Steven Friedman WORM’S EYE VIEW When will we stop relying on others to do what only we can do ourselves? As the gloom which followed the frustration of our World Cup bid set in last Thursday, an apparently unemployed man who had been listening carefully to our team’s sales pitch exclaimed: “Now we will not […]
A new Magaliesberg conservation project is being threatened by arsonists Nechama Brodie What should have been a week of celebration for Magaliesberg-based nature conservancy Jackal’s Kloof was marred by a deliberately set fire on its mountain top last week. The fire, which started late on Tuesday afternoon, took several hours to get under control – […]
Bryan Rostron Consider, in the light of Zimbabwe’s election, this report on the political background to the renaissance: “Now, if the interests of the ruling class are at stake, the Constitution is no longer altered, but simply abused, the ballot boxes are falsified, the officials bribed or intimidated.” The economic consequences, meanwhile, are all too […]
partners Jaspreet Kindra The African National Congress this week hatched an action plan to mend troubled relations with its alliance partners and to bolster links between the party inside and outside of the government. At the ANC’s national general council in Port Elizabeth this week, the ruling party announced plans to increase the capacity of […]
In just three years he has become the best sportsman on the planet. John Carlin charts the astounding progress of Tiger Woods from golfing prodigy to global phenomenon Tiger Woods was furious. He had just missed a 3,6m putt at Pebble Beach. The ball had drifted 15cm left of the hole. Teeth gritted, eyes murderous, […]
Caroline Sullivan CD OFTHEWEEK ‘Strong, independent, pagan woman” – that is how Sin,ad O’Connor describes herself on Daddy, I’m Fine, one of the most inspirational lyrics she has written for her first album in six years, Faith and Courage (Atlantic). And we can rightfully celebrate the return of the independent, exasperating, unique Ms O’Connor. Faith […]
hopes Neal Collins I have a picture in my head of Oceania’s Fifa delegate Charles Dempsey that I am finding hard to shift. Purely fictional of course, but it could just serve to explain how the Germans managed to grab the World Cup from the dark continent at the last possible moment. Dreamlike, I can […]
A series of art installations has been placed at key points in Johannesburg city. What will these mean to commuters who encounter them? Brenda Atkinson and Thebe Mabanga Whizz down Smit Street towards Braamfontein and your mind’s eye registers a billboard image that might be a mine dump, or perhaps a desert. Stroll down De […]
Capostagno golf Whether or not you enjoyed the 1999 Open Championship at Car-noustie rather depends on your view of professional golfers. If you share their view that the public wants to see birdies and eagles then you probably thought it was all a shocking waste of time. If on the other hand, you believe we […]
Peter Dickson Seven days of celebration is one hell of a birthday party – but veteran African National Congress activist and intellectual Govan Mbeki is no ordinary 90-year -old. Affectionately known to his comrades as Oom Gov, it’s been a hard road from rural Transkei to the Summerstand home along the Port Elizabeth beachfront where […]
“Brutus,” said Mark Anthony in that famously duplicitous speech, “is an honourable man.” And so we come to praise President Thabo Mbeki for the contributions he has made to the battle against HIV/Aids this week. Most immediately he has, by his controversial stance, ensured a degree of worldwide publicity for the cause such as the […]
Belinda Beresford In the United States mother-to-child transmission of HIV has dropped by about 75%, according to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). By far the largest number of infections of children are now in sub- Saharan Africa. Giving a short course of anti- retroviral drugs, such as AZT, has been shown to reduce […]
REUTERS, Johannesburg | Wednesday 12.15pm. SOUTH Africa could harvest a near-record sugar cane crop this summer and the industry has secured its important Far East markets, according to the cane growers’ association and the latest edition of the South African Sugar Journal. Quality problems and a poor ratio of cane to sucrose pointed to the […]
Government is sticking to its growth forecast despite a low first quarter growth rate of 0.9 percent. Finance director general, Maria Ramos said the lower than expected first-quarter growth rate was largely due to the performance of agriculture although a bumper maize crop should raise the performance of this sector and allow for an overall […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 03.15pm. South African motorists could expect the high fuel price to remain high for some time despite recent decreases in the price of crude oil, Mineral and Energy Affairs Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said. She told a media conference that the drop in the price of crude oil by US1.20 was […]
FRESH violence has erupted in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos, with two people killed and several injured in a clash at the city’s international airport, police and witnesses said. Lagos Police Commissioner Mike Okiro said more police had been deployed to reinforce security at the airport, where customs men and shipping agents fought on Monday over […]
IN AN ongoing power battle, the Hong Kong-backed bidder for South Africa’s third mobile phone licence, Nextcom, launched an urgent court action to prevent Saudi-backed consortium Cell-C from winning the lucrative licence. The court action seeks to prevent Telecoms Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri from endorsing a recommendation by Satra to pick Cell-C, said Nextcom’s spokesperson. The […]
A BRITISH pilot died and nine people including three American tourists were injured when their hot air balloon caught fire on Wednesday as they prepared to fly over Kenya’s Maasai Mara safari park. The luxury game-spotting flight ended in disaster at six a.m. when the balloon operated by Transworld Safaris burst into flames as it […]
VESTACOR, which operates as an investment capital fund is to acquire the interests, loan accounts and cash of sports goods retailer Moresport for R173m, or 70 cents a share. Vestacor said that after the disposal of Totalsports, Moresport did not have the required critical mass and immediate profitability necessary for a listed company to attract […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 01.00pm. IN the biggest state restructuring deal under President Mbeki’s auspices, Transnet has reached an agreement with Johnnic Holdings Limited and Johnnic Communications Limited to convert its 23% stake in MTN into shares in its holding company M-Cell Limited, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Transnet will also sell 75 […]
AIDS researchers hoping to find a way for women to silently protect themselves from Aids infection were disappointed to report on Wednesday that tests showed one product actually worsened the risk. The product, a spermicide called nonoxynol-9 and marketed under the trade name Advantage S by US-based Columbia Laboratories Inc, did not protect women in […]
SIX of the world’s biggest international trade and finance organizations will reform a four-year-old program to help the world’s poorest nations integrate into the global economy. The reorganization was prompted by criticism from independent experts who said that the programme was weak in administration and failed to link efforts to improve trade to the overall […]
A MUSLIM rebel chief holding 20 mostly foreign hostages told the government he is ready to resolve the nearly three-month-long hostage crisis, the Philippines’ chief negotiator said on Tuesday. Presidential adviser Roberto Aventajado, head of Manila’s negotiating team, said rebel commander Galib Andang called him using the satellite phone of a three-member French television crew […]
De Beers will undergo a major transformation as the company moves from being a custodian of the diamond market to a preferred supplier. This week it will outline its new strategy where the company plans to formalise long-standing gentlemen’s agreements with its diamond trading partners that will see benefits for all parties. It is believed […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 01.00pm. WALKER, a US e-business and financial solutions company, has entered into a joint venture with local IT firm Gijima Info Tech, in a move to secure a significant portion of South Africa’s market for large-scale financial applications. In this deal worth in excess of R500-million a year the Walker […]
SINGAPORE said on Tuesday it will send a team of zoologists to South Africa to help care for 18000 penguins drenched in an oil spill off Cape Town. The Singapore Zoological Gardens said in a statement the team will consist of a senior veterinarian and penguin keepers from the zoo and the Jurong Bird Park.”This […]
ZIMBABWE’S leading business associations have urged President Robert Mugabe to trim the size of his cabinet to cut public spending. In a report obtained by AFP on Tuesday, seven private sector groups urged Mugabe to cut the number of cabinet posts from 52 to 15. Mugabe’s ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) […]
THE national government and the private sector have donated R2-million to renovate 18 Mpumalanga schools that were damaged by floods early this year. Mpumalanga education spokesman Peter Maminza said on Tuesday that the donation would initially be spent on schools affected in the Nelspruit, Malelane and Hazyview districts. Maminza said his department was also negotiating […]
THE Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the transnational pharmaceutical corporation Merck have announced a 100-million-dollar grant to fight Aids in Botswana. The donation will fund a program in co-operation with the Botswana government aimed at prevention, management and treatment of the disease. Botswana has one of the highest rates of Aids in the world, […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 11.45am. GOVERNMENT’S decision against imposing a hotel levy to fund tourism should give the accommodation industry a welcome boost. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said he turned down a request for such a dedicated levy from the Tourism Department because it would further fragment tourism promotion, was not market-related and would […]
PRESIDENTIAL spokesman Parks Mankahlana has reached an undisclosed out-of-court settlement with the disgruntled mother of one of his two alleged children. His attorney, Moroampholo Tsoka, said on Monday that EC Wallace had promised to withdrawn her Nelspruit Maintenance Court suit after Mankahlana agreed to increase his R300 per month contribution towards their child. Mankahlana would […]
THE 19-year-old son of a Lynnwood Glen, Pretoria, couple charged with the murder of his parents and brother, was on Monday referred for 30 days psychiatric observation at the Weskoppies hospital by the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court. Karl Gustav Greyvenstein was not asked to plead when he appeared briefly before Magistrate C Khoza. He will appear […]