Staff Reporter

Ted Leggett When the Prevention of Organised Crime Act went into full effect at the end of last month, South Africa quietly entered into a whole new era in law enforcement, for better or worse. The Act gives criminal justice officials some very powerful weapons with which to wage their war on crime, but like […]

David Beresford Judge Willem Heath has been compared with everyone from Batman to Judge Dread. With indefatigable energy true to the comic-book tradition, “Hercules Heath” is at it again: staring down Gauteng’s Mathole Motshekga, preparing to haul half a dozen banks – including the Reserve Bank – before the bar of public inquiry, sparking a […]

There are grounds for hope that the story with which we are leading this week’s edition of the Mail & Guardian will represent a watershed in relations between the press and the judiciary – showing, as it does, the appreciation of those two institutions as to the primacy of justice, as opposed to merely the […]

found Benoni Charles Leonard `This is it! This is the site!” South Africans Roddy Quinn and Dan Chirboli looked at each other. “He must be mad,” Chirboli said to Quinn over the noise of the helicopter. “It’s just mine dumps … and it’s Benoni!” But Womad’s United Kingdom-based artistic director Thomas Brooman was convinced. Two […]

Wonder Hlongwa and Tangeni Amupadhi Nelisiwe Dladla’s eyes are in constant motion, darting from corner to corner as she scans the faces of three strangers in the “the family room” of her house in Entembisweni. Dladla is scared and wary of strangers because her husband and brother-in-law were killed in separate incidents within a day. […]

Cameron Duodu:LETTER FROM THE NORTH Zimbabwe’s success as a nation means a lot to me, for I have invested a great deal of emotional capital in the country. I am one of the few non-Zimbabweans who can say I knew the late Herbert Chitepo personally; I knew the late Josiah Tongogara personally; I know … […]

Chiara Carter Veteran New National Party politician Peter Marais is talking to senior African National Congress leaders about his future in their party. Marais is one of a group of the NNP’s most senior Western Cape politicians who are considering jumping ship for the ANC. Marais’s office declined to comment, but according to ANC sources […]

Tangeni Amupadhi and Wonder Hlongwa Richmond in KwaZulu-Natal has grabbed the headlines in recent months, but a cluster of nearby villages in the Umvoti valley may well hold the unenviable title of murder capital of the world. Police estimate that since 1996, more than 600 people have been assassinated in what are described as “faction […]

TWO Sierra Leonean government ministers thought to have been killed in the rebel invasion of Freetown may actually have been kidnapped by the rebels, authorities said on Friday.”Rumours persist that they are still alive and in the hands of the rebels,” a statement from the president’s office said of Public Affairs Minister, Mohamed Sesay, and […]

Donna Block Cooking up a little something for Valentine’s Day? How about this. A little sport, a dash of sex, a pinch of Wall Street and a lot of the Internet, and what have you got? The recipe for “sexcess”. This is what happened on Super Bowl Sunday when a 30-second advert promoting Victoria’s Secret’s […]

David Shapshak South African scientists have developed a low-cost, environmentally friendly water- stabilisation system which could revolutionise the way water is treated. The system’s benefits are untold in a country were water is scarce:providing safer drinking water, especially for rural areas, and potentially saving the country a fortune in maintaining the underground water pipes in […]

DENMARK has agreed to give Benin 44 billion CFA francs (about $76 million) over five years to alleviate poverty and promote development. As well as helping to increase public participation in development, the money will go to promoting human rights and good governance, Beninese officials on Friday. The donation is the result of talks held […]

There’s a school of thought that argues that the provinces should have limited taxation powers, writes Charlene Smith Amid reports of budgetary chaos at provincial level, the Financial and Fiscal Commission is increasing pressure on the government to allow the provinces limited taxation powers. The commission, which advises the minister of finance on provincial budgetary […]

voting cattle If there is one similarity between the impeachment of United States President Bill Clinton in the USSenate and the campaign for South Africa’s next election, it is that we know what the outcome of both processes will be before they even get under way. While many analysts and members of opposition parties outwardly […]

THE Swedish government has pledged R450-million to South Africa over the next three years in the form of a development co-operation agreement. Signed by Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh and South Africa’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad in Cape Town on Friday, the agreement aims to fund education, housing, arts and culture and urban […]

Angola Howard Barrell South Africa has launched a diplomatic offensive to spur the United Nations and big powers into decisive action to halt Angola’s accelerating slide into all-out civil war. In Parliament this week, President Nelson Mandela called for a new international approach to bring peace to the Angola. At the same time, South African […]

POLICE arrested four men on Thursday night in connection with the murder of six men who died after being locked in a meat cooler truck in Vereeniging. Gunmen overpowered the six men of the JP Meat enterprise last week and locked them in a cooler truck where they suffocated. The robbers fled with a truck […]

Peter Hooley and Hal Austin Television chat show host Oprah Winfrey, one of the wealthiest black women in the world, is to quit because she fears a killing on live television. Winfrey’s claim comes amid growing concern on both sides of the Atlantic at the increased culture of sleaze on some daytime TV talk shows. […]

Howard Barrell: OVER A BARREL Who would want to be President Nelson Mandela? Not me. And my reasons have nothing to do with spending nearly 30 years in prison. What would convince me I could do without international adulation and the Nobel Peace Prize would be the exasperation of having to placate, encourage and cajole […]

Farmers on South Africa’s northern border are dispossessing their South African workers and trucking in Zimbabweans, who are willing to work for R5 a day. Ann Eveleth reports Maswiri Boerdery director Andries Fourie is the quintessential old-style farmer. Khaki- clad and drunk with the power he exerts over the 400 South African farmworkers he dismissed […]

Matthew Krouse Down the tube You’ve probably caught the new SABC2 commercial – but if you haven’t, try not to mistake it for a Sun International campaign. It’s not about any reality in particular, rather it’s a pretty tidbit about four different types of over- dressed Africans, representing the four elements. After short, but dramatic […]

THE Angolan army claimed on Friday to have recaptured the strategically important northern town of Mbanza-Congo from Unita rebels.The city, 500km north of Luanda, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, is among the main points of access to economic targets such as the oil fields of Soyo on the Atlantic coast about […]

HUGE crowds are expected at the AA Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand at the weekend when the official Vodacom F1 test session starts on Saturday. The Williams and Grand Prix newcomers British American Racing (BAR) teams will be testing at Kyalami from Saturday until Wednesday. Technical crews from both teams arrived in South Africa […]

Martin Jacques:SHARE WORLD Six months ago, China was the new global star. While virtually every other country in East Asia had devalued its currency, China resisted, cushioning the effects of the regional crisis. United States President Bill Clinton and a succession of other Western leaders trod the increasingly obligatory path to Beijing. Economic reform, notably […]

Iden Wetherell President Robert Mugabe stepped up his offensive against Zimbabwe’s independent media this week with the arrest of more journalists amid clear signs that he is determined to punish anyone who criticises his army’s performance in the Democratic Republic of Congo or challenges his arthritic grip on power. Four journalists from the weekly Zimbabwe […]

THE Moroccan football federation said on Thursday it is prepared to host next year’s African Nations Cup in place of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe lost the tournament on Monday after the Confederation of African Football found the country has not made sufficient progress in building stadiums or developing an infrastructure to televise the games. South Africa, host […]

NEGOTIATIONS are under way to secure the release of a British oil worker kidnapped on Thursday in the troubled Niger Delta region, a British embassy spokesperson said on Friday.The oil man was seized on Thursday by youths demanding money. His identity, and that of the company he works for, are being withheld at the request […]

THE United States has agreed to delegate one of its most senior law enforcers, US attorney general Janet Reno, to head a new binational crime committee with South Africa. The new subcommittee on crime and justice will be launched by US vice-president Al Gore at the seventh meeting of the US-SA Binational Commission in Cape […]

THE DAVID GLEASON COLUMN When is a loan a gift? Does it matter? Well, yes it does, especially when commerce and banks are involved. And I suspect the story I am about to relate may come to feature prominently as the evidence unravels before a special tribunal over the course of the year. Once upon […]

Securitisation should give the banking industry a kick in the pants and investors a new toy, writes Donna Block Looking for a new home loan? Okay, “round up the usual suspects”. Only a month ago most consumers looking for a home loan would have taken a similar tact. The major banks all have comparable rates, […]

Ramotena Mabote and Keith Henderson run the rule over the local bands who will be appearing at Womad Amersham: Four-piece Johannesburg pop outfit that has cornered a large number of rebellious youths of the harmless garden gnome variety. Boo!: The Munki Punkers deluxe. With gender bending, whacky accents, wild personae and tons of cheek this […]

Alex Dodd:LANDMARKS In February 1996 I was woken up in Dublin by the sort of phone call everyone dreads getting. “Take a deep breath. I’ve got some terrible news. Anne is dead.” One of my closest and most inspiring friends had been killed in a head-on collision. Anne’s last words to me had been: “Come […]