Staff Reporter

BETWEEN October last year and September this year, 99 charges of rape and 26 of sexual assault had been laid against police officers, Safety and Security Minster Steve Tshwete said on Monday. Just 23 policemen have been suspended as a result and none are currently serving sentences, he said in reply to a question in […]

THE murder trial of seven men accused of the murder of slain United Democratic Movement secretary-general Sifiso Nkabinde was delayed in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday morning. The delay is to allow defence lawyers to inspect the murder scene. Nkabinde was gunned down outside a supermarket in Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal on January 23. The state […]

SOME eighteen solid imbuia wall clocks are among the casualties of a rising problem of theft that has hit the Cape High Court. The Cape Times reports that Cape High Court building is being stripped by thieves with little regard for the law, and judges’ possessions and valuable equipment and fittings have been stolen. Among […]

DOZENS of people, mainly women, handed in their excision knives and blades at a solemn weekend ceremony in eastern Guinea to renounce the sexual mutilation of girls. The ceremony in Kouroussa, some 500km east of the capital Conakry, drew thousands. The practice of female excision has continued in Guinea even though it is illegal and […]

WICKETS were the order of the day with 15 falling in just two sessions as Gauteng recovered from a wretched batting collapse to have Easterns reeling when rain ended play at tea. Gauteng set Easterns a daunting target of 284 despite being bowled out for a paltry 122 on a treacherous, though innocuous-looking pitch. Easterns […]

STYMIED by rain and concern over the fitness of Allan Donald, Free State faced another day of toil against the gutsy North West side on the third day of their Supersport Series match on Saturday. At the close, the Series minnows, North West, had fought their way to 203 for six – an overall lead […]

EARL Spencer, the brother of the late Princess Diana, is being accused by his former housekeeper of being a cheapskate. Virginia Ganyaza said Spencer paid her only R55 per day during the two years that she worked for him in his mansion in Cape Town, refused to allow her time off to attend Sunday church […]

THE Eastern Cape health department, its services threatened with collapse within five years by an overload of Aids patients and its budget facing over-expenditure of R200 million this year as it struggles with a near billion rand shortfall, has announced plans to rationalise state hospitals and seek private sector partnerships. Eastern Cape Health MEC Dr […]

NEARLY a century after the end of the Boer Wars, Ottawa is starting to pay South Africa to look after the graves of Canadian soldiers who died in the conflict. Canada’s Department of Veterans Affairs is sending R12000 to the National Monuments Council in South Africa as an initial contribution to cost of maintaining the […]

THE United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Roberto Garreton, said it is estimated some 6000 people lost their lives during the first year of the conflict. Garreton said many of the casualties killed in retaliation for Mayi-Mayi or Interahamwe attacks on towns controlled by the rebel […]

A METRORAIL train driver faces disciplinary action after the accident near Riverlea, Johannesburg which left four commuters dead and at least 20 injured in October. A Metrorail statement issued on Friday said the driver had been travelling at high speed and had lost control of the train when it went through a red signal and […]

A POLICE inspector from the National Protection Service has appeared in court for allegedly stealing a “Checkers bag full of goldfish” from Nelson Mandela’s new R4-million house. Inspector Petrus Kotze of the protection service’s Rondebosch office was arrested on Tuesday and appeared in the Wynberg court the same day. His case was postponed until November […]

SWAZILAND’S health and welfare ministry has threatened to publish the names and faces of snappily dressed city slickers who have left their elderly parents destitute in rural areas. The department announced this week that it would conduct a census to identify the abandoned elderly, find out who their children are in the cities, and then […]

MARTYN Gidley gave Griqualand West their first bit of good news in three days as the hosts saw a glimmer of hope after the third day of their Supersport Series match against the Northerns Titans on Saturday. At stumps, Griquas were still 94 runs behind overall as they reached 240 for four in their second […]

Bob Woolmer FROM THE PAVILION If we are to believe everything that we read and hear, the worst England side in its history has arrived on South African shores. South Africa should therefore blow England away in the next three months. However, reality will be different. England are a group of determined sportsmen who have […]

After Durban’s recent heavy flooding many roads in the city collapsed or were so badly damaged they cannot be repaired – and experts say it may only be a matter of time before South Africa’s entire road network collapses, Paul Kirk reports The backlog in repairing South Africa’s roads exceeds R53-billion and much of it […]

HEALTH ministers from across Southern Africa are discussing the cost of accessing anti-AIDS drugs at a special two-day meeting in Johannesburg. South African health department spokesperson, Lulu Sebake, said on Thursday that ministers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are meeting at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. They are also discussing the latest development […]

Any firm believer in the theory that sport moves in cycles will be delighted, if that is the right word, to see the return of the kicking game in rugby. Thirty years ago there was only one way to move the leaden, greasy leather ball down a sodden bog of a pitch, and that was […]

Paul Tyrrell If your company is growing faster than you can finance, a stock market listing might provide the capital you need. And if you are part of a hi-tech industry, one stock market springs instantly to mind: Nasdaq – the US wholly computerised composite index of mostly hi-tech stocks. So far, United Kingdom listings […]

PORT Elizabeth experienced the worst gale in its history on Thursday night. The SA Weather Bureau reported south-westerly wind speeds in Algoa Bay of 144km/h, roofs were torn off homes, trees uprooted and cars were lifted into the air and blown several metres. Bank and shop windows were punched out onto city centre pavements in […]

Not quite movie of the week Daniel, Frank and Laurence are three long- time chums, though it’s hard to see what they have in common except that they all seem to be having a permanent bad-hair day. Daniel is a high-flying record executive, Frank is a struggling actor, and Laurence gives bridge lessons to middle-aged […]

Barry Streek The government has given notice that it is going to get tough on industrial polluters, including multi- national oil company Caltex, whose Milnerton, Cape Town, refinery has been criticised by local residents. Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Valli Moosa disclosed that he has already been in consultation with the National Director of Public […]

POLICE said on Thursday that they believe that Kjetil Moe, a Norwegian industrialist who went missing in Johannesburg in September, has been killed. Moe, 65, disappeared from a hotel near Johannesburg International Airport on September 27 and police suspect he was involved in multi-million dollar scams run by a West African syndicate. “Investigations … indicate […]

Andy Capostagno Rugby World Cup final This World Cup has not got the final it deserved. After the dearth of drama in the pool matches and the steamrollering of British hopes in the quarterfinals this tournament deserved a repeat of the dour, don’t-lose-at-all-costs match provided by South Africa and New Zealand at Ellis Park in […]

South Africans are flocking to see Thierry Michel’s documentary on General Mobutu Sese Seko, writes John Matshikiza Since it opened at Johannesburg’s Cinema Nouveau complex in Rosebank on October 29, Thierry Michel’s film Mobutu: King of Zaire has been playing to capacity audiences. The film was moved to a larger projection room, but there are […]

FRANCE have named an unchanged team to play Australia in the rugby World Cup final at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. Forwards Christophe Juillet and Marc Lievremont have both been passed fit after undergoing scans on leg injuries while full-back Xavier Garbajosa has shaken off an ankle strain. Their recovery means France will field the […]

Barry Streek President Thabo Mbeki’s office will cost R70,6-million this year, nearly R45- million more than the annual cost of the office under former president Nelson Mandela. But there is a substantial difference: the new Office of the Presidency incorporates the old deputy president’s office as well as the old Office of the President. They […]

Mail & Guardian reporter The Mail & Guardian is pleased to announce the following new appointments: Tracy Spencer has been appointed managing editor of the M&G. Spencer has worked for the newspaper for more than four years and was formerly the chief sub-editor. Khadija Magardie joins the M&G as features writer focusing on women and […]

IT’S a classic David and Goliath scenario but minnows North West did their best to upset Free State on the first day of their Supersport Series match in Potchefstroom on Thursday. After a dismally slow first session, where North West could only manage 36 runs in 32 overs, the hosts pulled the rabbit out of […]

informant payouts Turning informant for the South African Revenue Service can take a long time to show financial rewards, reports Rowan Callahan A tax informant who supplied the revenue service with information that allegedly led to the recovery of over a million rand, has still not received his reward after a four- year wait. His […]

Alex Sudheim Review of the week At school we learned all about history. That dry, dusty cupboard full of dates, facts, causes and effects locked into a rigid and inviolable corset of objective truth. You didn’t argue with history. Then we left the incubator of school, blundered around the world, racked up some bitter experience […]

AFTER an eight wicket hammering at the hands of Border last weekend, Griquas captain Pat Symcox will be a worried man on Thursday night. After the first day of their Supersport Series match against the Northerns Titans at the De Beers Oval, the Titans had amassed an ominous 376 for three thanks to a third […]