Staff Reporter

Barry Streek BIG MEN LITTLE PEOPLE: ENCOUNTERS IN AFRICA by Alec Russell (Macmillan) Despite its somewhat obvious title, which is over-emphasised by a picture of a pleading Jonas Savimbi on the cover, Alec Russell, who was the Daily Telegraph’s Johannesburg correspondent, has written an interesting book, based on his reporting experiences in Africa. For him, […]

MSI Cellular, an international operator in the Khuluma 084 consortium bidding for the third cellular licence, announced on Thursday that it has won the GSM cellular licence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, now its 10th GSM licence in Africa. The DR Congo was the first African country to install a cellular network in 1986. […]

Khadija Magardie One of the leading lights of the Commission for Gender Equality, Dr Farid Esack, has thrown his weight behind deposed chief executive Colleen Lowe-Morna, who is bringing an urgent interdict to overturn the commission’s decision to fire her. In affidavits before the Johannesburg High Court, Esack has also called for an inquiry into […]

Riaan Wolmarans Just about every Gauteng venue with a bar and more than two chairs seems to be planning something big, usually with DJs and the inevitable fireworks. The biggest outdoor bash will definitely be the African Renaissance Millennium Party at the Union Buildings. Performances by top artists Ringo Madlingozi, Dorothy Masuku and Mahube, Boom […]

Perhaps the best way to describe Thabo Mbeki’s term of office to date is as a “back-room presidency”. With the tacit assistance of an invisible official opposition it is threatening to make a nonsense of our democracy. The signs have been there for some time where President Mbeki is concerned. The centralisation of political power. […]

ACCLAIMED filmmaker Richard Attenborough on Wednesday received an honorary doctorate of literature from the University of Cape Town. Lord Attenborough, who was an outspoken opponent of apartheid, used his acceptance speech to pay homage to former president Nelson Mandela. He said the world was in awe of Mandela’s ability to resist recrimination and bitterness in […]

Paul Kirk As South Africa braces itself for a malaria epidemic, health experts are warning that a run on anti-malaria drugs may leave people defenceless against the killer disease. It emerged this week that pharmacies across the country are reporting fast- shrinking supplies of over-the-counter anti-malaria drugs, with several outlets in malaria hot spots having […]

Neil Manthorp Cricket Hansie Cronje bared his teeth like few captains know how after the first Test against the West Indies last season. Lest people forget, and they do, the Wanderers Test was closely fought. South Africa claimed a first-innings lead of just seven runs and were guided to a rousing four-wicket victory by Jacques […]

Sheridan Griswold IF YOU CAN WALK, YOU CAN DANCE by Marion Molteno (Shola Books) Marion Molteno’s first novel in 1993, AShield of Coolest Air, is a captivating story about Somali refugees in London. Her second novel, whose title is taken from a Zimbabwean saying, won the 1999 Commonwealth Africa Writers’ award. In it she excels […]

LONMIN reported a 23% jump in underlying profits in the year to September 30 on Friday, buoyed by a strong performance at its platinum mines, and predicted a further improvement in the current year. The mining rump of the late Tiny Rowland’s former Lonrho empire, which last month withdrew a bid for Ghana’s Ashanti Goldfields, […]

n Western Cape Premier Gerald Morkel will be next to his cellphone with the family at his official residence. He is one of seven in the provincial government put on standby just in case the Y2K bug causes havoc. n Cape Town Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, a keen gardener, will spend the time in the […]

Ruben Mowszowski The rift between science and religion and how it might be healed has been one of the hot topics at the Parliament of World Religions. But there is a sense of a discussion taking place too late. A marriage of a kind – one between spirituality and technology – has already taken place […]

Deon Potgieter Boxing As the millennium is counted out amid an ignored controversy – most pundits agree that the next millennium starts on January 1 2001 – so too any selection of a top 10 has its controversies. Historically significant bouts of the millennium speak for themselves. James Couper vs Woolf Bendoff: July 26 1889 […]

Shaun Harris Events at the Festival of Living Treasure at St Lucia and Shongweni will be the launching pad for a home-grown employment creation programme that could bring ongoing economic empowerment to some of the poorer communities in KwaZulu-Natal. The Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (Wessa) will use the festival as the marketing […]

JUSTICE Minister Penuell Maduna on Wednesday acceded to a request from Cape High Court Judge President Edwin King that he retire at the end of April next year rather than the end of October. This comes after Maduna last week asked King to remain in office until the end of October. Maduna’s spokesman Paul Setsetse […]

Thirty-one years after the assassination of the civil rights leader, one man is still fighting to expose what he says is the truth behind the murder. Tony Stark reports Bill Pepper is a crusader – a man with a mission that has transformed this quietly spoken American lawyer from an unknown attorney into someone who […]

Robert Kirby THE MIRACLE RIVERS by Peter and Beverly Pickford (Southern) Any new book by Peter and Beverly Pickford raises expectations. The work of these two gifted wildlife photographers has always been of almost solitary excellence. In a market these days far more than adequately served, the Pickfords’ work remains individual and always surprising. Their […]

Paul Kirk South Africans are increasingly using flaxseed oil capsules as an anti-malarial remedy amid false claims that scientists have vetted the drugs. The capsules have already proved popular in Johannesburg, and are now catching on fast in KwaZulu-Natal. But experts warned this week that the leaflets accompanying the drugs are “blatantly untrue” and are […]

Will the current fixation on Mediterranean cuisine be replaced by something from deeper south? Probably not. The myth that Africans love their red meat swimming in an ocean of oil has not done much to promote local flavours in a world that is obsessed with cholesterol cutting. And the myth that Africans like their vegetables […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Friday 4.15pm. WESTERN Cape provincial crime intelligence chief Jeremy Veary released an identikit of a bomb suspect without consulting policemen working on the case because he believed the suspect was being protected by top Western Cape detectives. This information is contained in a signed statement by Veary, which he originally […]

Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala With legislation on the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Bill due to be passed soon, a special parliamentary committee is currently debating whether examples of discrimination should be included in a schedule to be added to the Bill. Examples suggested to form part of this schedule are discrimination based on […]

God and old Nick square off in Hollywood’s latest batch of millennial thrillers, reports Brian Pendreigh Some guy visits a face-painting stall, opts for red and black and declares himself a servant of the dark side. Things go bump in the night in Maryland woods. Dead people walk the Earth and do not even know […]

Paul Kirk and Evidence wa ka Ngobeni Most of the fun in Durban will be centred around the city’s harbour, Africa’s busiest. But what was supposed to have been the star attraction in the bustling port – a replica of the Titanic – will not make the deadline. The ship has in fact not been […]

Fiona Macleod Aaron Mmako (39) used to sell his sculptures for a pittance on the side of the road. He knows how hard it is to flag down a tourist, and how easy it is to sell a lovingly crafted piece for a song because it is the only cash he will see for a […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Port Elizabeth | Friday 6.30pm. ENGLAND clawed their way back into the match on day number two of the second test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth. By the close of play the touring side had rattled up a reply of 139/1 to South Africa’s blistering first innings total of 450. After losing […]

Mamphela Ramphele A SECOND LOOK The question I want to ask today is whether South Africans deserve democracy, whether they deserve the benefits of the sacrifices of those who fought for democracy. Douglas MacArthur once said: “No man [woman] is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.” This quote […]

The Heath unit is set to investigate irregularities at Technikon SA estimated to amount to about R60-million, reports Ivor Powell With his institution in chaos, the principal of Technikon SA gave himself a 35% salary increase, pushing it up to around R1,5-million per year. Attie Buitendacht neglected to seek the governing council’s approval for this […]

Sources in the Democratic Party have fingered four prominent members of the party as being part of a cabal bent on keeping their grip on the DP in Gauteng. Howard Barrell reports The machinations of a cabal of old-style liberals lie behind the extraordinary conflict within the Democratic Party that has exploded into the public […]

terror Marianne Merten August 8 1996: Hard Livings gang boss Rashaad Staggie is lynched during a People against Gansterism and Drugs (Pagad) demonstration in the presence of police, media and emergency workers. An inquest into the death, launched when the Cape High Court trial of Pagad member Ozeer Booley collapsed last year, has been repeatedly […]

SOUTH Africa’s seven-a-side rugby team kick off their challenge for the Stellenbosch Sevens title on Friday with a match against Kenya at the Danie Craven Stadium. The team, led by former Bok winger Jacques Olivier, will be hoping to improve on their recent showing at the Dubai Sevens where they were beaten 31-0 in the […]

One of the six cellular licence bidders argues it can bring low-cost phone services to South Africa’s struggling rural masses, writes David Le Page A 15c cellular phone call! Depending on who wins the third cellular licence early next year, such low-cost calls might become a reality in South Africa’s rural areas, where currently only […]

The Festival of Living Treasures is set to take over from Womad, writes Alex Sudheim A warm wave of sensuous sound from the four corners of the earth engulfs South Africa this month in the form of the Festival of Living Treasures. Held in KwaZulu-Natal over five days from December 15 to 19, the festival […]