Staff Reporter

Belinda Beresford The expectations of smokers, drinkers and drivers of large cars were all confirmed again in this year’s budget: yes, the sin taxes are going up again. Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel announced that excise duties on all tobacco products will rise with immediate effect. The government aims to keep the total tax on […]

Jean Spear SOUTH AFRICA LESOTHO & SWAZILAND: THE ROUGH GUIDE by Barbra McCrea, Greg Mthembu-Salter, Tony Pinchuck & Donald Reid (Rough Guides) Newly published, South Africa Lesotho & Swaziland: The Rough Guide provides a street-savvy, balanced guide to the southern tip of Africa. The guide offers in-depth, to-the-point coverage of everything from boerewors to skelms […]

invisible’ Pityana Evidence wa ka Ngobeni Rhoda Kadalie, the former Human Rights Commissioner, this week took another swing at the Human Rights Commission (HRC) chair, Barney Pityana, for remaining aloof in Switzerland while the furore raged over the subpoenas to the country’s editors. Kadalie, who last week called on editors to defy the subpoenas served […]

Barry Streek Leading South African companies, including major listed empowerment groups, have been given three months’ notice by the union- controlled unit trust company, the Community Growth Fund (CGF), to provide answers on their employment practices. The CGF has accused these companies of “arrogance and intransigence” in dealing with its researchers. The companies include Hosken […]

WISDEN editor Matthew Engel said on Thursday he is quitting the job at the cricket almanack for at least a year because he is tired of having to write about England’s “relentless failures.” “I have been obliged to edit Wisden against a background of failure. This is not failure on the part of the almanack […]

THE Transvaal Agricultural Union has warned that many of the estimated 4000 farm schools in South Africa may be forced to close down because of government negligence. TAU Mpumalanga spokesman, Theo Wassenaar, said many farm schools lack infrastructure like electricity and sewage systems and the department also fails to maintain them. “Farmers and government differ […]

Robert Kirby LOOSE CANNON The marrow concept of the “African renaissance” will be getting its biggest endorsement later this year when the first Trans-Africa Motorcade Rally gets under way. The Mail & Guardian is privileged to be the first newspaper to publish details of this enterprising event. The founding idea of the Trans-Africa Motorcade Rally […]

Andy Capostagno RUGBY There are still some dinosaurs who will tell you that the game of rugby union should have nothing to do with show business, most of whom probably thoroughly enjoyed England’s try-less 15- 9 win over France in last week’s Six Nations. Such relics of a former amateur regime will be appalled by […]

David Martin OBITUARY:IANCHRISTIE In the days before it was fashionable to have a local accent, Ian Christie’s Scottish brogue would have been a barrier to his working as a radio commentator. Such was the reaction of Mozambique’s late president, Samora Machel, when Christie broadcast for the first time from Maputo in the 1970s for the […]

>From songs to sermons, these new South African poems represent some remarkablework Dan Wylie Some years ago, when I reviewed Adam Schwartzman’s The Good Life, The Dirty Life, I thought that here was a poet to watch out for. Schwartzman’s new (1998, just received!) collection, Merrie Afrika! (Carcanet) doesn’t disappoint, though it’s not a pacific […]

GRANTS for the elderly and the disabled are to increase only slightly, by R20 to R540 a month, Manuel announced in Parliament. The total welfare budget has been increased by approximately R1,25-billion to a total of R20,92-billion. Provincial welfare departments currently pay monthly benefits to more than three million of society’s most vulnerable beneficiaries, at […]

SINGER Yvonne Chaka Chaka was discharged from the Milpark hospital in Johannesburg, after suffering minor injuries in a car accident. She is still suffering from shock after a head-on collision, which blocked off the busy Empire Road over half an hour.

The imprint of apartheid is clearly evident in staff composition at universities and technikons across South Africa Barry Streek The academic staff at South Africa’s 36 public universities and technikons are still overwhelmingly white and male dominated, particularly at the historically white institutions, according to the Council for Higher Education. The council has found 80% […]

Dale T McKinley CROSSFIRE Is it a revolutionary change of course or merely a more overt expression of the predictable (if somewhat uneven) evolution of African National Congress’s socio- economic strategy and policy? President Thabo Mbeki, in his State of the Nation address, finally gave an unapologetic, institutional and public affirmation of the ANC leadership’s […]

Jubie Matlou The thumping and rhythmic beats from a batar drum to the tune of a melodic choral rendition bring a small displaced community together. The place for this spiritual union is Mayfair, and the day and time is Sunday afternoon. The sound created by the batar drum is very special to the Somali refugee […]

answered It is insufficient merely to make allegations in order for these to constitute prima facie findings or prima facie violations. Before a person can fairly and reasonably be said to be implicated in anything there must at least be some evidence which has formed the subject matter of an investigation leading to the making […]

NOTICE IN TERMS OF SECTION 9(1)(c) OF ACT 54 OF 1994 Notice to appear before the South African Human Rights Commission, sitting at Council Chambers, Ground Floor, Council Chambers Wing, Metropolitan Centre, 158 Loveday Street, Braamfontein: To:The Editor – Mail & Guardian Media Hill, 7 Quince Road, MILPARK WHEREAS, 1. The South African Human Rights […]

THE prosecutor of the UN warcrimes and genocide tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Carla Del Ponte, said on Wednesday she would ask judges to hold some future trials directly in those countries. “It would be desirable that the (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda – ICTR) could hold its trials directly in Kigali,” Carla […]

SOUTH African star cricketer Barry Richards has been shorlisted to coach the Pakistan national cricket side, a senior Pakistan Cricket Board official said on Thursday. “We have decided to talk to either England’s former test player Geoffrey Boycott or South African Barry Richards in the next couple of days,” PCB manager operations Yawar Saeed said. […]

Bob Woolmer FROM THE PAVILION The recent tug of war over Allan Donald mirrors, in a way, the club or country pull that Bafana Bafana players are experiencing. In all these matters, inevitably, it is the player who suffers. Naturally Donald wants to play for South Africa – as I am sure Mark Fish does. […]

Barry Streek The HIV/Aids epidemic which has so far infected five million South Africans – about 11,1% of the entire population – has serious economic dangers as it would in future decrease labour productivity while increasing unit labour costs, the Department of Finance has warned. “The economic and social impact of HIV/Aids is hard to […]

Steven Friedman WORM’S EYE VIEW Sometimes, the way we try to start a conversation can be guaranteed to end it. An example is the planned government attempt to start a discussion on race. There is no issue on which we need more urgently to talk. Race continues to dominate our society and will do so […]

Michelle Matthews If you’re reading this on Friday morning, call in sick, grab your sunscreen and a sleeping bag, and get down to the Breede River for a weekend of music and wallowing. The Savanna Up the Creek Music Festival will give you three days of hot bands, warm cider and chilled vibes. Tan, splash, […]

Duncan Campbell New techniques are revolutionising the art of creating murals in the world’s mural capital, Los Angeles. A new generation of artists is exploring the potential created by digital imaging. “Digital imaging is going to bring muralism into the 21st century,” said Judy Baca, founder of the city’s Social and Public Art Resource Centre […]

A MAN suspected of murdering his lover’s three-year-old son over the weekend has been handed over to police. The suspect’s brother found him hiding in a mealie field at Rietfontein 7 farm, 30km from Lydenburg, where both of them work. Provincial police spokeswoman Inspector Olga Marais said the suspect was taken to the farmer, who […]

John Matshikiza WITH THE LID OFF So my friend and colleague Phillip van Niekerk might find himself in jail in the next few weeks, if he isn’t careful. I have been telling him that if it does come to the worst-case scenario, and he defies the Human Rights Commission’s (HRC) summons to appear before it […]

Budget 2000 has something for everyone: Tax cuts for the hard-working populace, incentives for job creation, a boost for our credit rating – and fiscal discipline for state departments Belinda Beresford Trevor Manuel walked to his budget briefing with a huge smile on his face, secure in the knowledge that he was about to become […]

Howard Barrell President Thabo Mbeki and Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel have thrust aside last-minute resistance from Cabinet colleagues and decided to launch on time what is likely to prove a silent revolution in the control of the state’s finances and its delivery of services. Manuel told Parliament in his budget speech on Wednesday that […]

Jean Spear It seems trendy to criticise backpackers and their guidebooks these days. With the proliferation of mostly generic guides on the market that cater for the backpacker crowd and an established backpacker circuit, travelling is no longer reserved for the elite. But is it such a bad thing? Sure, it is amusing that guidebooks […]

Andrew Muchineripi SOCCER If the South African under-23 side defeat Cameroon in Yaounde on Saturday and Ghana at Vosloorus Stadium next month, cries of siyaya e Sydney will reverberate around our beautiful land. It is a big if, with the first hurdle particularly difficult, but what a prize lies in wait should we succeed. A […]

LESOTHO have named three foreign-based players in their 20-man squad for a Cosafa Castle Cup first round match against Zimbabwe in Harare on March 5. South African-based Lebajoa Mphongoa and Lehlohonolo Seema of Bloemfontein Celtic and goalkeeper Thabo Khoboli from second division Ria Stars join up with 17 Lesotho-based players in the squad. The team […]

Donna Block Foreign investors this week gave Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel’s budget speech the thumbs up, noting that it appeared designed mainly to secure a credit upgrade from leading rating agency Standard & Poor’s. “All in all this has been a very market friendly, economically orthodox budget,” said one London banker. But, he added, […]