In his open letter to SAfm talk-show host Tim Modise (Mail & Guardian, May 28 to June 2) about the controversial issue of HIV and Aids, Donald G McNeil seems to be saying, “Don’t you worry your woolly little head, I’ll do the thinking. I’ve looked at this issue and it’s not worth debating.” McNeil’s […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 2.20pm. ABOUT 100 public servants on Friday morning surprised President Thabo Mbeki with a party and a cake for his 57th birthday. Among those attending the function at the Union Buildings in Pretoria were Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Zuma, her deputy Aziz Pahad, Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad, and […]
When you’re a 21-year-old filmmaker with an audience of over a million, there’s no reason to be scared of the dark, writes Alex Dodd There’s not a hint of jadedness to be whiffed in the corridors of the South African School of Film, Television and Dramatic Art. When you talk about the new wave in […]
There’s the pink pound and the pink dollar, but do we have a rose-tinted rand to go with them? Mike Metelits looks into gay buying power Pink money is either common enough to be a stereotype, or stereotypical enough that we think it’s common. It is the perception that gays make, have, invest and spend […]
The inauguration of Thabo Mbeki as president of South Africa this week has been characterised as the end of the Mandela era. But, while it may be a convenient description of a period of time in South African politics, the phrase is inappropriate to a larger audience which would also claim the great man as […]
At the end of 1994, I took a film crew to nine countries on the African continent to make a documentary called Africa Salutes Mandela.
Nick Davies The top man at Uganda’s Finance Ministry in Kampala keeps an old greetings card in his office. It shows an employee who has just been given a miserly pay rise and has gone to his boss to show him what he thinks of “trickle down” economics. He is standing on the desk and […]
THURSDAY, 11.30AM: ITALY beat Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions 3-0 on Wednesday, breaking the deadlock in Group B of the World Cup. The Lions suffered one goal from Italy’s new star, Luigi di Bagio, and two from Christian Vieri. Unfortunately, the Africans handicapped themselves in the 43rd minute — Raymond Kalla was sent off for an overly […]
Ann Eveleth Before the 1994 elections, the African National Congress drew criticism from its opponents when it hinted that 16-year-old children should be allowed to vote. In those heady days of pre-liberation politics the youth flocked to the party’s campaign rallies and mobbed soon-to-be-president Nelson Mandela with the fervour of rock-star groupies. This year, those […]
Howard Barrell Foreign policy experts are cautioning President Thabo Mbeki against committing South African forces to peacekeeping efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo which could result in troops being bogged down there. South Africa has been coming under increasing pressure from other African countries to play a bigger role in Congo peace efforts. The […]
Luvuyo Kakaza VOTE ANC! A battered poster with the beaming face of Thabo Mbeki obscurely hangs on homemade soccer poles at a park in Hillbrow. It’s two days after the elections and the counting of votes has not stopped at the Independent Electoral Commission centre in Pretoria. Meanwhile, at this park-cum-soccer field, aspirant soccer players […]
THURSDAY, 11.30AM: ERNIE ELS will have to contend not only with a persistent back problem in the US Open, but with what veteran Tom Watson describes as the worst, most difficult rough he has ever seen in the tournament. “It’s tight, it’s tough and you need a lot of patience,” says Els himself, who won […]
In some areas of Ethiopia, abducting and raping a woman is accepted as the customary way to find a wife, writes Nerma Jelacic Aberash Bekele was 14 when she was abducted by seven men in southern Ethiopia, taken to a remote hut and repeatedly beaten and raped by the gang’s leader. In rural Ethiopia this […]
THURSDAY, 11.30AM: THE government is scheduled to meet synthetic fuel producer Sasol this week, where it is expected to propose cutting its tariff protection in the synthetic fuel industry. Current low fuel prices have pushed the cost of maintaining the subsidies up to an astronomical R3-million a day. In terms of a formula agreed to […]
Mail & Guardian reporters Kader Asmal (Education):Had remarkable success as minister of water affairs and forestry, despite the onset of enervating illness. Intelligent and hard working, he was a distinguished legal academic before returning from 27 years in exile. He was placed at number four on the African National Congress’s national election list, showing that […]
DANISH brewing giant Heineken has increased its stake in Nigerian Breweries to almost 37% and could be considering a full take-over, company officials said on Wednesday. A spokesman for Nigerian Breweries said the Danish concern now owns 36,34% of the Nigerian firm after purchasing the holding previously owned by Unilever. Nigerian Breweries chairman Felix Ohiwerei […]
shock William Keegan According to the Bank of International Settlements (BIS): “A general resurgence of inflation seems less likely than further disinflation or even deflation.” This may seem a dry, even unremarkable, assertion until you consider who made it. The BIS is one of the world’s most prestigious financial institutions, the “central bankers’ bank” based […]
Peter Bradshaw After the flop that was Johnny Mnemonic, the idea of casting Keanu Reeves in another virtual reality thriller must have taken a lot of nerve. Either that or they really wanted Ben Affleck but Ben wasn’t available. In any case, I must admit that if I had been offered a chance a year […]
South Africa’s World Cup semi-final was being played at the same time the M&G was being printed, so Neil Manthorp looks at the tournament’s top three teams It doesn’t matter that pressure in sport is a luxury, something that you are paid very well to experience and something to which sportsmen should be drawn, not […]
Howard Barrell President Thabo Mbeki plumped for continuity and party loyalty over performance in the first big decision of his presidency: the choice of his Cabinet. He avoided any of the radical innovation urged on him by commentators, the business community and South Africa’s friends abroad, choosing by and large the old faces and mediocre […]
Deon Potgieter in Copenhagen Boxing The South African National Boxing Commission has controversially snatched a world title fight away from former World Boxing Union welterweight world champion Gary “The Heat” Murray. The newly formed boxing bodyoriginally tried to hamstring Murray by saying a local fighter should win a national title before being eligible to contest […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni `That’s where my father’s house used to be,” says Michael Ngeno, pointing to a pile of rocks in the middle of an open field in Ventersdorp. “My parents built it in 1955, and it was a comfortable home for us. We had a school nearby, and a clinic. The soil was […]
So you’re the average small unit trust investor, the type of person who has been putting away a few hundred rand a month, typically into a general equity unit trust, ever since you’ve been earning a decent salary. Until the stock market crashed early last year you were quite happy with your investment. The Johannesburg […]
Howard Barrell Over a Barrel One of the more remarkable pieces of reportage on the election just past was a Sunday newspaper story early in the campaign, written without a hint of irony, about Musibudi Mangena, president of the Azanian People’s Organisation (Azapo). Mangena was saying, again without a hint of irony, that whereas other […]
Rob Nixon’s new book is a memoir with a soft spot for the ostriches of Oudtshoorn – and Arizona. He spoke to Jane Rosenthal `Hope is the thing with wings .” This quote from Emily Dickinson is how Rob Nixon begins his book, Dreambirds (Doubleday). It encapsulates perfectly the lightness, quirky humour and heart-stopping gravity […]
Charlene Smith President Thabo Mbeki is expected to provide an outline of his new government’s economic policy, and proposals for the implementation of an “African renaissance”, at next weekend’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Durban. The forum, according to briefing papers issued to delegates, is predicting a more flexible stance on inflation under Mbeki, more […]
THURSDAY, 1.00PM: A FURORE has broken out over transport parastatal Transnet’s award of lucrative public relations contracts to Simeka TWS Communications, because Transnet MD Saki Macozoma sits on Simeka’s board. National Party MP Daryl Swanepoel has accused Transnet of a “gross conflict of interest”, and claims that Simeka was awarded Transnet contracts irregularly. Swanepoel claimed […]
Mail & Guardian reporters First-time visitors to the Summit Club in Hillbrow are invariably taken aback by the sign at the entrance indicating the “gun un-loading point”. Several months ago a drunk patron took the sign rather too seriously, and left three bullet holes in the crumbling plaster. But venture beyond and up two flights […]
Cameron Duodu Letter from the North I am extremely proud to inform you that the only reason I was able to watch President Thabo Mbeki’s inaugural speech live was because your brothers and sisters in the north have begun to pull up their socks. I was watching the ceremony on BBC World. Just as Mbeki […]
Barbara Ellen Body Language One of my strangest assignments was being asked to review an example of “erotic fiction for women”. If I remember rightly, it was called something like The Silken Flesh or Sigh Of Desire. Oddly, for a mucky book, none of the female characters appeared to have vaginas, clitorises, or any of […]
Once upon a time, women in tennis meant short skirts and visible knickers. Now it’s all serious muscles and attitudes. But, Jim White asks, are women doing themselves a disservice? Four hundred and fifty-five thousand pounds: not bad for a fortnight’s work. That’s how much Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski will be straining (and, being […]
Universal human rights was humanity’s greatest advance during the past thousand years, writes Wole Soyinka With the blood-soaked banner of religious fanaticism billowing across the skies as one prominent legacy of this millennium, Martin Luther King’s famous theses against religious absolutism struck me early as a strong candidate for the best idea of the past […]