Staff Reporter

(played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, against, points) Sundowns 15 12 3 0 35 10 39 Kaizer Chiefs 18 8 7 3 23 11 31 Classic 18 10 1 7 28 30 31 Orlando Pirates 15 8 6 1 30 12 30 Mann. Rangers 15 8 4 3 25 21 28 Hellenic 17 7 5 […]

ANDREW MUCHINERIPI, Johannesburg | Saturday 6.00pm. Orlando Pirates ………………….. (3) 5 (Lota 55, 85, Lekoelea 8, Zuma 23, Mngomeni 42) Moroka Swallows ………………….. (0) 0 DO not write Thabo Mngomeni out of the Bafana Bafana squad for the African Nations Cup finals in Ghana next month just yet because he sent an extremely high-frequency signal […]

AN American foundation donated R15-million to the Kruger National Park on Thursday for a four-year ecological research project that will study riverbed corridors. “This programme will provide a thorough understanding of the structure and dynamics of riverbed corridors and the role they play in the savannah landscape,” said Wits Professor Kevin Rogers. The project starts […]

NEW Zealand whipped South Africa 31-0 in the semi-finals of the inaugural World Sevens Series in Dubai on Friday. South Africa beat France 24-0 in the quarter-finals. The New Zealanders then dethroned Fiji as masters of the Sevens game by beating the Islanders 38-14 in the final.

OWN CORRESPONDENT, QwaQwa | Sunday 6.00pm. Free State Stars … (0) 1 (Ngaduane 65) Manning Rangers …. (0) 1 (Kungoane 64) IT finally happened! The first leg of the second Rothmans Cup semi-final eventually took place in cool, cloudy conditions in one of those towns where they erect traffic lights to ensure no one misses […]

THE Canadian government will donate more than R200 million to Africa over the next five years to fight the spread of Aids on the continent, the Canadian High Commission in Pretoria said on Thursday. the money will be given to existing anti-Aids projects that are successfully fighting the spread of the disease in Africa — […]

JAMES Bryant scored a splendid century to put Eastern province in a strong position on the first day of a four-day Supersport Series match against Western Province in Cape Town on Friday. Bryant was eventually sent back to the hut after being caught by Herschelle Gibbs at midwicket for 131. Bryant was caught behind off […]

VETERAN fast bowler Eddo Brandes took 3-29 on his return to test cricket to help Zimbabwe reduce Sri Lanka to 159-7 when bad light ended play 11 overs early on the second day of the third test on Sunday. Zimbabwe had earlier been bowled out for 218. Opener Russel Arnold was holding the Sri Lanka […]

ANDY CAPOSTAGNO, Sun City | Saturday 6.00pm. ERNIE Els equalled the course record and all but ensured himself of the Million Dollar Challenge first prize with a display of breathtaking golf at Sun City. Els’ third round 64, eight under par, put him at 19 under par for the tournament, fully six strokes ahead of […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 2.00pm. WORLD rugby’s elite coaches gave line-outs the thumbs-up on Thursday but will continue the debate over scrummaging problems following the first day of an International Rugby Board conference on the playing of the game. Set pieces were the major topic scrutinised by a brains trust of national coaches including […]

BORDER skipper Pieter Strydom rescued his team by scoring an unbeaten 60 in a Super Eight match against Free State in Bloemfontein on Friday. Border were struggling at 87 for four when Strydom and wicketkeeper Ian Mitchell came together and set the scoreboard ticking. Earlier, opening bat Piet Botha scored 51, but his opening partner […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Maputo | Saturday 3.30pm MOZAMBIQUE’S National Elections Commission (CNE) announced on Saturday it is extending voting in its presidential and legislative elections through Sunday to give all eligible citizens the opportunity to cast their ballots. Jamisse Uilson Taimo, the CNE chairman, told reporters that the decision to extend the voting — initially scheduled […]

GAUTENG Democratic Party leader Peter Leon has resigned from his position as leader of the official opposition in Gauteng. He told a media briefing on Friday that he plans to increase his legal responsibilities as senior partner at the law firm Webber Wentzel Bowens. However he will remain a member of the legislature “for the […]

Peter Dickson The Eastern Cape legislature’s minority of women members have established the first women’s caucus in a provincial legislature, in a determined bid to tackle gender imbalances and influence government policy over the next five years. Eastern Cape legislature deputy speaker and former welfare MEC Mandisa Marasha commented on the new body that comprises […]

Steven Friedman WORM’S EYE VIEW If Thabo Mbeki is serious about African solidarity, he might try encouraging it at home. An important feature of the early Mbeki presidency has been its stress on Africa. Besides the “African renaissance’s” new status as a symbol, Mbeki has been far more concerned than his predecessor to encourage peace […]

Barry Streek The number of regular farm workers in South Africa decreased by 2% a year over the past five financial years, but the number of seasonal workers increased slightly, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza has disclosed. She warned that there are difficulties in obtaining reliable statistics on farms, including commercial farms. […]

John Matshikiza WITH THE LID OFF I am aware that there are those sceptics out there who believe that I make up most of the unlikely things that appear as gospel in this column. I can only say to them, “Keep enjoying the ride,” and I take refuge in the old maxim that says “the […]

Lisa Buckingham and Dan Atkinson in London There were red faces all round at accountancy firm KPMG this week after a report was published disclosing that fewer than one in five takeovers produces any value for shareholders. The consultancy firm was playing down suggestions it had tried to pull the report at the last minute […]

NEW FICTION THE ARTIST’S WIDOW by Shena Mackay (Vintage) Now out in paperback, this is Shena Mackay’s first novel since her Booker- shortlisted The Orchard on Fire (1996). Though perhaps not quite as gripping, The Artist’s Widow has some interesting ideas and amusing characters. Through a private viewing of paintings by the recently deceased husband […]

Occasionally you happen upon a gem of television that makes all the other dross so much more insignificant. Such was the case in a half-hour documentary on e.tv last week, called JG Strijdom is Very, Very Dead: a faultlessly ironic examination of life around the gargantuan bronze head of “The Lion of the North”, which […]

Despite the storm surrounding the first visit of Sergio Garcia, Andy Capostagno tips Nick Price or Colin Montgomerie to pocket the prize money ‘I don’t know how we’re ever going to top this one, said Nick Price after winning the Million Dollar Challenge for the third time last year. Price had prevailed in exceptional circumstances, […]

Tangeni Amupadhi Namibians went to the polls this week in the country’s second presidential and general elections since independence. The election started smoothly on Tuesday morning, but its credibility was later put in doubt when the main opposition party, the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), exposed that the ink used to mark the thumb of a […]

John Stremlau SECOND LOOK Whatever ails former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, his presence in a private Pretoria clinic carries a political disease that could weaken South Africa’s international image and the vitality of its foreign policy. Human rights define South Africa, domestically and internationally. It is the mainspring for the nation’s extraordinary prestige and […]

Philippa Garson CLASS STRUGGLE As protestors converged on Seattle to rant their opposition to the effects of globalisation on vulnerable communities this week, similar mutterings of dissent were being echoed at a small but significant gathering of South Africans. Entitled Construction Site: Good Governance for New South Africa – A Quest to Reinvent or Strengthen […]

Khadija Magardie Educationists from across South Africa attended a three-day conference organised by the Council on Higher Education (CHE), which has told the government that there is no common vision on the future of higher education. There are severe problems related to availability of financial and human resources, inadequate higher education policy expertise and a […]

Peter Makurube Music The last Standard Bank Jazz Festival of the century will be the biggest and the best. The line-up of stars billed for Moretele Park in Mamelodi on December 12 sizzles with the cream of African and American music. The senior citizens of sound – Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa, Miriam Makeba, Caiphus Semenya […]

The agency set up to ensure all South Africans have access to a telephone is unable to deliver this mandate on its own, reports Ann Eveleth The Universal Service Agency’s (USA) ambitious plan to roll out hundreds of rural “telecentres” to connect remote areas to telephones and the Internet has virtually run aground in the […]

JG Ballard CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE END OF TIME by Umberto Eco, Stephen Jay Gould, Jean- Claude Carrire and Jean Delumeau (Allen Lane) Is Britain’s Millennium Dome too small? Does it represent a failure of nerve of the kind described by the contributors to this discussion on the nature of time and the challenge of the […]

Peter Dickson Special courts are planned for the hearing next year of a backlog of more than 400 government-related fraud and corruption cases in the Eastern Cape. The decision was taken at the province’s first anti-corruption summit held in East London last week after Premier Makhenkesi Stofile asked for broader input on Bisho’s proposals. It […]

Labuschagne Wally Mbhele A senior policeman who once targeted the present-day chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), General Siphiwe Nyanda, for assassination, and abducted and tortured Nyanda’s wife, was this week bluntly denied amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Amid strong opposition to his application from victims’ families, Senior Superintendent […]

With the high crime rate, South African drivers are increasingly signing up for breakdown cover, reports Jacqui Pile It’s a South African nightmare – being stranded on the side of the road with a flat tyre, or even worse, being involved in an accident far from home. Breakdown and emergency cover is increasingly being considered […]

Bob Woolmer FROM THE PAVILION No team likes to get beaten, and, on the whole, England’s management were happy to concede that South Africa had played very well in order to win the first Test by an innings. Normally it would end there. But there was a proviso. The English team and many of its […]