Staff Reporter

Camille Paglia SITE SEEING www.nytimes.com The Internet has changed my whole approach to print media. I find it a much more efficient and democratic way to monitor the press. I now have a lot less patience for papers piling up all over my floor. I don’t read The New York Times in its print version […]

Mpumalanga’s premier introduced Dolphin president Ketan Somaia to Minister of Defence Joe Modise in connection with an arms deal with Kenya, writes Justin Arenstein The Dubai-based Dolphin Group wasn’t just gunning for Mpumalanga’s game reserves when it nailed a secret R25- billion contract with the province’s parks board in 1996 – it also tried to […]

Angella Johnson VIEW FROM A BROAD `Hey, Angella. Your homies are being slaughtered,” chirped the Mail & Guardian’s sports editor as the West Indies cricket team crashed spectacularly in the fifth Test. I detected a generous delivery of schadenfreude in his comment. He was not the only South African in recent weeks to have joyfully […]

The police version of the Boipatong massacre is beginning to unravel, write Mail & Guardian reporters Former Vaal policeman Sergeant Gerhardus “Pedro” Peens has admitted that he was in the Vaal Triangle township of Boipatong on the fateful night of June 17 1992 when 46 people – including women, children and a four- month-old baby […]

There’s not much to laugh about in Zimbabwe at the moment, but there is plenty of material for comedians who are pushing the limits of free expression, writes Mercedes Sayagues I want to be a Zimbabwean policeman I want to join the riot squad I wanna kill a couple of workers I know I’ll get […]

A new White Paper outlines what steps needs to be taken to ensure victims of disasters will have speedy access to emergency assistance, writes Janet Love Yet another tornado charged through the Eastern Cape this week, leaving a trail of destruction and devastation in the Mount Ayliff and Tabankulu districts. The police station, the school, […]

probe Mungo Soggot The Heath commission is in possession of an affidavit signed by a person who claims to have been present when a Gauteng MEC and other top officials received bribes of at least R1-million related to the award of a casino licence. Sources in the Gauteng legislature and sources close to the commission […]

Donna Block The government of President Robert Mugabe has succeeded in doing what no one has done before: it has caused a strike by stockbrokers. For three working days, from January 14 until January 19, Zimbabwe’s traders, dealers and brokers agreed not to accept orders or place bids. The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, once one of […]

THE Medical University of Southern Africa re-opened on Wednesday, two weeks after closing its doors because students owed over R56,1-million in fees. Medunsa vice chancellor and principal, Professor Thibdi Mokgokong, said on Wednesday that some students have not paid fees for last year, while others fraudulently claim they cannot afford the fees. “These students are […]

ZAMBIA’S opposition United Party for National Development has asked President Frederick Chiluba to explain why foreign planes are seen in Zambezi and Solwezi at odd hours. The UPND Lusaka Province chairman Joseph Chilengi said despite United Nations sanctions against Jonas Savimbi and his rebel Unita movement, Unita officials are seen in Zambia. “The truth is […]

THE real value of building plans passed has continued to show a declining trend since the second half of 1996, falling by 11,6% in the first eleven months of 1998, the latest release from Statistics South Africa on Wednesday indicates. The real value of plans fell by R1,8-billion to R13,7-billion compared with the same period […]

THE international competitors were struggling as the first round of the $1-million South African Open kicked off in blistering heat at the Stellenbosch Golf Club on Thursday. Leading the field as the early starters neared the end of their rounds, were Pretoria’s Justin Hobday and Ron McCann, a South African who has lived in the […]

THE Ivorian government on Thursday announced a reduction of nearly 90-billion CFA francs in its 1999 annual expenditure budget, citing the shortfall in prices of the country’s export earners. Nearly 75% of Cote d’Ivoire’s annual revenue comes from the exports of cocoa, coffee, pineapples, rubber and banana, which are all experiencing price slumps on the […]

SOUTH Africa’s Natalie Grandin qualified for the semifinal of the girls’ singles at the Australian Hardcourt International junior championships in Melbourne on Thursday. Grandin beat Australian Melissa Dowse 7-5, 6-4 in a quarterfinal match. Grandin’s doubles partner and fellow South African Nicole Rencken went down to sixth seed Katherine Basternakova 2-6, 2-6. However, Rencken and […]

ZIMBABWE’S bankers are reacting negatively to new regulations on currency trading. On Wednesday, Zimbabwe Reserve Bank Governor Leonard Tsumba announced that any bank exceeding its foreign exchange limit of US$2-million during the course of trading will have its licence revoked. Bankers say this is a another move to tighten control over foreign currency trading. By […]

BRITAIN will help the Southern African Development Community assess the feasability of a free trade agreement with the European Union, the British High Commission said on Tuesday. “The aim is to provide SADC with clear advice and recommendations for a consistent and coherent trade policy for the year 2000 and beyond,” the High Commission said […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Thursday 10.00am. THE Tuesday night arrest of fugitive and heist artist Collin Chauke has captured the public imagination and dominated the Thursday morning press. Chauke’s lawyer alleged that his client was assaulted and has head wounds but Nelspruit police have denied this. They say that he may have hurt himself while […]

GOVERNMENT is due to issue a discussion paper in June on electronic commerce — e-commerce — in an attempt to bring commercial law up to date with developments in e-commerce technology and practice. The paper will propose legal and regulatory guidelines for e-commerce and to promote technology. The discussion paper is the first step in […]

FORMER Dusi champion John Edmonds took an early, slim lead in the Powerade Dusi Canoe Marathon after an exciting first stage on Thursday. Edmonds gained the lead with five minutes to the finish to clock 3:18:32. For most of the morning favourite Wayne Volek, Kelby Murray and Cape paddler Martin Dreyer vied for the lead. […]

THE Algerian government has been “totally silent” regarding violence against women who face abduction, murder and rape at the hands of insurgents, the International Federation of Human Rights said on Thursday. The federation said in a report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women that Algerian women also face “institutionalized […]

BILL CLINTON’S long-awaited Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, involving a free-trade package for Africa, was resurrected in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday. The Bill was killed in the Senate last year and was due to be reintroduced in the House of Representatives with revisions this year. Concerns about textile imports threatening certain […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 3.30pm. ORLANDO Pirates has fined midfield star John Moeti R500 or he must sit out the rest of the premiership season without salary. Moeti failed to play in a league match two weeks ago. Pirates’s disciplinary committee chief Cyril Kobus said Moeti was fined R20000, but R15000 of the penalty […]

THE first round of legislative elections will be held in Togo on March 7, officials announced on Wednesday. Voters will cast ballots on March 21 in a second round in areas where no candidate garnered enough votes two weeks earlier, a communique issued after a cabinet meeting said. The last parliamentary election in Togo was […]

THE average hotel room and bed occupancy rates have been increasing since July 1998 with the average hotel room occupancy rate for November 1998 increasing by 2,6% compared with November 1997. Increases were reported in 5 of the 9 provinces. The largest increases were reflected by the Free State Province where room occupancy rose 11,4% […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 3.30pm. ORLANDO Pirates has fined midfield star John Moeti R500 or he must sit out the rest of the premiership season without salary. Moeti failed to play in a league match two weeks ago. Pirates’s disciplinary committee chief Cyril Kobus said Moeti was fined R20000, but R15000 of the penalty […]

JAKE GERWEL, a close aide to President Nelson Mandela, said on Wednesday that he detected a desire by Libya to conclude the Lockerbie affair “as speedily as possible”. Gerwel, who travelled to Tripoli in a renewed bid to break the deadlock, gave an upbeat assessment of the talks in a BBC interview.Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi […]

LIBERIA must be held accountable for its support of rebel forces in Sierra Leone, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Ignatius Olisemeka said on Wednesday. He said Nigeria might take the Liberian government to an international court.Speaking to reporters after meeting the United Nations envoy to Sierra Leone, Olisemeka said Liberia “should be held fully accountable” for aiding […]

A HUMAN rights group in Swaziland on Wednesday expressed grave concern about a new law introduced by King Mswati III giving traditional chiefs sweeping powers. The controversial law, enacted last month without parliamentary debate, could threaten national unity and turn people against the chiefs, said the Human Rights Association of Swaziland’s Joshua Mzizi. The Swazi […]

STELLENBOSCH University’s satellite, South Africa’s first to be fully locally developed, is still earth bound after the seventh postponement in the launch of the United States rocket carrying Sunsat. University spokesperson Douglas Davis said on Wednesday that the launch of the Delta II rocket by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration from Vandenburg air […]

MALAWI’S inflation rate has shot up to 51,2%, prompting a run on bank interests rates. Charles Chuka, a senior official at the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of Malawi, says the inflation rate was prompted by the mid-August fall in the external value of the kwacha which led to increases in fuel prices and […]

THE MANAGEMENT of e.tv on Wednesday rejected as unfounded reports that the station is in disarray and said it is comfortable that it has exceeded its licence conditions in some areas. The private free-to-air broadcaster will begin a 24-hour programming schedule on February 1. At a briefing announcing the expansion, e.tv CEO Jonathan Procter said: […]

ROSE-MARIE BRUBALLA, Freetown | Wednesday 8.00pm. THE West African intervention force Ecomog on Wednesday “liberated” an area east of Freetown considered to be the last bastion of the rebels who stormed the Sierra Leonean capital a fortnight ago, a spokesperson said. In a simultaneous offensive in the north-west of the West African country, Ecomog is […]