Staff Reporter

Alex Dodd The latest salvo in that grand old struggle to make South Africans wake up to the fact that local really can be the lekkerest is an initiative called Beyond the Pale, aimed at the support and promotion of designer-makers. For the uninitiated, “designer-makers” are people who not only design but also love getting […]

Peter Dickson Eastern Cape pensioners almost went without their welfare grants this month when a dispute arose on pay-out day following allegations that teenagers were receiving pension payments. The villages of Dyantyi and Makapela in the Centane district have been feuding for generations, and allegations of corruption in monthly pension payments sparked the latest row. […]

EIGHT people including a Briton, an Australian and a Lebanese were arrested in Liberia on Wednesday for “collaborating” with Sierra Leonean rebels. The arrests occurred at the offices of a local company, Red Deer International, in the capital, Monrovia. The company’s general manager, Richard Ratcliffe, a British national, was among those arrested. Military uniforms, communication […]

Ferial Haffajee The Pan Africanist Congress will give the death penalty the chop but will sever the lesser limbs of criminals. If it assumes power after the elections, the party will also ban abortion, rescind anti-smoking legislation, scrap national debt and the provinces. The PAC pipped other parties to the post when it released its […]

Eliminating unfair discrimination and making class distinctions a punishable offence is the aim of new legislation. Charlene Smith reports Capitalism will stand in the dock if new equality legislation to be presented to Minister of Justice Dullah Omar becomes law. In terms of the Prevention and Prohibition of Unfair Discrimination Bill, the “market economy” which […]

Wonder Hlongwa The family of Muzikayifani Zingubo say he was repairing the door of his shack when the commandos of Weenen, KwaZulu-Natal, arrived at the squatter camp. Assigned by the farming community to provide security, the armed commandos accused 49-year- old Zingubo of shooting dead Aleta Vanenberg and wounding her husband, Piet, on their Weenen […]

THERE is a link between the El Nio weather phenomenon and deadly horse epidemics in South Africa, British scientists said this week. In an article published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, researchers from the Institute of Animal Health said that climate changes resulting from El Nio caused a population explosion of the biting midge, […]

Martin Jacques EAST AND WEST by Chris Patten (Macmillan) This is a book in at least three parts. In fact, it often feels more like a collection of essays than a coherent ensemble. But a common polemical thread runs through the book: it might have been entitled Patten’s Revenge. During his spell in Hong Kong, […]

He kicked a man to death, he’s made a sucker of Mike Tyson – and he hasn’t much time for journalists. Kevin Mitchell chats to Don King Let’s get personal. I don’t particularly like Don King. But, parked in front of the 68- year-old dandy from Cleveland in a London hotel recently, I found myself […]

Bruce Murray Crossfire Last week’s article, “D’Oliviera affair’s shameful secrets”, got only half the story, as it took no account of the new documents now available in South Africa. These include Cabinet minutes unearthed for the truth commission. Two questions had remained unanswered: would the government have accepted Basil d’Oliviera as part of the Marylebone […]

FIVE builders from Britain who volunteered to build a school in the remote Kenyan village of Watamu, were rewarded by being made tribal elders, the British press reported on Friday.The men, who worked 15-hour shifts for two weeks without pay, were appointed elders of the million-strong Girimia tribe at a ceremony attended by 5000 people. […]

The bright lights of Hillbrow are still luring visitors from all over the world. Emeka Nwandiko sampled its pleasures The crown jewels of South Africa’s tourism are the “big five” at Kruger National Park, the majestic Table Mountain with its beaches below, the Drakensburg region and Hillbrow. Hillbrow? The densely populated inner city suburb where […]

tion Howard Barrell:OVER A BARREL Try as I might – and try I have – I can find no upset or sensation in the electoral lists agreed by the leadership of the African National Congress last weekend (February 14). The party’s left wing appears happy and so, too, does the right. In that lies a […]

Loose cannon:Robert Kirby As part of its relentless quest for a just society, the government will soon be considering a piece of new legislation, a Bill which prescribes the extent to which schools, private clubs, banks, hospitals and citizens will in future be allowed to discriminate in choosing their associates and clients. To be entitled […]

SHOPRITE, one of the largest retail chains in southern Africa, will invest an initial $25-million in Zimbabwe this year as part of a regional expansion plan that will see the supermarket giant using this country as a base to supply goods to other African countries, Shoprite official Toby Wieser said this week. Wieser said the […]

Gert Thys steps out from the shadow of Josiah Thugwane, but he’s finding that fame doesn’t necessarily pay, reports Michael Finch For some, the second-greatest moment of the Olympic marathon was when Josiah Thugwane raised his right index finger as he crossed the finishing line. For the historians it was a moment to record and […]

Once Britain’s champion writer, Martin Amis has been given a hammering by the British press. The memoir he’s writing could settle a few scores – and express his growing empathy with his father. He spoke to Stephen Moss Martin Amis is a clich. Pouting bad boy, famous dad, huge advances, ridiculously expensive teeth, taste for […]

Belinda Beresford Anyone wanting to follow American President Bill Clinton’s lead with Monica Lewinsky in developing novel uses for cigars had better stock up on their favourites before any enjoyment wanes in the face of a 3 669% increase in excise duty. Cigar aficionados will pay an extra R7,33 per 23g in excise charges, up […]

Ferial Haffajee:TAKING STOCK `Sjoe! I gave it to him,” says Nocwaka Lamani in an interview at her parliamentary office. The man she gave it to was former law and order minister Adriaan Vlok, whose forces had arrested Lamani’s son, Tango. “I told him, `I am demanding my son back by May 11 1989 because I […]

FORMER Rwandan health minister Casimir Bizimungu has been arrested in Kenya on suspicion of war crimes and will be moved to the International Criminal Tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania, a tribunal spokesperson said on Friday. “He has not been accused but he is a suspect,” spokesperson Kingsley Moghalu said. The court was set up by the […]

police New evidence has emerged that arch-rivals David Ntombela and Sifiso Nkabinde were both security police informers. Mail & Guardian reporters investigate Two of KwaZulu-Natal’s most notorious warlords – seemingly on opposite sides of the political fence – were agents of the security police and were at one stage handled by the same policeman. Sifiso […]

Matthew Krouse Down the tube `Greetings to Germany from the youth of South Africa!” They could have been words on a corny postcard – a happy message to friends, from friends far away. But they weren’t. Rather, they were the prelude to an in-your-face cultural confrontation that, with the aid of advanced technology, will be […]

The assumption that anyone who does well in one area of public life is some sort of “renaissance man” – able to turn their attention to any other field and succeed – is a fallacy to which South African society has recently shown itself unfortunately prone. Mr Justice Johann Kriegler performed admirably on the Bench, […]

Studies show that forcing children to use computers is creating techno-anxiety and impairing the learning process. Louise MacLeod reports There may be a huge vault of health information on the Internet, but how healthy is using the technology itself? Researchers in the United States have recently reported that people who spend even a few hours […]

ANGLOGOLD and Iamgold announced an initial estimate of 1,9-million ounces of gold for the Yatela deposit, located 25km north of the Sadiola Gold Mine in Mali, West Africa. Yatela is owned by the 50:50 Anglogold/Iamgold joint venture, Sadex. The estimate was based on 455 boreholes totalling 21381 samples. “The resource estimates will continue to be […]

Friday night:Emeka Nwandiko Friday night and I’m at a loose end. Verbal sparring with the other half and the best laid plans for the evening are up in smoke. Or are they? I decide to head for a little- known nightclub called Sankayi. It is gem of a place tucked away between a diamond merchant […]

OFFICIALS in a leading Nigerian party are seeking to postpone the West African country’s February 27 presidential elections to give the party more time to campaign, Nigerian newspapers reported on Thursday. Ayo Fasanmi, vice-chairman of the Alliance for Democracy was quoted in Lagos dailies asking Nigeria’s electoral commission that the presidential vote be pushed back […]

The municipal demarcation board is a milestone for local democracy, writes Minister of Provincial Affairs and Constitutional Development Valli Moosa The president appointed the municipal demarcation board, chaired by Michael Sutcliffe, on February 1. It is charged with probably the most critical task in the transformation of local government. An independent selection panel, chaired by […]

`agreement’ Ann Eveleth A high-level government meeting set for March 1 is expected to lay down the law on the use of Zimbabwean farm labour – now widespread in areas of high unemployment along the Northern Province border – by South African farmers. Department of Labour representative Sello Mosai said the deputy directors general of […]

Emeka Nwandiko Pape Diaby has a dream – that someday Africa will have a tennis academy that will produce some of the best players in the world. In Meadowlands, Soweto, under the blazing midday sun, the general manager of the Confederation of African Tennis is coaching 75 pre-schoolers from the suburb. As a labourer wearing […]

John Matshikiza:WITH THE LID OFF I’m driving in the rain when I get a call from my private army (well, armed response to you) to tell me there has been an alarm activation at my house. “Should they go round and check it out?” asks the voice on the other end of the line. “You […]

The millennium budget has proved to be a pleasant surprise for foreign and local investors alike, reports Donna Block Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel should stand up and take a bow. His end of the millennium budget has been a crowd-pleaser in international money circles and foreign analysts are “pleased as punch”. They were somewhat […]