James Hall Swaziland’s parliamentarians this week voted to ban miniskirts in schools in an effort to retard the spread of HIV/Aids and considered a motion to sterilise all people with the disease. The man behind the Swaziland Senate directive banning miniskirts in schools was Majahenkhaba Dlamini, the son of a former prime minister and chief, […]
Despite equity plans, poorer pupils are still being taught by teachers less qualified than those of their wealthier peers Russell Wildeman When the education landscape was transformed from 19 racially based education departments to nine provincial departments, large inequalities were found between provinces. Redress was initially driven by redistributing funds between provincial education departments and […]
Gregory Mthembu-Salter The Zambian government this week secured $1-billion in funding from international donors despite pre-election political intrigue that has suggested dictatorial behaviour on the part of President Frederick Chiluba. The Consultative Group (which is the annual gathering of donors) for the first time met in Lusaka rather than Paris. The group gave the government […]
Gear may soon be a thing of the past as the ANC debates what our new economic strategy should be Howard Barrell Yes, it appears it may really be happening. The seemingly endless – and little understood – economic debate about the government’s market-friendly macroeconomic policy may be coming to an end. Gear, the acronym […]
A South African father explains to his son, who lives in England, why the sensational All Blacks victory against the Wallabies does not spell disaster for the Springboks on Saturday Thanks for the letter of sympathy, son, although I do feel you go a bit far in suggesting we sue for peace and adopt ping- […]
Martin Whiting Gerald Durrell: the Authorised Biography by Douglas Botting (HarperCollins) Douglas Botting, author of three other biographies including that of Gavin Maxwell (Ring of Bright Water), now provides a detailed account of the life of Gerald Durrell – conservationist, educator, writer and champion of endangered species and animals the world over. Best known for […]
THOUSANDS of South Africans seeking damages for asbestos-related diseases will be able to pursue their case against a British company in English courts, the House of Lords decided on Thursday in a landmark ruling. More than 3000 claimants will be able seek justice from the British legal system in a group action suit against Cape […]
MOZAMBICAN Defence Minister Tobias Dhai called on Thursday on his counterparts from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Maputo to work together to solve common security problems. “The continuing threat to peace and security in our region demands permanent consultations and collective response,” Dhai said at the opening of a three-day SADC meeting […]
SOUTH African shares moved softer in cautious early trade on lack of a new impetus and after Wall Street closed lower overnight. However local traders said the focus remained on South Africa’s largest IT company Didata, which accounted for more than half of the traded volumes on the Johannesburg bourse yesterday. Didata was last up […]
GUNMEN raided a remote Roman Catholic mission in Angola and abducted 14 church workers and up to 20 civilians, the archbishop of Luanda said on Wednesday. The raid by unknown assailants at dawn on Tuesday came nine days after 21 children were kidnapped in a similar assault. This time the attackers targeted the Swiss mission […]
. The film opening the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, ‘Women on Top’, seems to summarize the look and feel of this fourth annual event. The festival that starts on Friday and runs until 30 July, will feature a special program "Women’s Visions", highlighting the work of several contemporary Latin American and American female directors.
KENYA’S government has removed a list of corrupt politicians from a parliamentary report on graft, after winning a rowdy vote in the assembly. The “list of shame”, published in May, linked some of President Daniel arap Moi’s closest aides and relatives to corruption and scandal. Vice-President George Saitoti and cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott had been […]
ASBESTOSIS victims in South Africa are ready to take the British based mining company, Cape PLC, to the International Court of Justice should they not be granted the opportunity to sue the company in British courts. Northern Province health MEC Sello Moloto made the statement during a report back meeting held at Ga-Mathabatha near Lebowakgomo […]
SWAZILAND will ban mini-skirts in schools to try to halt the spread of Aids. The Swazi government claims that schoolgirls with short skirts entice male teachers into relationships. At least one quarter of the Swazi population is infected with HIV. “The ban will go into effect next year and schoolgirls 10 years and older will […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, ELLIS MNYANDU and SAPA, Johannesburg | Wednesday 9.30am. South African Telecoms Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri and favoured cellular licence bidder Cell C have slammed a Hong Kong-backed group in court for trying to delay the awarding of the country’s third mobile phone licence. In papers presented to Pretoria’s High Court yesterday, the minister’s lawyers […]
Russian born teen tennis star, Anna Kournikova, has gotten herself into a life-threatening situation after a catty remark aimed at British model and actress, Elizabeth Hurley.
REPRESENTATIVES of southern African countries will meet for eight days from Wednesday to discuss co-operation on cultural issues, Deputy Arts and Culture Minister Brigitte Mabandla said on Tuesday. Mabandla said she hoped the Southern African Development Community ministers and officials would look at arts and culture as a means to unify the region, although member […]
PRESIDENTIAL spokesman Parks Mankahlana will know in six to eight weeks if he is the father of an eight-year-old boy who lives in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga. Mankahlana, the boy and his mother had blood drawn for a paternity test at pathologists Du Buisson & Partners in Nelspruit on Monday morning. Pathologist Dr David Toerien confirmed that […]
Philippine negotiators are pressing Muslim gunmen to free the remaining 38 hostages including two South Africans, after the release of an ailing German hostage. Renate Wallert is now back in her hometown of Goettingen, in central Germany. “We hope her freedom would lead to more releases,” President Joseph Estrada’s chief aide, executive secretary, Ronaldo Zamora […]
MUSLIM rebels freed an ailing German housewife from 12 weeks in captivity in southern Philippine jungle where the gunmen still hold several mostly foreign hostages. Renate Wallert, boarded a helicopter in the town of Jolo shortly after she was handed over by the Abu Sayyaf rebels to chief hostage negotiator Robert Aventajado at their jungle […]
FIVE armed men attacked a Catholic mission in Northern Province early on Sunday morning, shooting a church member and holding up a priest and his wife. The men broke through a security fence and gate at Makapanspoort Lutheran Catholic Mission near Potgietersrus at 3am. Bushveld police spokesman Captain Blackie Swart said the attackers smashed a […]
Matthew Krouse ‘Will those who want to see the Nguni spirit possession please proceed to level two …” the instruction rang out above the din of revellers who had come to launch the Urban Futures conference exhibitions programme. The halls of Newtown’s MuseuMAfrika, on July 10, had not seen anything quite like it before. Dried […]
Heather Hogan Also known as “Mandela’s children”, the Birth to Ten (BTT) project, a collaboration between several universities and organisations, has studied thousands of children for the past 10 years to gauge the effects of urbanisation and political transformation on their growth and well-being. In 1989 the project began studying 3 275 children from the […]
Paul Kirk KwaZulu-Natal has been hit by a wave of farm invasions in which thousands of squatters have stormed farms, stripping millions from the value of the province’s agricultural output. The invasions have destroyed at least 4E000 agricultural jobs in the Mangete area near Stanger on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, where most of the 63 […]
The father of Venus and Serena has coached them into the history books. But his greatest achievement may have been to teach them there is more to life than tennis Richard Williams (no relation) and Duncan Campbell What he likes best is to get people off balance. One day he will be talking about buying […]
With Aids rampant and no cash for Western drugs, Africa is condemned to hopelessness and resentment Maggie O’Kane Malita Maxwell has Aids. But so does just about everybody else in the women’s ward of Chiradzulu hospital, with its broken air conditioner, smell of old, sweet urine and greasy mattresses covered in bright green plastic. In […]
Charlene Smith on being misquoted by the president who last week accused her of ‘racist rage’ How do you measure a president’s success or otherwise? By examining those he chooses to blame for his failures. President Thabo Mbeki and the Democratic Party’s Tony Leon have sent long letters to each other about HIV and rape […]
Thebe Mabanga in your ear South Africa badly needs a national music chart. One needs to be able to log on to the Internet or pick up a paper and be able see what song is flavour of the moment for the majority of entertainment consumers. Radio, by definition, has a crucial role to play […]
Laura Tisdall (13) and Polly Tisdall (11) in Didcot, Oxfordshire The moment the Hogwarts Express steam train finally puffed into Didcot Railway Centre last Saturday with JK Rowling on board was just totally magic. We’d been waiting for ages and ages with hundreds of other people, clutching our copies of the new Harry Potter book. […]
king David le Page and Mungo Soggot Some of the more controversial dealings of De Beers, the Oppenheimers and the United States government have been cast in a new light by a South African government request that the diamond conglomerate explain its ties with Maurice Tempelsman. Tempelsman, most renowned as a former consort to Jacqueline […]
David Beresford ANOTHER COUNTRY The brigade of determined faces that is the Tour de France has been hurtling across the television screen again and once more, after witnessing the agony of the proceedings, I come away puzzling: why do they do it ? Once upon a time, and a very long time ago it was, […]
The Aids 2000 conference in Durban has focused the world’s attention on how South Africa is dealing with the pandemic Belinda Beresford South Africa has been one of the sleeping behemoths of sub-Saharan Africa when it comes to Aids. The country has the greatest number of HIV infections in the world, accompanied by a fast […]