphumulo soccer Banyana Banyana top scorer Jo-Anne “Shibobo” Solomon, credited with 19 goals, promises local soccer lovers that “the title will remain here”, when the African Women’s Football Championships kick off in Vosloorus on Saturday. The early rounds will be played at Vosloorus and the Makhulong stadium in Tembisa, with all later matches at […]

David Le Page The government this week abruptly backed down from ruling on the R1,5-billion oil trading deal made by the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) with the Bahamas-based High Beam/Trafigura joint venture. Despite having already conducted its own internal investigation, the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs is now to appoint senior counsel to investigate […]

The password trick: A crook running a rogue website takes a customer’s credit-card number and password to go shopping at major online retailers that might also have been visited by that person. Many people use the same password for all their online shopping, so the crook will go to sites that only need a password […]

Claire Bezuidenhout It’s a blistering Sunday morning and the sun is sapping any chance of physical comfort as we drive into the MTN Sundome in Randburg. We’re greeted by an array of about 300 kids dressed in the oversized clobber of this generation, consisting of hoodies, three-quarter pants, trainers and awkwardly positioned skater caps. As […]

Rob Kitson rugby It is not quite a case of “Will the last rugby player out of Sydney please turn off the lights” but right now it feels that way. When the Australian rugby union squad flew into Britain this week to join their Kang-aroo counterparts already there for the league World Cup, customs officers […]

Dolina Dowling A second look The speculation and furore that has arisen about the ultimate cause of the death of Parks Mankahlana raises some interesting questions. No one doubts that the explanation given by his wife that he had acute anaemia, which brought about a massive heart attack, is correct. Why he had acute anaemia […]

Richard Jago in Stuttgart tennis Wayne Ferreira, one of the game’s great under-achievers and most volatile talents, achieved the best success of his career last week in the longest final of the year. Ferreira, the old-stager alleged to be temperamentally unsound but who has always believed in his mental toughness, beat Lleyton Hewitt in the […]

John Matshikiza with the lid off I had been living on the Senegalese island of Gor’e all through August. The day I was due to leave, another dramatic thunderstorm had come raging up from the south-west, with such force this time that even the islanders, accustomed to all the changing moods of the winds and […]

Olive baboons are being ‘kidnapped’ for experimental xenotransplantation in the West Gregory Mthembu-Salter The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) has uncovered a grim trade in baboons from Tanzania. BUAV investigators in Tanzania have found that Olive baboons (Papio anubis) are being “kidnapped” in traps and sold for about R90 each to primate […]

The disparity in two libraries 2km apart has reemphasised the great divide between rich and poor that still exists in South Africa, writes Glenda Daniels Adorned with statues, paintings, cushions, couches, even rag dolls, the state-of-the- art Sandton library is spotlessly clean and air-conned, with colourful furniture, carpets and pot-plants galore. The soothing sounds of […]

Tara Turkington The interim CEO of the cash-strapped South African Heritage Resources Agency (Sahra) has been spending a large part of a fund set up to transform the organisation on fancy hotels and personal travel. New CEO Pumla Madiba, who takes office in January, will have to sort out a difficult inheritance: a much slimmer […]

Nawaal Deane In the week that Angola prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary of independence, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has published a blunt account of the horrendous mutilation and terror suffered by civilians during the country’s lengthy civil war. Contrary to the claims of the Angolan government that the situation has stabilised, the MSF says […]

Monarch’s nepotism on chieftaincies boosts pro-democracy groups Sechaba ka’Nkosi Rural communities in the tiny kingdom of Swaziland may – for the first time – join protests against their king’s rule. The country is bracing itself for confrontation between the government and the pro-democracy movement as tensions between the two sparked public protests this week. While […]

News that a new British show includes an impression of Princess Diana caused a stir. Why? asks Michael Collins. It’s another sign that TV satire is tired and tame When television’s idea of transgression becomes that of dragging up a man as the ghost of a dead princess you know you’re in trouble, and for […]

Every music legend deserves a good pilgrimage. Jimi Hendrix fan Hugh Clench visits the state-of-the-art museum inspired by the guitar hero who died 30 years ago If, like me, you are old enough, and committed enough, to have seen Jimi Hendrix play live more than once, then you’ll know the significance of September 18 1970. […]

Now in its sixth season and firmly ensconced as one of the fashion musts in the country, the Durban Designer Emporium (DDE) Summer Collections 2001 happens this year under the title Joy. A British Council initiative with DDE, it takes place in Durban on November 11. Hot on the heels of South Africa and London’s […]

Charl Blignaut Thank heavens for soap stars and kwaito kids. It was they who usurped the politicians and beauty queens to put some fizz back into local pop culture. And so it was their night then, when SABC1’s Selimathunzi hired The Pyramid in Johannesburg to dish out the second annual Duku Duku Awards. From the […]

resisted Glenda Daniels The government has introduced a slew of new policies and training programmes since 1994 to wean the police from their old habits. Policing experts say it has been easier to try and address the behaviour of police in specialised units. In general, however, it appears that the message that the police must […]

Howard Barrell and Barry Streek A former Cabinet minister is named on the Internet as having received R10-million for facilitating the purchase of corvettes from Germany in South Africa’s controversial R43,8-billion arms deal. The local and foreign websites also name a senior African National Congress MP as having been one of a group of South […]

Andrew Muchineripi soccer Football is a funny game. Funny enough for Africa Sports of Cte d’Ivoire to be pipped for first place in Group One of the Champions League this weekend by Sundowns, the team they put six goals past a week before. A draw between Esperance and Africa Sports in Tunisia would open a […]

Barry Streek Financier George Soros’s Open Society Foundation (OSF) is to axe the board of its South African arm, which has been wracked by in-fighting. Soros has written to the board, which includes several government officials, informing them of his plans to replace them next month. The move follows several conflicts between board members – […]

In the face of a Zimbabwean economic meltdown – inflation at 62%, the fuel crisis expected to worsen in December – haphazard land invasions continue Mercedes Sayagues A red combine is harvesting the last of David Jenkins’s winter wheat. At the harvested end of the field, settlers are digging holes to plant maize. Never mind […]

Neal Collins soccer Lucas Radebe this week likened rumours of inducements to perform well in European soccer matches to the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal. The Leeds United and Bafana captain was upset by offers allegedly made to Milan’s players by Barcelona. The Spanish club was accused of offering Milan 1,6-million to beat Leeds in the […]

Marianne Merten ‘Beware, this bitch bites!” says the logo on the T-shirt of a sex worker attending a play about prostitutes – but it could just as well have been a warning to the two actresses to expect tart advice from the audience. The prostitutes who arrived at the Nico theatre to watch Sweat on […]

Riaan Wolmarans CD OFTHEWEEK It must be really nice to be talented – if you’ve got it, flaunt it, and that’s exactly what Delenta is doing on her new album, simply called Delenta (Renegade). The Sudanese-born singer makes a welcome entry into South Africa’s ranks of solo female singers – an area where looks sometimes […]

Marianne Merten The NGO-driven Ditikeni Investment Company exceeded its expectations when it received share commitments of more than R1-milllion at its launch last week. The aim of Ditikeni – “something to lean on” in Tshivenda – is to generate funding security for NGOs in the development sector, ranging from poverty relief, education, health, HIV/Aids and […]

Niki Moore The controversial handover of land to the Mbangweni community at the Ndumo Game Reserve on the Mozambique border in Maputaland has been put on hold indefinitely, according to a statement issued by the Land Claims Commission. But according to a source inside regional land claim commissioner Thabi Shange’s department, the signing over of […]

David Beresford Another Country One of the most enjoyable pieces of television I have seen recently was a video recording of an attempt to interview JM Coetzee for Dutch TV. The writer’s distaste for the public limelight has become almost legendary since he failed to pick up his second Booker Prize – the first person […]

The Smashing Pumpkins were inspired by metal in a digital age to create a sound that, after their current tour, will be laid to rest Riaan Wolmarans It was very disappointing when, a few years ago, the Smashing Pumpkins were on their way to South Africa – and the concerts were cancelled. Then the band […]

Bill Clinton’s eight years in office have been a rollercoaster ride of scandal and comeback, disaster and triumph. Jonathan Freedland, who spent much of that time following the president, salutes a political genius with the common touch America has begun to say farewell. It will be a long goodbye, one that fits the outsized character […]