Parents, schools and the government face the serious task of dealing with a crisis that is taking on epidemic proportions Melinda Ferguson The use of illegal substances among schoolchildren and teenagers has increased about fivefold over the past six years. According to the latest figures available from the South African Police Service, more than 60% […]
Andrew Muchineripi soccer Think carefully about the question I am about to pose before you answer it: what are the most common words on the lips of football fans ahead of any cup final? A clue. It is so obvious that it may not be obvious. Without fear of contradiction I declare that “Who will […]
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 […]
Ntuthuko Maphumulo soccer On paper Carlos Queiroz is one of the best coaches ever to set foot in South Africa. He is known as the “professor” in Portugal, but despite his outstanding achievements he was not well known in Africa until world ruling body Fifa recommended him to the South African Football Association (Safa) as […]
Neil Sonnekus CATCH ME A KILLER by Micki Pistorius (Penguin) Micki Pistorius is this country’s top profiler and has written a book about her six years’ experience in the South African Police Services. She tells us she has a kind of sixth sense (cryptesthesia) about these things and has apparently helped catch more serial killers […]
Daniel Taylor soccer The first bouquets started arriving just before 11am. It started as a slow trickle, followed by a steady flow. Very soon, as the news reverberated across the old cotton town, Ewood Park had become the focal point for the mourning of a club and its community. Not only Blackburn but English football […]
recognise it Nawaal Deane Ecstasy: “E”, or the “love drug”, costs between R50 and R80, depending on the dealer. A person on E will display affectionate behaviour, wanting to massage (non-sexually), hug or touch anyone for hours. To spot a person on E, look for someone with dilated pupils and a tense jaw, someone who […]
Khadija Magardie A Free State school principal who wrote acid testimonials for a group of matric pupils has dashed the hopes of the youngsters of studying further or getting jobs after school. The letters of reference from the poisoned pen of the principal of Diphetoho High School, in Botha-ville, near Kroonstad, conclude with the principal’s […]
Boom Shaka’s best-known vocalist has launched her debut CD single in style Charl Blignaut You can say what you like about Lebo Mathosa – and, heaven knows, much has been said about Lebo Mathosa – but after last week even her most insistent detractors will be hard- pressed to overlook her singular talents and simply […]
Jaspreet Kindra 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 African cameraman Gugu […]
Jaspreet Kindra and Glenda Daniels Politics within the tripartite African National Congress-led alliance entered a particularly contradictory phase this week when branches of the union movement effectively threatened to withdraw their support from the ruling party in the run-up to the local government elections. Two major unions, which are affiliates of the alliance partner the […]
The wicketkeeper’s desire to play for South Africa is in contrast to other players’ apathy Peter Robinson You really have to hand it to Nic Pothas. After waiting for what must have seemed like most of his life to play for South Africa (or most of the 1990s, anyway) he was finally given his chance […]
Ivor Powell and Belinda Beresford The government has failed to implement the advice of scientists on a panel convened by President Thabo Mbeki himself to advise on HIV/Aids policy and treatment – the latest manifestation of its stubborn reluctance to accept evidence that anti-retrovirals are safe and effective. The Mail & Guardian has learned that […]
Philip Machanick For almost as long as anyone can remember Apple has been promising to deliver a great new operating system. An operating system is the software that controls basic functions of a computer: allowing multiple programs to run without bumping into each other, organising information on a disk into documents and applications … in […]
Fiona Macleod Insurance tycoon and sometimes funder of the African National Congress leadership Douw Steyn is spending millions of rands on putting down roots in a private game reserve in the Northern Province. Steyn, founder of Auto & General Insurance, was friendly with the ruling party’s top leaders in the early 1990s before he moved […]
Tracey Farren A small group of residents is trying its best to halt what is otherwise an extremely successful housing project in Vrygrond, the Western Cape’s oldest squatter settlement. It is not completely clear what the motive is behind the murders and threats that mar the steady stream of brick houses going up among the […]
Thebe Mabanga in your ear The complaint that local music does not receive sufficient airplay is so old it has moral fatigue. The call has been made at various platforms by everyone in the music industry and an attempt to improve the situation has led to initiatives like South African Music Week (August 28 to […]
Ebrahim Harvey left field The black left-leaning Azanian People’s Organisation (Azapo) and the Pan Africanist Congress over the past few months have taken the first serious steps towards unity. This is part of the broader flux and ferment in South African politics, as seen by the merger of the New National Party and the Democratic […]
Julie Burchill Body Language Until very recently, no matter how liberal he was, a man could argue himself blue in the face that he was in favour of all possible equalities between men and women, and then at the last moment slip the stiletto between the ribs: “Ah, but nature, you see – nature’s different. […]
David Gleason The Oppenheimers have made news in South Africa for the best part of a century and Harry Oppenheimer’s death last week was no exception. Indeed, it became an excuse for media excess. Not that any of this was undeserved. On the contrary, Oppenheimer and the mining and industrial combine he fashioned played a […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
THE Senegal government has ordered the local Coca Cola affiliate to halt production of Coca Cola and Sprite after a consumer protection organisation complained that “slimy substances” had been discovered in several one-litre bottles, the BBC reported. The ban came in response to a growing public outcry which has prompted the government to conduct immediate […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Bloemfontein | Thursday CAPE Town is fast becoming the leading child sex tourism destination of the world, where regular sex tours are organised in much the same fashion as wine route tours, according to one of South Africa’s top welfare officials. Law enforcement officials are fully aware of the trend, but are either […]
KENYAN women soldiers will be allowed to marry following sweeping new changes introduced by the country’s Defence Council aimed at restructuring the armed services. Female soldiers will be free to marry either civilians or soldiers, following the integration of the former Women Service Corp into other sectors of the armed forces. However, there are limitations: […]
A NEW bill has been tabled in Parliament that will write off the R4.1bn debt incurred by the former homelands and possibly bury forever unanswered questions on unauthorised spending. The Finance Bill which was approved by the finance portfolio committee, will allow the former homelands to start will a clean slate. The Treasury said that […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Dar Es Salaam | Thursday SMALL-scale gold miners in the Geita district, in northern Tanzania are seeking compensation from Ashanti Goldfields after claiming that they were forcibly evicted from their mines. Local miners in the region are said to have written a letter to the president describing how the Geita district commissioner with […]
OWN CORRESPONDENTs, Pretoria | Thursday AFRIKANER Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) leader Eugene Terre’Blanche has walked out of the Pretoria High Court a “free” man after being released on bail, saying “justice has prevailed” and determined to see that his maize crop is harvested. His release followed a decision by the Department of Correctional Services to release him […]