There are several ways to commit suicide. One is just to do it, another is to threaten it repeatedly, while a third is to mount half-hearted attempts at it. If you do the latter two often enough, people soon discount you in anticipation of your final departure. Zimbabwe seems to be alternating between the latter […]
THE Stormers have made two changes to their line-up for Saturday’s clash against Super 12 champions, the Canterbury Crusaders, at Newlands. John Daniels comes in on the wing and Anton Leonard at flank for the injured Breyton Paulse and Robbie Brink. Paulse has a fractured finger and is expected to play against the Auckland Blues […]
There’s more to investment clubs than starting a stokvel. Alex Brown explains how to get your savings on the stock exchange `Give me an acorn and the passage of time and I’ll give you an oak tree.” So it is with money – but the problem is that few of us are Zen enough to […]
Sunday night in front of the box fed up with endless images of bombs, refugees and Nato briefings I did a little channel surfing and came across a lovely little film, called A Month By the Lake, starring Vanessa Redgrave. She plays a spinster looking for romance during an Italian holiday just before World War […]
TALKING on a cellphone while driving could be outlawed by the end of the year if a draft regulation by the Department of Transport is approved. The regulation was published in the Government Gazette on Wednesday for public comment, in line with legislation in Switzerland and Australia. Traffic Legislation Section manager Deidre Briech told SABC […]
Emeka Nwandiko What do you wish for on your birthday if you are a king? Loyalty from your subjects, an end to years of industrial unrest, constitutional reform, more foreign investment to keep your kingdom, the size of Gauteng, afloat? The list goes on for King Mswati III of Swaziland, who will celebrate his 31st […]
KING Mswati III of Swaziland said on Thursday he will not be abolishing the death penalty, as capital punishment remains an effective deterrent to crime. Speaking in Mbabane, Mswati said serious offences such as ritual killings would soar should the death penalty be scrapped. In the meantime, he added, the harshness of the penalty will […]
M&Greporters The celebration of World Book Day on April 23 started in Spain and has spread around the world, receiving official recognition by Unesco. Last year, 38 countries celebrated books and reading on that day. April 23 is William Shakespeare’s birthday; in the wake of the success of the Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love, perhaps […]
Marianne Merten A lack of change in their lives and disillusionment with politics are key reasons why many Cape Flats youths are likely to stay away from the polls on June 2. One youth who will not be voting is Dale, of the working-class area of Heideveld. Now 23 years old, he was a first-time […]
Ian Clayton Some “struggle accounting” was uncovered in the Department of Trade and Industry by Auditor General Henri Kluever when he examined its accounts for a R3,1-million small business conference. The department spent an extra R1,2-million without authorisation over and above the R2-million it received from the Danish government for the second national conference on […]
invasion Two of South Africa’s top kwaito groups play in London this weekend, and if they are a success they could pave the way for other township acts, writes Bongani Madondo Flashback – 1985. Soweto, Thokoza and its satellites are burning. The only recognisable fragrance in the air being burning tyres, if not human flesh. […]
censorship? Ann Eveleth The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) this week slammed the new Film and Publications Amendment Act, which passed virtually unnoticed through Parliament and the National Council of Provinces on March 25, as an “effort to return the power of censorship to the government”. FXI representative Laura Polecutt warned this week that the […]
Peter Dickson Just two months before the election, Eastern Cape chiefs, whose influential vote is the hotly contested key to victory for the African National Congress or the United Democratic Movement in the densely populated rural Transkei, have been given a massive salary increase that will cost taxpayers R30-million a year. Eastern Cape Premier Makhenkesi […]
Malachy McCourt 44: A DUBLIN MEMOIR by Peter Sheridan (Macmillan) Will the Irish ever stop the churning out of novels, poetry, epics, histories, stories (short or long, individual or collected) and now a flood of memoirs? Not bloody likely, sez the man, not with the world standing with eagerness and wallets agape to pay for […]
Lisa Buckingham The Bank of England has begun a discreet investigation into index tracker investment funds. It is worried that the burgeoning growth of such “passive” stock market vehicles risk destabilising London’s financial markets. A team of senior executives in the bank’s financial stability unit is monitoring the issue amid growing fears that tracker funds […]
RWANDAN former information minister Eliezer Niyitegeka pleaded not guilty on Thursday before an international court trying him in Arusha, Tanzania, on charges of genocide, the Hirondelle press agency reported. The charge sheet at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) includes six counts of genocide, intent to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of […]
Vanessa Thorpe in London Opera director John Ramster has been paid an astonishing 250 000 advance for his first novel -which is about a gay man going straight. Tackling the lucrative and voguish topic of relationships in a humorous and at times wilfully camp manner, the novel, Ladies’ Man, charts the progress of Simon, a […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Sydney | Thursday 2.30pm. FORMER Springbok skipper Tiaan Strauss should be considered among the candidates to lead the Wallabies, says ex-Australian captain Nick Farr-Jones. Coach Rod Macqueen must find another leader for Australia’s domestic international program with regular captain John Eales injured for most of the season. Farr-Jones suggested to Macqueen that he […]
Some black youths in Johannesburg are so disillusioned with politics they say they would prefer having a white rather than a black president.
exports Mungo Soggot The taxman is part of a team tasked with probing the way the state evaluates diamonds following an unprecedented finding that De Beers undervalued gems due for export. Minister of Minerals and Energy Penuell Maduna appointed the team of civil servants this week after meeting with De Beers. It emerged last week […]
As South Africans prepare to confirm the new era at the polls, Howard Barrell looks at what happened to the kings of old When last seen, Barend du Plessis, the man who was placed in charge of the national finances after his computer company had gone bust, looked like an aging beauty queen. Consultant, director […]
Shaun de Waal Johannesburg has plenty of room for second- hand bookshops, if the recent expansion of two groups is anything to go by. Eric Nofal and Irene Koch of Books Galore are about to open a new shop – their seventh – in the Hyperama Centre in Constantia Kloof, Weltevreden Park, and Doron Locketz, […]
Iden Wetherell Frustrated by the refusal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) states to support the embattled governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has crafted a weapon he hopes will deal a decisive blow to rebel movements in the region. Meeting with presidents Jos Eduardo dos Santos […]
Sharon Hammond A game ranger who fought the bureaucracy of the Kruger National Park for more than 10 years put the world-renowned reserve in the dock this week, exposing an inner ring of senior managers more intent on empire building than conservation. Wayne Lotter has brought a case of constructive dismissal before the Commission for […]
John Matshikiza:WITH THE LID OFF I ran into my old friend, Tiger, in Yeoville the other day. Tiger is looking pretty good, wearing a suit and tie with all the trimmings nowadays, and Ray-Bans that never leave the bridge of his nose. But he still has that foxy, township tic of never looking you in […]
Michael Finch Athletics South Africa’s top athletes and their agents have turned down Athletics South Africa’s (ASA) latest contract offer, saying that athletes will have too many obligations, but agree that a settlement is imminent. The initial deadline to sign the contracts was April 1, but due to disagreements over the amount of money being […]
Peter Makurube It can only happen in South Africa: the most popular morning show radio host in the country is hardly known beyond his audience of 1,7-million. DJ Chomane Chomane started out at Lesedi FM as a junior presenter, and he had to deal with the bureaucrats of the old SABC. At the time each […]
AN East Rand bomb disposal unit defused two mini-limpet mines found by railway workers under railway tracks between the Lindella and Katlehong stations on Wednesday, police said. Police spokesman Captain Andy Pieke said the mines’ detonators were destroyed in a controlled explosion by a bomb disposal expert. He said the mines appeared old and could […]
THE establishment of an African human rights court responsible for trying human rights breaches will be discussed at Africa’s first conference devoted to the continent’s human rights situation, continuing in Grand Baie, Mauritius on Friday. The conference is attended by African foreign ministers The protocol for the proposed court must be ratified by 15 OAU […]
THE Nigerian government has ordered immediate payment of the approved minimum wage to end a public sector strike in 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states, a union leader said, according to reports on Friday. Sylvester Ogbeifun, a local chairman of the main trades union federation, the Nigeria Labour Congress, said the office of the chief of […]
Acclaimed by many as the most vibrant act at Womad this year, British Asian group Fun-da- mental is as politically uncompromising as it is musically innovative, writes Nashen Moodley Fun-da-mental’s performances at Womad will remain etched on the memories of all who watched them for several reasons. Womad, though a wonderful experience by all accounts, […]
If peace talks are unsuccessful, Sierra Leone’s capital could suffer new rebel assaults, reports Peter Moszynski from Freetown The beleaguered capital of Sierra Leone is waiting in trepidation for the outcome of peace talks in Togo next week with the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels whose offensive devastated Freetown in January. Unless the talks succeed, […]