Staff Reporter

JOHN MEHAFFEY, Cardiff | Friday 11.30am. WITH perfect timing the elements of form, fitness, organisation and luck have combined for Australia to make them deserved favourites for Saturday’s World Cup final against France. Their immediate concern is coping with opponents who can make a mockery of any form guide, throwing logic out of the window […]

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 […]

MARTIN van Jaarsveld hit the highest score ever by a Northern Transvaal player as the Notherns Titans set themselves up for almost certain victory against Griqualand West in their Supersport Series match in Kimberley on Friday. At close of play, Griquas had staggered to 175 for eight, still 387 runs behind the Titans mammoth first […]

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 […]

THREE Americans jailed in Zimbabwe for one year for illegal possession of arms of war will be released on Saturday, the weekly Financial Gazette reported. Their freedom effectively renders Attorney General Patrick Chinamasa’s appeal to the Surpreme Court against their “lenient” sentences an academic exercise. The paper quotes unnamed sources saying that the cabinet discussed […]

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 […]

FRENCH captain Raphael Ibanez believes his team’s unpredictability can help conjure up a victory over favourites Australia in Saturday’s World Cup final at the Millennium Stadium. “I think we are just challengers, not favourites for this final,” hooker Ibanez said. “Australia are much better than us, but we are unpredictable – and I think that […]

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 […]

GAUTENG provincial commissioner Thami Nxumalo has been appointed acting national commissioner of correctional services, the department said in Pretoria on Friday. Nxumalo will remain in office until a new commissioner is appointed. Former commissioner Khulekani Sitole quit his post on Wednesday after a Parliamentary committee accused him of abusing state money and mismanaging his department. […]

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 […]

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 […]

Andrew Muchineripi Soccer At last, some light at the end of a pretty dismal tunnel! Amaglug-glug set the tone with an impressive victory over Guinea in a qualifier for the 2000 Sydney Olympics soccer tournament. Within 24 hours we had witnessed an absorbing Rothmans Cup semi- final between Sundowns and Orlando Pirates that restored my […]

Aaron Nicodemus Another Mpumalanga farm worker is planning to sue members of the Wakkerstroom Commando after he was kidnapped in a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) helicopter. Alfred Hlatshwayo (34) said in 1998 he was forced into an army helicopter by police dogs, then beaten and kicked, and later forced to pay a fine […]

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 […]

Neil Manthorp Cricket Like a fat boy in a cake shop, South Africa waddled through the Test match against Zimbabwe randomly plucking scones and doughnuts off the shelf until, finally, the shop closed. With no natural restraint offered by the visitors (other than to bowl so wide it was difficult to reach) the home side’s […]

Fiona Macleod Sugar gliders, the latest fad in the exotic pet market, are tiny marsupials from Australia and Indonesia, about the size of a large rat with a long tail. In the United States, sugar gliders are big business. Many books and websites are dedicated to them. Now South African conservation officials, who have received […]

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 […]

Wally Mbhele Outgoing Department of Correctional Services Commissioner Khulekani Sitole, who this week pre-empted being axed by the Cabinet by submitting his resignation, leaves a legacy which, according to some prisons staff, will take long to correct. In its submission to the public protector, the Correctional Staff Forum (CSF) – an organisation that is largely […]

erring men Evidence wa ka Ngobeni Oupa Mofokeng’s voice still trembles with anger when he relates how he was assaulted and almost killed last month because he hit his wife. “I had a fight with my wife at about 10.30pm. She ran away with my kids and I thought she would go to her home. […]

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 […]

Shaun Harris TAKING STOCK The shift towards small business is an international trend. Changing economic and social conditions are leading an increasing number of people into this growing business sector, from the self-employed individual to the person who starts a small business enterprise employing staff. The importance of this trend and the reason why governments […]

David Shapshak Products: HP PhotoSmart 1100 printer (R3 559), C200 digital camera (R2 875), and ScanJet 6300C scanner (R3 029); photo- quality paper – R60 for 20 sheets Digital cameras are one of those next big things that have initially failed to become the next big thing. They’ve suffered from being too pricey, and from […]

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 […]

Marianne Merten Prayers will be heard again for the first time in 70 years at the Anglican church on Robben Island when it is reconsecrated next Friday. Says Cape Town Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane: “We want it to be a place of pilgrimage to the island for the worship of God and reflection on the […]

pay Extraordinary evidence of foot dragging by provincial departments has emerged in cases of sexual abuse by teachers, writes Mungo Soggot Johannes de Beer was a headmaster in disgrace three years ago when he was suspended for sexually molesting his pupils. Seven months ago he was convicted by the courts for his crimes. Today he […]

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 […]

The assassination of Major Wezi Kaunda this week could have been a pre-emptive move to prevent an Angolan-backed coup d’tat in Zambia. Ivor Powell, Chris Gordon and Howard Barrell report Zambia is a political powder keg following the murder on Wednesday night of Major Wezi Kaunda, son of former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda. The Mail […]