Charlene Smith In 1995 (when 35 000 rapes were reported) the Human Sciences Research Council reported that South Africa had 149,5 rapes per 100E000 population, compared to 34,4 rapes per 100E000 in the United States. The danger of being raped is five times higher in South Africa than in the US. According to rape homicide […]
Barry Streek Wilmot James, once the hot favourite to become the new principal of the University of Cape Town (UCT), has resigned from the powerful position of dean of humanities at the university. After barely a year in office, he quit after he failed to be placed on the two- person shortlist for the position […]
The SABC’s African Language Radio stations are probably an anomaly peculiar to the South African radio industry. Between them, they use nine of the country’s 11 languages. Last November, the stations enjoyed roughly 70% of radio’s 23,8-million adult listeners, with the largest of these belonging to the Zulu-language Ukhozi fm (5,5-million), followed by the Xhosa- […]
John Matshikiza WITH THE LID OFF It was a bit disconcerting. It was my first visit to the city of Kampala, capital of the East African state of Uganda. It was an important moment. Uganda, which the national tourist board is pleased to promote as “the pearl of Africa”, is a lush, verdant para-dise, very […]
Barry Streek Production of maize in the former homelands last year fell to its lowest level in six years. Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza told Parliament this week that during the 1999/2000 financial year, more hectares of maize were planted than in previous years, but only 415 729 tonnes were produced, and […]
David le Page The deaths of five women in HIV/Aids drug trials were more likely the result of flaws in the handling of the trials than problems with the drugs themselves, researchers working on related trials said this week. The researchers were responding to the controversial decision by the government this week to suspend recruitment […]
Ebrahim Harvey CROSSFIRE The Civil Society Initiative launched recently by Roelf Meyer and Ray McCauley, head of the Rhema Church, is significant, if only because it highlights, more than anything else, the decline of South African civil society over the past few years. Vital to building a vibrant democracy is an active and involved civil […]
Robert Kirby LOOSE CANNON Last week yielded another of his feared public tantrums from Mr Mbeki’s chief soothsayer, Mr Mankahlana – or as he’s affectionately known these days, “South Parks”. In his newest ragings Mr Mankahlana described those who disagree with the president on the HIV/Aids issue as his “assailants”. I have to agree. With […]
Andy Capostagno RUGBY It was only a matter of time, really. South African rugby is in crisis, let’s find a scapegoat and ask Louis Luyt, if he’s not doing anything important, whether he would like to ride to the rescue. Things have been entirely too stable in the corridors of power, it’s time for the […]
Khadija Magardie BODY LANGUAGE To be honest, I’ve always wondered how she manages to do it. Barbie, that is. With her impressive, nipple-free bosom more than twice the size of her waist, equally impressive legs more than twice as long as her torso, and feet so femininely tiny that she can neither balance nor stand […]
Connie Selebogo MOTOR RACING For Batshobonke Sibuka (22), who grew up in a rural area in the Transkei where donkey tracks are the only fast lanes, a career in motor racing was something beyond imagination. Rising star Sibuka took his opponents by surprise when he beat experienced drivers in his motor racing debut at Killarney, […]
Stephen Gray To the wilder north of the Aughrabies Falls is another reserve area, also with a complicated history, and at last opened for tourists of the hardier breed. This is no place for sissies in sedans, for there are no air-conditioned chalets with fine-menu restaurant, good shop and well- marked walks. You should use […]
Nearly half the illegal immigrants on a repatriation train last week jumped off before it arrived in Mozambique Khadija Magardie It’s early morning on the repatriation train to Mozambique, and police Captain Pieter Cloete, clad in a T-shirt and sleeping shorts, is running bewildered through the carriages. “Where are all the people?” he shouts – […]
Graham Rock HORSE RACING A lanky chestnut with a white blaze will be entrusted with the hopes of 24 Irish prison officers in the Grand National at Aintree in Liverpool. Micko’s Dream has won nine of his 19 races and earned prize money of 104E000 for his syndicate of owners. Victory on Saturday would add […]
A landmark court judgment could force women to choose between having a family and pursuing a career Khadija Magardie The Labour Appeal Court has ruled that it is fair for employers to reject work applications for senior positions from women because they are pregnant. The judgment, delivered this week, is the first ever decision by […]
Anglo-American has driven a hard bargain for the mines it acquired in the Zambian Copperbelt last week Gregory Mthembu-Salter In a historic ceremony last Friday in Lusaka, Anglo- American regained the major mines of Zambia’s Copperbelt, including Konkola Deep. A consortium led by First Quantum Minerals (FQM) acquired the Mufulira and Nkana mines on the […]
Jonathan Watts in Seoul Asian policymakers have moved closer towards accepting the need for improved social safety nets in the wake of a financial crisis that has worsened regional inequality and shaken the belief that economic development alone can alleviate poverty. At a forum in Seoul last week, finance ministers and leading economists from Apec […]
Ex-prisoner 885/63 revisits Robben Island as his book on the subject is reissued Henk Rossouw When Indres Naidoo returned from exile, his nephew handed him a tattered photocopy of his memoir, banned in 1982. “It was still full of curry marks,” chuckled Naidoo as we drove down to the harbour to catch the early ferry […]
M&G reporters Hands-free kits for cellphones do not protect your brain from radiation – on the contrary, they channel three times the dose into the skull that you receive by holding the phone next to your ear, according to the British Consumers’ Association. A report in Which? magazine will upset those who rushed to buy […]
M&G reporter Sony’s chair, Norio Ohaga, and president, Nobuyuki Idei, recently announced their company’s online banking alliance with JP Morgan and Japan’s Sakura Bank. The online bank, to be capitalised at 222-million, will be 80% owned by Sony, 16% by Sakura and 4% by JP Morgan. It is due to begin services in the first […]
THE ACT Brumbies on Thursday named an unchanged side for Friday’s Super 12 match with the Otago Highlanders in Canberra. ACT coach Eddie Jones unsurprisingly stuck with the same starting 15 that trampled the Cats 64-0 a week ago to lift the Brumbies into third place on the standings, just a point behind the Highlanders. […]
Fourteen years after coming to power in Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni remains unswerving about the course he has embarked on John Matshikiza My first encounter with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni took place in the romantic atmosphere of a guerrilla army in boisterous and compassionate occupation of captured territory. It was March of 1997, and the […]
Howard Barrell and Jaspreet Kindra Jeff Radebe, minister of public enterprises, misled the Human Rights Commission (HRC) on Wednesday when he presented the submission of the African National Congress to the HRC’s public hearings on the media. Radebe told the HRC panel that Phillip van Niekerk, editor of the Mail & Guardian, wrote an article […]
A magistrate went beyond rhetoric in sentencing a rapist, writes journalist Charlene Smith The worst thing a criminal does is remove the dignity and humanity of those he seeks to victimise. The criminal justice system is worthless unless it restores that to the survivor of violent crime. It took a magistrate in one of the […]
Andrew Muchineripi Bafana Bafana kick off their campaign for the 2002 World Cup against minnows Lesotho There is no reason why South Africa should not get off to a winning start against Lesotho on Sunday in their quest for a second consecutive appearance at the World Cup finals. Bafana Bafana are, man for man, a […]
SOUTH Africa’s 2006 World Cup bid committee are set to make a vital presentation to senior African diplomats in Addis Ababa next week as the bid to host the soccer showcase reaches fever pitch. Danny Jordaan, CEO of the South African bid committee will meet with Salim Ahmed Salim, Organisation of African Unity secretary general, […]
THE Reserve Bank began a two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, with markets expecting it to leave interest rates on hold as lower oil prices point to subsiding domestic inflation pressures. The Bank will make an announcent when its monetary policy committee, which normally meets every six weeks, ends the current meeting early on Thursday […]
SOUTH African police have arrested more than 13000 suspected criminals in a five-day operation to clean up 124 crime hotspots, the national commissioner’s office said on Wednesday. Police have also seized more than 370 illegal guns and 550 stolen vehicles in the operation between March 28 and April 1. The operation is the first in […]
OIL prices rebounded slightly in London trading on Thursday, following the weakened prices of recent sessions. The price of Brent North Sea quality oil for May delivery was 33 cents higher at $24,08 dollars a barrel. In New York on Wednesday, the price of light sweet crude benchmark oil for delivery in May closed 38 […]
A NIGERIAN teenager has burnt herself to death in protest at a marriage imposed on her by her father. Binta Gambo, 18, set herself on fire on Monday in despair at the marriage forced on her two months ago. Kano Radio Corporation said. Gambo, from Mararrabar Musawa in Katsina State, northern Nigeria had apparently told […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday 1.30pm. THE struggle to represent Africa at the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea begins this weekend with 23 first-leg preliminary matches involving the mighty and the minnows, including South Africa’s Bafana Bafana who face Lesotho in Maseru. The build-up has, inevitably, been marred by club-versus-country […]
DESPITE having wild animals roaming within its boundaries, Marloth Park municipality has lost its bid to be incorporated into the neighbouring Kruger National Park. Instead, the Demarcation Board has decided to link it with the small towns of Komatipoort and Malelane in Mpumalanga, and four rural areas in Nkomazi. Marloth Park is part of a […]