Staff Reporter

Do annual government budgets really matter? A great fuss invariably accompanies them and they attract a degree of examination which seems quite disproportionate for what they usually turn out to be. In fact, the annual budget is really little more than a household accounting of how much money will be needed to pay for the […]

Mail & Guardian reporter Cheating and Australia. The two words are snug partners if we are talking cricket. But what about Australian university students cheating to get their degrees? On the Internet? Too right, mate. Most academics in Australia have had to deal with it to some degree, says Jenna Mead, senior lecturer in the […]

Emeka Nwandiko Black employees at Gauteng’s Department of Finance have rallied around a white colleague who was dismissed for making a racist remark, saying her sacking was “apartheid in reverse”. Bets Enslin was dismissed last Friday after she was brought before a disciplinary tribunal for an incident last December. It is alleged that Enslin jokingly […]

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 […]

Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel’s budget has been labelled `boring’, but it augurs well for the future. Belinda Beresford and Donna Block report The government may be keen to flirt with voters before the election, but the latest budget showed an administration also keen to display a well-turned piece of economic discipline to international investors […]

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 […]

In his last state-of-the-nation address at the opening of Parliament, President Nelson Mandela understandably spoke of the achievements of the first democratically elected government. Within this context, it is worthwhile examining the record of our new Constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights, over the same period. After all, it was the rights contained in the […]

The failure of the law to address the problem of rape was highlighted by the Italian Court of Appeal last week. It overturned the conviction of a 45-year-old driving instructor found guilty of raping an 18-year- old pupil on the grounds that she could not have been raped as she was wearing jeans. The defendant […]

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 […]

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 […]

After holding the number one spot on the World Music Charts for two months solid, Busi Mhlongo launches her long-awaited second album, UrbanZulu, at home. Bongani Madondo gets to the source of her sound Despite the sea breeze caressing my extra melanin-ebonied skin in a way no massage parlour can, on this particular Friday Durban’s […]

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 […]

Deon Potgieter Boxing The soft-spoken Naas Scheepers will be laying it all on the line when he climbs into the ring against national welterweight champion Peter Malinga at the Carousel next Thursday night. Malinga, a former World Boxing Union welterweight world champion, is moving up the ranks after his sensational first-round dismissal of former world […]

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 […]

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a syndrome that affects the entire South African society. Aaron Nicodemus investigates After being raped by a gang of four police officers 10 years ago, Thandi Shezi (26) could not even look at a man without shaking. She jumped at loud noises and the smell of a man’s sweat made her […]

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, […]

GERMAN Ralf Schumacher was fastest in testing at Kyalami on Tuesday as the Williams team bounced back in the final part of the build-up to the new Formula One season. He clocked a best time of one minute 24.63 seconds to erase some of the Williams’ team’s embarrassment 24 hours earlier when they were outpaced […]

THE committee established to investigate minority rights in Mpumalanga is not an ANC trick to pacify the political Right, Mpumalanga Premier Mathews Phosa said on Wednesday. Created last week under the chairmanship of provincial Freedom Front leader Moolman Mentz, the committee will investigate the position of minorities but will also study the self-determination proposals of […]

SPAIN’S King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia were off to a game reserve on Thursday at the end of their four-day official visit, a Spanish embassy spokesperson said. The official part of their trip was centered on economic issues, concluding in Johannesburg on Wednesday with a forum on trade and investment opportunities.

THE health ministry on Wednesday confirmed reports that a non-governmental organisation, collaborating with the health department in combating Aids, mistakenly damaged condoms by stapling them to a leaflet together with information on their use. These condoms were later distributed in Soweto and at the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. No evidence of similar practices was found […]

FIVE Bulgarian nurses at a Libyan university hospital in Benghazi have been arrested in connection with an inquiry on infants infected with the HIV virus. The arrests followed allegations made by a Libyan magazine which reported in its December edition that several children were infected with the HIV virus after they were admitted to the […]

UP to 200000 Sudanese Christians who fled fighting in the south and set up a village near the capital Khartoum have been chased into a desert zone, the Vatican missionary news agency FIDES reported on Wednesday. Between 150000 and 200000 Christians set up the village in Hajj Youssef, northeast of the Sudanese capital, but local […]

ANGOLA is awash with counterfeit money, including high-quality copies of $100 bills and one million denominations of the Angolan currency, the new kwanza, police said on Wednesday. The injection of fake money is an attempt at economic destabilisation of Angola perpetrated from “the outside,” police said in a communique. A ring of foreign businessmen and […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 8.30pm. GOLD Fields on Thursday announced the acquisition of AngloGold’s entire 21,5% interest in Driefontein in a move designed to pave the way for a reverse takeover of Driefontein. That deal will make Gold Fields the world’s third largest gold producer with annual production of around 4-million ounces and total […]

SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Thursday 10.00am. FINANCE Minister Trevor Manuel’s appears to be the biggest winner on Thursday after his widely lauded fourth Budget in office, presented to Parliament on Wednesday, has been met with widespread praise from economists, business, unions, and investors alike. His 1999 Budget, commentators said on Thursday, will boost his standing […]

THE St Joseph’s Hospital in Doornspruit, Northern Province, has been forced to close down after its government subsidy was cut. Provincial health spokesperson Tsepo Moshima said on Thursday the department cut the subsidy of R2-million a year as it had no control over the hospital’s operations. “We’ve been [talking to] hospital management and [decided] we […]

DESPITE the departure of ten top Free State rugby players and financial difficulties, Free State Cheetahs enter their upcoming season with optimism. Cheetahs’ executive director, Harold Verster, said it was a long time since he had been so excited about the Cheetahs’ chances, but said that they needed the support of the Free State to […]

MARK HEYWOOD, head of the Aids Law Project, says the government has a legal obligation to proceed with four pilot projects which have been halted by the decision not to supply Aids drug AZT to infected pregnant women. The project is planning to take legal action against the Department of Health, saying the Constitution recognises […]

THE South African Cycling Federation named the four-member national women’s team Thursday who will race in Australia and New Zealand. In Australia, the team will compete in the Tour de Snowy from February 28 to March 4 then a World Cup meeting in Canberra on March 7. Then they go on to New Zealand for […]

UNITED States Vice President Al Gore held talks with Deputy President Thabo Mbeki shortly after his arrival in Cape Town on Wednesday. The talks are first of a series of meetings between the two men during his three-day visit. Gore also met with President Nelson Mandela at his Cape Town office to brief him about […]

THE president of the Commission on Co-operation and Development at the European parliament, Michel Rocard, said on Tuesday that the EU’s efforts in finding solution to the Anjouan crisis are secondary to those of the Organisation of African Unity. Rocard, a former French prime minister is in the Comoros Islands to support the OAU mission […]

HOSSAM HASSAN scored twice in the first half as African champion Egypt trounced Bulgaria 3-1 Tuesday to advance to the final of the Carlsberg Cup soccer tournament. The Egyptians dominated the first half and Hassan struck first in the 11th minute with a simple shot after the Bulgarian defenders were caught off guard. Hassan headed […]