Staff Reporter

Heather Connon SHAREWORLD When FTSE International meets on March 8 to decide who is in and out, up and down, in the London stock market, construction company BICC’s lowly 330-million market capitalisation means it could be demoted to the small-cap index – of the smallest companies in the market. But Baltimore Technologies, a supplier of […]

Marianne Merten ‘Anyone who believes in his innocence has no trouble sleeping. I sleep like a baby.” That’s how outspoken senior Western Cape New National Party member and former poverty relief MEC Peter Marais reacts to his sacking. He is awaiting formal charges ahead of a disciplinary hearing, having been fired by Premier Gerald Morkel […]

Government plans to stiffen immigration legislation follow warnings by Western intelligence services that illegal immigrants have turned South Africa into a top drug conduit Paul Kirk The British intelligence service, MI5, has singled out South Africa as one of the “most important” conduits for South American drugs into Western Europe in a confidential report submitted […]

Ian Fife TAKING STOCK IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE SOUTH AFRICA’S LAST PROPERTY BOOM. THE LAST ONE PEAKED IN 1983, SO ALMOST EVERYBODY UNDER 40 HAS YET TO EXPERIENCE THIS KIND OF SOUL-STIRRING EVENT. THEN, ONLY WHITES COULD BUY GOOD PROPERTIES, SO MOST PEOPLE OVER 40 WERE SIDELINED AS WELL. A residential property boom is […]

Between Madagascar and the African mainland lie several small islands that time forgot Jacqui Pile ‘Slap ze seat before you sit down,” shouted Freddie, the mad German who picked us up at Nosy B airport. We vigorously hit the seats before we climbed into his convertible Kombi. A cloud of mosquitoes rose up and buzzed […]

Neil Manthorp CRICKET Having made one of his gutsiest half centuries of a pretty gutsy career during the triangular final last Sunday, Hansie Cronje had just a single day at home before joining the rest of his squad for the the flight to India on Wednesday. What a triumph it was. When Steve Waugh gloated […]

American literary heavyweights trashed the bestselling novels of Tom Wolfe … but now he’s fighting back with gusto Julian Borger T he literary world loves a good punch- up, and as feuds go, this is the Rumble in the Jungle and the Thrilla in Manila all rolled into one. The feud has brought together John […]

Riaan Wolmarans CD OFTHEWEEK The Goo Goo Dolls made an impressive comeback in 1999 when their powerful ballad Iris shot up the charts after being featured in the filmCity of Angels. The success of their sixth album, Dizzy Up the Girl (Gallo), might have been attributed to the success of that track, but on closer […]

David Beresford ANOTHER COUNTRY In view of the rivalry between the old Transvaal and the Cape, the fact that they hosted competing disasters in a matter of days – the Cape burning and now the Transvaal almost washed away in floods – offers further grounds for suspicion that You-Know-Who is playing silly buggers upstairs again. […]

Cameron Duodu LETTER FROM THE NORTH Who are Robert Mugabe’s political strategists? He ought to fire the lot of them. There is no country in the world in which you can hold a referendum – and expect to win – when there is a fuel shortage. A fuel shortage is like no other economic deprivation, […]

A chronology of the long and fragmented history of South African football. 1892: Birth of Football in South Africa, Natal Football Association and later Football Association of South Africa (Fasa). Fasa caters for white footballers only. 1951: Coloured, Black and Indian federations unite to form South African Soccer Federation (Sasf). 1952-1964: Fasa becomes member of […]

Gavin Foster MOTOCROSS Two KwaZulu-Natal teenagers have swapped the calmness of the classroom for the hurly-burly of world championship motocross racing. Grant Langston (17) goes into his third year of grand prix (GP) competition with a very good chance of winning fame and fortune, while 15- year-old Jarrett de Jager leaves for Europe next week […]

After only two years, South African Rachelle Jonck has made a name for herself in New York’s opera world Coenraad Visser We meet at New York’s famous Carnegie Deli, appropriately across the street from the mecca of classical music. At the table next to us, an unsuspecting tourist ordered the house staple – pastrami on […]

Residents of a remote rural area hope a state-of-the-art school will be the first step in the region’s developent Barry Streek The construction of a R3,7-million high school, donated by Shell at the request of former president Nelson Mandela, in an area that could not even be reached by car this week – unless it’s […]

John Matshikiza WITH THE LID OFF Is the Reverend Jesse Jackson an opportunist, or someone who simply knows how to turn any opportunity to a greater advantage? Is there a difference between the two concepts, anyway? From that fateful day in 1968, when he was one of the first people to arrive on the balcony […]

Peter Dickson The Eastern Cape provincial government has announced plans to close 700 of the province’s farm schools just days after its education MEC promised the Human Rights Commission (HRC) he would bail out the schools with a R14-million subsidy. Premier Makhenkesi Stofile told last Thursday’s opening of the provincial legislature that the farm schools, […]

Gavin Foster Your 12-year-old daughter goes to an indoor karting venue with friends and is hurt when a wheel flies off her kart on the track. “You’ll pay for this,” you tell the manager of the track. “No I won’t,” is his response. “Take a look. Your daughter signed an indemnity.” The following day you […]

Khadija Magardie Current research indicates that at least one in every 10 South Africans will contract a new sexually transmitted disease (STD) this year. According to Department of Health statistics, the numbers of STDs are spiralling. Every year over four million new cases are reported. Given the close association between STDs and HIV/Aids, it is […]

policy Marianne Merten The new land reform policy unveiled this week by Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza after eight months of stony silence, has raised serious concerns about the lack of public debate and consultation in the formulation of a new policy framework. The introduction of several controversial changes in the new […]

Paul Kirk Prince Gideon Zulu, the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for welfare, is apparently allowing a close friend to sell state pensioners private funeral policies at pension pay points across the province. The private insurance scheme does not make a provision for policyholders to designate a beneficiary, entitling its operators to pay out their takings to whomever […]

THOUSANDS of Basotho on Friday morning packed the Setsoto stadium in Maseru ahead of their king’s wedding. King Letsie III and his bride Karabo Motsoeneng, 23, from the Free State town of Ficksburg, will tie the knot before the huge crowd during a ceremony scheduled to start at 10am. Former South African president Nelson Mandela, […]

Shaun de Waal MOVIE OFTHEWEEK Inevitably, once Leonardo DiCaprio got involved, the making of The Beach became a major gossip-fest. Allegations flew about the film-makers’ ecological destruction of the beach where it was being filmed in Thailand; and Leo had allegedly hired an entire island nearby to house his current girlfriend. The rumours that impinge […]

A Wits University professor’s admission that he faked clinical trials has rocked the international medical community, reports Khadija Magardie The University of the Witwatersrand is poised to decide on the fate of the disgraced head of its haematology and clinical oncology department, Dr Werner Bezwoda, who has been accused of misrepresenting the results of a […]

Marlene Burger The marathon trial of Dr Wouter Basson degenerated into a clash of legal wills this week after the extraordinary demand by the state prosecutor that the presiding Judge, Willie Hartzenberg, step down. After searching in vain for legal precedent, lawyers on both sides concluded that this was probably the first time in South […]

Ivor Powell The South African government appears to be soft-pedalling on an investigation into a list of Unita sanctions busters that was given to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad by visiting Africa Minister Peter Hain on his visit last month. Hain passed on the names – which are sourced to British intelligence reports […]

Christian Figenschou In what is likely to be one of the year’s most important new car launches, Italian car maker Fiat has marked an aggressive leap into the local market with the introduction of its 178 “world car” range, comprising the Fiat Palio hatchback, the Palio Weekend station wagon and the Siena sedan. Fiat, which […]

A NORTHERN Province taxi owner has been acquitted of attempting to murder Orlando Pirates defender Gerald Raphahlela. Raphahlela narrowly escaped injury when the vehicle he was driving was sprayed with bullets in Seshego township on December 21 1998. Kobedi Kubushi, 40, a taxi owner from Seshego, was discharged in the Pietersburg High Court on Wednesday. […]

peace’ Stefaans Brmmer A Johannesburg-based “arms dealer” and South Africa’s top spy have locked horns in a court contest involving claims that the dealer is a threat to world peace and confirmation that South African intelligence collaborates with the United States CIA. Affidavits lodged by both sides pending a Pretoria High Court hearing reveal details […]

Howard Barrell and Barry Streek New National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk may be the ultimate victor as the African National Congress’s desperate bid to exploit the firing of maverick Western Cape MEC Peter Marais fizzled out this week. A plot to give Van Schalkwyk a seat of power – the premiership of the Western […]

Bob Fisher SAILING Days before the start of the America’s Cup, New Zealand’s defence has come under fire – and not solely from their Italian challengers. The Kiwi skipper Russell Coutts and his crew are at odds with Team New Zealand chief executive Sir Peter Blake and his team responsible for the defence of the […]

Mercedes Sayagues Judging from President Robert Mugabe’s body language during his State of the Nation address on Tuesday, he was in shock. Stiff and aloof, albeit in a father-of-the-nation magnanimous style, he conceded defeat in the referendum over his draft Constitution. It was a far cry from the fist-waving, cocky Mugabe of earlier weeks. At […]

Four hours from the summit of Everest, Cathy O’Dowd came across a stricken climber. She faced a brutal choice: to risk her own life in a doomed rescue – or to push on to the top. Here she explains why she left the barely breathing body I stared at the body, blinking in disbelief. We […]