Luvuyo Kakaza Bishop Mvume Dandala’s working day usually begins at 5am. The presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church is also the president of the South African Council of Churches. The responsibilities that come with these positions are the reason he is up before dawn. And now the dedicated clergyman has another role to honour – […]
George Kimball Golf The mythical designation – “Best Golfer Never to have Won a Major” – is less a title than a lifetime achievement award earned through years of exemplary frustration. It is one of those dubious honours to which nobody exactly aspires and, once won, can be shed in one of two ways, one […]
Mandela’s shadow He lost his son and his brother in the fight against apartheid. Now he’s South Africa’s new president, inaugurated two days before his 57th birthday. Chris McGreal on Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mbeki was queuing in a Brighton post office in the early Sixties when a man demanded to go in front of the […]
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 […]
Matthew Krouse Down the tube `On February 11, 1990, the eyes of the world fixed on a prison in Cape Town,” begins the narration of Mandela: The First Accused, referring to the release of the man who was once the world’s most famous political prisoner. “The man behind the name remained a mystery,” it continues. […]
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 […]
John Grobler Even if pickled fish did not feature on the menu of Namibian Fisheries Minister Abraham Iyambo’s wedding reception, it remains the aftertaste following his recent “wedding of the millennium” which prompted calls for his resignation. Several unions have called for Iyambo to explain his position or resign after The Namibian newspaper reported that […]
Andrew Muchineripi Soccer Bafana Bafana fly to Luanda on Saturday with about as much relish as turkeys welcome December. I warned last week that the pride of our nation were tired and the evidence was there for all to see at Soccer City in midweek. Perhaps the sole consolation for a squad that will lack […]
Marianne Merten Tit-for-tat killings have hit the Cape Flats, as a complex net of revenge attacks unfolds in the ongoing violence between rival gangs, and between gangsters and anti-drug vigilantes. Saturday’s attack on members of a social and soccer club in Hanover Park – in which one man was killed and at least 20 people […]
Over the years I have often been a fierce critic of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), its administration and its method of operation. But I have to say that the concept underlying Strate (the acronym from share transactions totally electronic) and the way it is being introduced deserves unflinching support. Properly developed, Strate will ensure […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
African skies Satellite systems are becoming increasingly accessible and useful, writes David le Page Satellite telephony is about to hit South Africa, or at least the wallets of those wealthy enough to afford it. Iridium has signed a non-exclusive agreement with MTN. Vodacom will be offering customers access to both the Globalstar and Iridium services, […]
FORMER Mpumalanga environment MEC Luckson Mathebula appeared with two co-accused in Bushbuckridge’s Mhala Regional Court on Friday, following his arrest for allegedly masterminding the murder of his estranged wife. Mathebula appeared with his girlfriend and a 34-year-old man. Police say they will oppose any bail application by the accused. Mathebula’s wife Aletta Rose Mnisi was […]
Marianne Merten `I have no more tears left,” says Keith Mentor, whose three-year-old granddaughter, Chantine Veldsman, was shot in the head at point-blank range last Saturday in Mitchells Plain. The little girl clung to life at Cape Town’s Red Cross Children’s Hospital for two days. On Monday Chantine was declared brain dead and the life […]
Jonathan Ancer talks to some of the `seditious’ students who were blamed for the 1976 Soweto riots Twenty-three years after the June 16 Soweto uprising, the “seditious” students convicted of inciting the rebellion are influential members of the new South Africa they helped to create. There’s an MP, a Department of Foreign Affairs official, a […]
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 […]
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 […]
CDs of the week Riaan Wolmarans The happening dance and rave scene is also sustaining a huge CD industry, prolifically pumping out stacks of dance albums. Mercifully we’ve left the Cover Plus days of hyped-up pop hits far behind: these days you can happily groove along to quality dance music from all the various dance […]
HERSCHELLE Gibbs said a spray used to treat a sore finger may have caused him to drop a vital catch off Australian captain Steve Waugh in Sunday’s World Cup Super Six game. Waugh had scored 56 when Gibbs spilled a simple catch, appearing to let the ball slip from his hand as he tried to […]
FOLLOWING its extremely poor performance in the national elections, the Pan Africanist Congress seems on the brink of losing leaders disenchanted with losing status. Reports in the Sowetan on Wednesday suggest former MP Gora Ibrahim may be about to leave the PAC for the ANC, with a diplomatic service post offered as carrot. The party […]
STEVEN NHLANE, DAN LANGEVELDT, Blantyre | Thursday 8.30pm PRELIMINARY results from 20 of the Malawi’s 26 voting districts in the country’s June 15 elections put incumbent President Bakili Muluzi ahead of his nearest rival by at least 250000 votes, the Election Commission said on Thursday night. Maluzi had won 1,63-million votes by 6.00pm on Thursday […]
AIR Namibia’s recent purchase of a brand new Boeing 747-400 Combi is being challenged by a rival plane manufacturer because a proper tendering process was not followed. Airbus Industrie has asked the German Embassy to help them secure a meeting with the Namibian Government to obtain an explanation on why Air Namibia dumped tender procedures […]
SPRINGBOK flyhalf Henry Honiball is joining English rugby team Bristol from Natal for an undisclosed sum, Bristol said on Friday. Honiball, 33, signed a two-year contract with an option to play for a third season. Newspaper reports estimated that the contract was worth some 250000 pounds. Honiball, who has won 33 international caps, said he […]
AT least 300 Zimbabweans have died in South Africa over the past five months, according to The Herald daily. Most of those who died since the beginning of the year were robbed in Johannesburg’s high-rise Hillbrow suburb, the newspaper reported. Apparently, more than 290 bodies were repatriated from South Africa to Zimbabwe between January and […]
PROMINENT former trade union boss Mbhazima Shilowa was on Tuesday elected unopposed as African National Congress premier of South Africa’s powerhouse Gauteng province. Shilowa (41) last week resigned as secretary-general of the powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) when it became clear that he would become premier after the ANC won 50 of […]
ANDRE Joubert will remain with the Natal Sharks for, at least, the remainder of the current Currie Cup season, the Natal Rugby Union announced in a statement on Tuesday. “Joubert’s experience is seen as a tremendous asset and a possibility of being called up by Nick Mallett for the Tri-Nations and the World Cup is […]
THE respected politcal staff of the Mail & Guardian have written profiles of the new Cabinet, named by President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday. Click on the links below for each ministers history. Jacob Zuma, deputy president Essop Pahad, Minister in office of the President Nkosazana Zuma, Foreign Affairs Patrick Lekota, Defence Steve Tshwete, Safety and […]
SAEED Anwar and Wajahatullah Wasti set a World Cup record opening stand as Pakistan coasted into the final with a nine-wicket win over New Zealand at Old Trafford on Wednesday. They put on 194 to beat the previous best of 186 South Africans Gary Kirsten and Andrew Hudson made against the Netherlands in Rawalpindi in […]