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/ 25 August 2000

Finally, a plan that works

The Springboks finally got their game plan right against the All Blacks – now they face the world champion Wallabies Andy Capostagno ‘Is the sword still hanging over your head?” came the question in the media conference. “What sword would that be?” came the answer from Springbok coach Nick Mallett. If Damocles had indeed escaped […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Aliens take over despite human effort

Barry Streek The innovative Working for Water programme of removing invasive alien plants has, until now, been fighting a losing battle: although it cleared 112 333ha last year and did follow-up clearing on 121 310ha – a total of 238 823ha – invading alien plants are spreading and growing at a faster rate. If the […]

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/ 25 August 2000

The sounds of Africa

South African Music Week: A CDreview special African Jazz Pioneers: Afrika Vukani (Gallo) The Pioneers haul out their old-style South African jazz stuff one more time, but it really is all wearing a bit thin now. Leader Ntemi Piliso, probably the last remaining member of the original Pioneers, groans his way through a song or […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Numsa split by opposing loyalties to ANC

Glenda Daniels Voting at this week’s congress of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) revealed a significant ideological rift when the position for general secretary was only narrowly lost by leftwinger Dinga Sikwebu. Sikwebu, national education officer at Numsa, lost to Eastern Cape regional secretary Silumko Nondwangu by a very small margin […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Few successes for police at schools

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni While the police have chalked up several important victories against the drug industry in recent months, they admit they are yet to make significant progress in stemming the proliferation of drugs in schools. Since February this year law enforcement agencies have been targeting various drug transit points and have seized more […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Abuse case could set precedent in self-

defence pleas Marianne Merten Cape lawyers are preparing an unprecedented use of “battered women syndrome” as a crucial part of a self-defence plea being mounted by a Guguletu woman accused of murdering her husband. The lawyers will seek to persuade the court that on the night of December 21 1998 Xoliswa Mngxaso was justified in […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Sharp losses buoyed by new orders

REUTERS, Johannesburg | Friday CONSTRUCTION and engineering company, Group Five Ltd, expected a sharp improvement in business, despite the 50% plunge in earnings per share in the last year. The group, which was hit by significant losses in its engineering division and a sluggish performance in construction, expects its EPS to surge by 70% in […]

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/ 25 August 2000

The hole at the top of the world

Martin Kettle For nearly a century, human visitors to the North Pole have found a frozen, featureless scene covered in thick ice. Until now. Earlier this month, a group of international scientists aboard a Russian ice-breaker arrived at the pole to find not ice but a stretch of open water at least 1km wide, with […]

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/ 25 August 2000

MP3 and beyond

innovations MP3 is currently synonymous with Internet audio, but few people realise that it’s actually a proprietary standard. Not one that its owners – Fraunhofer et al – have been charging for till now, but proprietary nonetheless. That doesn’t mean that you as Ms Average User are likely to find a bill in the post […]

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/ 25 August 2000

England’s two-day freakshow

Neal Collins cricket First England beat the West Indies in three days at Lord’s after taking a three-day beating at Edgbaston. Then they needed just two days to go 2-1 up in the series at Headingley. That’s nothing. Based on this trend towards shorter, more exciting Tests, my team of researchers have revealed that, by […]

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/ 25 August 2000

A worm’s eye view of Spier

An estate usually associated with vineyards and high living is focusing on ecological sustainability and social development Barry Streek A pair of fish eagles has returned to the Eerste river in the Lynedoch area near Stellenbosch for the first time in generations after a R2-million clean-up of a section of the river. Meanwhile, a worm […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Peace as diamond board reform speeds up

OWN CORRESPONDENT and REUTERS, Johannesburg | Friday THE South African Diamond Board said its dispute with De Beers, which had delayed two of the firm’s export consignments, centred on how to price diamond exports from the country. In a bid to solve this ongoing saga, the ministry of minerals and energy said it would fast-track […]

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/ 25 August 2000

The fight against racism should be colour-

blind Anthea Jeffery Crossfire To most South Africans, the word “racism” probably has its conventional meaning – connoting intentionally disparate treatment founded on race. Given our apartheid history, it refers to laws that deprive black people of the vote, or bar them from owning land, or exclude them from “white” schools and hospitals. It also […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Mofokeng wants ‘his’ title back

Deon Potgieter boxing Although Jacob Mofokeng is disappointed Oleg Maskaev pulled out of their September 1 clash at Carnival City, he’s eager to get into the ring with Anton Nel for the national heavyweight title – a title he believes is still his. Maskaev, who is now in line to challenge Evander Holyfield for the […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Ecological crisis looms in Zim

Iden Wetherell South Africa is being asked to firm up its support for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s beleaguered regime by putting in place credit lines and trade incentives to help revive its northern neighbour’s ailing economy. But realities on the ground across the Limpopo could put paid to the best of intentions by Pretoria’s planners. […]

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/ 25 August 2000

A shoulder to cry on and a leg up the

ladder Employee assistance programmes are taking off in South Africa Glenda Daniels Labour legislation is confus- ing employers, workers are stressed and the pressure for greater productivity is on everyone’s shoulders, while the notion of stable jobs has become obsolete. In South Africa there are changes in labour laws, disputed hirings and firings, the implementation […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Disgruntled Swazis boycott Reed Dance

AFRICAN EYE NEWS SERVICE, Mbabane | Friday DISGRUNTLED subjects in eastern Swaziland are boycotting this weekend’s Umhlanga Reed Dance, an annual pageant at which the king picks a new bride, in protest against a chieftaincy row that may see them being evicted from their ancestral land. Residents of Macetjeni, near the Mozambican border, resolved during […]

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/ 25 August 2000

The treasure from Mamelodi

Vusi Mahlasela says his songs assume their own direction, but he has been a master of his own destiny all his life Nicky Blumenfeld If South Africa’s recent history were to be described in narrative form, then Vusi Mahlasela’s life story would provide fitting material. It is also appropriate that his latest album, Miyela Afrika, […]

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/ 25 August 2000

The blind alleys of racism

Steven Friedman worm’s eye view We continue to mention race in public, but not to talk about it. For those of us who have argued that we do not acknowledge race publicly as much as we should, the clash between President Thabo Mbeki and opposition leader Tony Leon should, in theory, be a breath of […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Media are racist … if you say so

The Human Rights Commission has completed its quest to find racism in the media Howard Barrell, Evidence wa ka Ngobeni and Jaspreet Kindra Two years after starting an inquiry into alleged racism in, first, the Mail & Guardian and the Sunday Times and, then, the entire media, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) has produced a […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Didiza’s doing what she should

Gilingwe Mayende crossfire The article by Prof Ben Cousins last week (“Didiza’s recipe for disaster”), attacking Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza on a range of issues, cannot go unchallenged. Cousins essentially argues that Didiza is undoing a lot of good achieved in the Department of Land Affairs during the tenure of her […]

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/ 25 August 2000

A lesson from Zim

Barry Streek Provincial land MECs were given a direct lesson last week on the implementation of land reform in Zimbabwe after Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza invited them to a meeting to discuss the realities of farmer settlement. Professor Sam Moyo addressed the MECs on land reform and farm settlement in Zimbabwe […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Arrests ‘not good’ for Liberia’s image

JASPREET KINDRA, Johannesburg | Friday LIBERIA’S ambassador to South Africa this week conceded that the arrest of the four journalists in Monrovia on charges of spying was the latest in the series of blows to the country’s credibility. Ambassador Llewellyn Witherspoon said the arrests “did not help the country’s image”. The four journalists, including South […]

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/ 25 August 2000

The age of holistic health

Matthew Simpson LIFESTYLE Frankly flea markets have begun to bore me. The first one I ever went to was the mass of stalls which squatted outside the Market Theatre in the early 1980s when I was all of eight or nine years old. The place seemed to stretch for miles and was a treasure trove […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Is the Net healthy for doctors?

Websites offering medical advice are appearing all over the Net. But can they benefit patients and practitioners? Patrick Barkham You can hardly take a train or visit your favourite website these days without tender inquiries into your health from intrusive adverts. Embarrassing itch? Sexual impotence? Are you a healthy eater? There is a rash of […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Debt relief leaves Africa worse off

Charlotte Denny Aid agency Oxfam has described the debt- relief package which the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are offering Zambia as a “fraud”. Confidential papers from the IMF obtained by Oxfam show that Zambia’s interest payments are set to rise from $136-million (about R952-million) in 1999 to $235-million (about R1E645-million) in 2002, […]

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/ 25 August 2000

A black-versus-white campaign at Tuks

Roshila Pillay There’s a sizeable black pac-man figure bearing down with razor-sharp teeth on a teeny-weeny helpless white pacman. The white pacman is seriously disadvantaged with no teeth in sight to take on the formidable enemy. “It’s a black-versus-white campaign. If you read between the lines it can be seen as a bit racist, but […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Set for global government

In October the Internet will host its first election, with registered voters deciding who will regulate this medium Lauren Shantall Only 200 South Africans will be voting for one of two African candidates for Icann, the Internet “traffic authority” – despite there being nearly two million local users. The Icann election, from October 1 to […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Internet news service tracks down rogue

users M&G reporter Internet news service News24 has taken steps to track down and penalise three people who have posted abusive messages on its chat forums. Complaints have been submitted to the administrators of the abusers’ Internet Service Providers or domains, who may choose what actions – warnings, blacklisting or criminal charges – to take. […]

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/ 25 August 2000

Semifinal dream for mighty Quinn

Grant Shimmin olympics For a country that produced one of the earliest 100m champions at the modern Olympics – Reggie Walker in London in 1908 – and numerous finalists in the period before World War II, the cupboard has been pretty bare in recent years as far as the blue riband event of the games […]

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/ 25 August 2000

In the teeth of experience

James Wood Experience by Martin Amis (Jonathan Cape) Experience is a beautiful, and beautifully strange book, and it is unlike anything one expected. One feared a trough of plaint: either a sad, Gosse-like reckoning with the father; or an angry, journalistic reckoning with those journalists who have hunted Amis from tooth to tooth. But Experience […]