Staff Reporter

The ICCTrophy tournament in Kenya has brought the excitement back to cricket Peter Robinson Let’s make one thing clear right from the start: the quality of cricket played during the International Cricket Council (ICC) Knockout 2000 tournament in Nairobi has been excellent. And this is a direct result of the knockout format employed for the […]

After a decade director Oliver Schmitz has completed a film that challenges Hollywood’s black stereotypes Andrew Worsdale In 1988 a relatively unknown newcomer directed what was to become what is regarded as the best anti-apartheid feature film ever made – Mapantsula. It was the story of Panic, a small-time crook (played by the late Thomas […]

Brenda Atkinson fine art Jonathan Dollimore said of Georges Bataille that “it is through eroticism that we are seduced by the pull of annihilation; we really do want death to ‘wreak its havoc at our expense’… death is experienced most intensely as desire.” In Memorials without Facts, Clive van den Berg’s exhibition of new works […]

Johnny Masilela The Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg will, from November 8 to 10, be the venue for the European Union/South Africa Film Symposium, a gathering poised to reposition the film industry as a significant player in the economic development of the country. Preparations for the all-important summit were unveiled at the end of a […]

Who says women are the weaker sex at sport? Sharon Krum Marion Jones wanted to win five gold medals at the Olympics last month, setting a new record in athletics the way Mark Spitz, with seven in 1972, set it in swimming. It did not happen but Jones, the fastest female in the world, clearly […]

SA Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni has stressed the importance of a strong independent central bank, saying that central bankers operated on a longer term time scale than politicians and did not face the same temptation to relax policy to achieve short term objectives. “By delegating decisions about interest rates and other monetary matters to […]

Neal Collins soccer Imagine how Ray Parlour feels. All those years in the shadows at Arsenal and when he bursts through to score the goal all England was praying for after 86 minutes and 59 seconds, the linesman’s looking the other way. >From the angles I’ve seen so far, there can be no question. Parlour’s […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Friday TREVOR Manuel, the finance minister, has asked Parliament to increase his R233,4bn budget for 2000-2001 by R3,9bn, according to the daily Business Report. Because of contingency reserves, higher tax collections, lower debt costs and the reallocation of some votes, this would not increase the deficit to more than the […]

The fallen giants of South African rugby watch from the sidelines as the revamped Currie Cup brings back the excitement Andy Capostagno The Super Eight section of the Currie Cup comes to an end this week and, strange but true, it has been an unqualified success. Natal and Western Province have emerged as the teams […]

PAUL KIRK, Johannesburg | Friday THE CEO of a cash-strapped NGO has allegedly allotted himself a salary package of more than R500000 a year – for only two days work a week. This week the chair of the Kokstad branch of the South African National Tuberculosis Association (Santa) and executive committee member of Santa KwaZulu-Natal, […]

Deon Potgieter boxing For many years the title of “Mr Boxing” in South Africa belonged to the former CEO of the national boxing commission, Stanley Christodoulou. However, that title has now passed to Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotions. Without a doubt, Berman is now the most powerful man in the sport in South Africa. […]

ROBERT HOLLOWAY, United Nations | Friday SIX years after the genocide in Rwanda ended, more than 4450 children – including 450 who have been formally cleared of any involvement in the genocide courts – are among the 123000 people languishing in prisons, many without charge, says a UN human rights report. Michel Moussalli, special representative […]

friday Cricket: International Cricket Council (ICC) Knockout Trophy, second semifinal, from Nairobi, at 8.30am on SuperSport1 (SS1)/ M-Net/CSN Golf: Alfred Dunhill Cup, from St Andrews, Scotland, at 11.30am on SuperSport Extra1 (what was the Olympic Elite channel, number 28 on most decoders) Rugby: Currie Cup, Super Eights, round four, Eagles vs Cheetahs at 4pm on […]

Andrew Muchineripi soccer Football in South Africa has reached a worrying level when Sundowns have to give away tickets for an African Champions League match against Esperance in Pretoria on Saturday. One newspaper offered 200 tickets this week and another 100 to those who phoned and correctly answered a question, and I am reliably informed […]

Michael Schumacher takes place in history as five-year plan bears fruit Richard Williams The forest of hands reaching out to Michael Schumacher after he lifted himself out of the Ferrari in the parc ferm’ at Suzuka on Sunday spoke of the true nature and significance of the win in the Japanese Grand Prix that gave […]

Khadija Magardie review OFTHEWEEK It is often the case that the progressiveness of a society may be measured by the position of its women. This is even more so in the one facet of society that transcends geographical boundaries – religion. It was no doubt with this in mind that the local chapter of the […]

No Spark, Lessing or Ballard -the Booker Prize shortlist leaves the race wide open for a dark horse. Here is our quick guide to the shortlist The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Bloomsbury) Margaret Atwood finds herself shortlisted for the Booker for the fourth time with her 10th novel. The story has three interwoven narratives: […]

Matthew Burbidge FOOD Woolworths, the home of the unblemished tomato, launched its stylish site www.inthebag.co.za last week and is betting its repu-tation that its tomatoes will arrive unbruised, slightly chilled and on time. Jessica Knight, CEO of inthebag, said while its client base is currently relatively small, its business model conservatively plans on having 300 […]

Tom Lester motorcycling Kenny Roberts secured a place in the history books at the weekend when he became the first son of a former champion to clinch the world 500cc Grand Prix title. “For as long as I can remember this has been my goal. It is like the conclusion to a 27-year season,” Roberts […]

Rosanne Buchanan lifestyle The issue of smoking in restaurants and pubs has been smouldering for a long time and with the latest tobacco legislation, more and more establishments will be forced to opt for a non-smoking policy. Speak to any restaurant or pub owner around Johannesburg and you’ll find that confusion reigns over the recently […]

Robert McCrum The day before the 2000 Booker Prize shortlist was announced, I received a puzzling e-mail announcing the selection of JG Ballard (Super Cannes), Zadie Smith (White Teeth), Robert Edric (The Book of the Heathen), Amitav Ghosh (The Glass Palace), Michael Ondaatje (Anil’s Ghost) and Paul Golding (The Abomination). It was only when I […]

CHINA has won the support of African allies against linking international economic and political ties to human rights issues at the first Forum of Sino-African Cooperation in Beijing. “The politicisation of human rights and the imposition of human rights conditions on economic assisstance should be vigorously opposed as they constitute a violation of human rights,” […]

THE African National Congress is to announce which senior party leaders it would like redeployed as mayors of the country’s main cities, but the list is said not to include cabinet ministers. ANC Western Cape MPL Lynn Brown has been tipped for Cape Town, Port Elizabeth’s current mayor Nceba Faku is expected to hold on […]

SUSAN NJANJI, Harare | Thurssday ZIMBABWE’S blanket amnesty for politically motivated crimes committed before this year’s parliamentary elections is a green light for political violence in the run-up to presidential elections, analysts say. President Robert Mugabe’s order, issued last week, does not cover serious crimes such as murder and rape, but critics are already warning […]

TWO trains crashed head-on in remote western Zimbabwe, killing 15 people and injuring at least 20 others. Police said the dead were mostly on a passenger train headed to Victoria Falls from the western provincial capital of Bulawayo, which collided with a freight train headed south on the boundary of the Hwange nature preserve, the […]

A FURTHER 115 cases of cholera were reported in KwaZulu-Natal this week and a total of 22 deaths have been recorded since the outbreak of the disease. Provincial health spokesman Roz Jordan said 62 of the cases were reported in Eshowe and 53 in Ngwelezane, pushing the number of cases reported since the outbreak in […]

THREE Commando members who allegedly forced a Northern Province teenager to eat his faeces appeared in the Potgietersrus court this week and were granted bail of R1000 each. Chrstiaan Jacobus Human, Gert Johannes Pretorius and Hermanus Johannes Nel, were not asked to plead on charges of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm. The […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday TELKOM has introduced a new fraud management system to clamp down on illegal use of its network which cost the South African telecommunications parastatal more than R300m last year. “The new system detects fraud as it is happening, which will greatly reduce our risks and losses,” said Ken Raley, managing […]

South Africa’s newest financial institution, Teba Bank, will focus on mobilising the savings and developing rural communities financially, chief executive officer Jenny Hoffman said. Teba, which for the past 24 years provided basic banking services to miners, will now target low income earners and those not formally employed in rural areas. Hoffman said the bank […]

AFP and OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday A TOP South African defence official this week denied that nepotism played a role in awarding the French company Thomson CSF an arms sub-contract late last year. Chippie Shaik, the chief director of procurement in the defence department, told parliament’s public accounts committee that because his brother […]

REUTERS and OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday South African central bank governor Tito Mboweni announced that land redistribution would only take place within the framework of the law, and a Zimbabwe-style land grab would not be tolerated. “This is a law-governed society … there is no question of anyone invading anyone’s farm. Anyone doing so […]

LEGISLATORS from northern Nigeria are to visit three Middle Eastern countries to study implementation of the strict Islamic code. All 40 lawmakers from the assembly in Kano State will leave for a two-week fact-finding trip to Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The visit is to prepare for the introduction of Islamic law, Sharia, in Kano […]