Staff Reporter

Gail Smith Akosua Busia does not understand the meaning of the word “no”. The multi- talented actress and writer freely admits: “I come from privelege, and my sense of entitlement is the greatest thing in my life.” This unshakable sense of rightness has enabled Busia to capitalise on every opportunity and setback in the pursuit […]

no African renaissance’ Despite its limited resources, South Africa stands to gain by developing its own HIV vaccine, instead of waiting for the West to provide, writes Lesley Cowling More than 25 clinical trials of different types of vaccines against HIV – the virus that causes Aids – are under way all over the world. […]

Not CD of the week: Sheryl Garratt Happiness is largely a matter of perception. But if the world is split into optimists who see a glass as half- full and pessimists who see it as half- empty, then Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette goes further: she sees the glass as a dangerous weapon that will inevitably […]

Ferial Haffajee Veteran journalist Allister Sparks will leave the SABC at the end of December. He announced his departure to staff this week – a move which will leave SABC’s new 24-hour news channel without a leader just two weeks after its launch. Television CEO Molefe Mokgatle on Monday sent a letter to Sparks informing […]

A new survey shows that South African women are more likely to be killed by their partners than by strangers. Tangeni Amupadhi reports To reach her Lenasia home, Yasmin Fakir walks across a field where there have been several rapes and murders. But it is only when she opens her front door that she feels […]

Herman Charles Bosman’s work is now all being reissued in a definitive edition. Craig MacKenzie describes his work on Mafeking Road Recently, as the editor of the journal English in Africa, I published there for the first time a remarkable exchange of letters between the post- war giants of South African letters – Herman Charles […]

answered Jann Turner Friday: After a month, I have a whole day off. I’m ready for a day paying off bills. I’m feeling strong, so I start with the post office. Eventually I get to the service-with-a-scowl teller and I pay my phone bill. I’m two-and-a-half weeks late, but hell, that’s not long – is […]

Maureen Barnes Down the tube There is no crisis. That’s what Dr Khulu Mbatho from the Department of Home Affairs said to Chris Gibbons about our electoral . if you’ll pardon the expression . arrangements. Well it depends, of course, on your definition of crisis. Compared to the San Franscisco earthquake, the bubonic plague and […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 2.30pm. MATRICULATION students whose mother tongue is an African language will have their examination results adjusted upwards to compensate for their having to write exams in a second language, the South African Certification Board said on Friday. SACB spokesperson Fred Calitz said the new policy comes as a result of […]

DENIS BARNETT , Sun City | Thursday 9.00pm. ZIMBABWEAN Nick Price, chasing his third million dollar prize here, mastered the blustery conditions to lead the Million Dollar challenge in Sun City by two shots overnight. Price’s first round 67 took him clear of the chasing pack of Mark O’Meara, Justin Leonard, and Bernhard Langer — […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 7.00pm. ERNIE ELS, Tiger Woods and last year’s winner Nick Price will make their appearance as favourites at the Sun City Million Dollar Golf challenge which starts on Thursday. The three are part of the competition’s strongest-ever field, which includes six of the top seven players in the world. Woods, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 7.00pm. ENGLISH flyhalf Mike Catt will not be asked to take any place kicks against the Springboks on Saturday, after he missed what would have been a match winning conversion against Australia last weekend, the English rugby camp said on Wednesday. The South African-born player, who replaced the injured Paul […]

SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Tuesday 6.30pm. IT was an “utterly miserable” day on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as it shook off the sleepy mode of late and headed into a free-fall that saw just under 5% shaved off the market value. Dealers were largely bracing for a downturn on Tuesday morning after Wall Street’s two […]

SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Wednesday 6.00pm. THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange, pining of late for some positive domestic data, largely ignored an early Christmas present by the Reserve Bank in the form of a significant drop in the repo rate on Wednesday. The market closed almost flat, with the all share index a negligible four points […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, London | Tuesday 9.20am. SPRINGBOK rugby coach Nick Mallett believes that if his team can set a world record of 18 consecutive Test wins with victory over England on Saturday, the landmark will stand for ever. The Springboks equalled New Zealand’s record of 17 triumphs, set over four years from 1967, when Mallett’s […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 11.00pm. AN unbeaten 57 by Jacques Kallis guided South Africa to a four wicket win over the West Indies on the final day of the first Test at the Wanderers on Monday — their first test win over the tourists since they returned to international cricket. Kallis, who made 53 […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 9.00pm. THREE domestic airlines, British Airways-Comair, Nationwide and Sun Air on Monday filed a complaint against South African Airways with the Competitions Board, accusing the parastatal of predatory behaviour. A joint statement issued by BA-Comair MD Pieter van Hoven, Sun Air MD Johan Borstlap and Nationwide GM Hugo Smit, said […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 4.00pm. Life assurance giant Sanlam’s listing dominated trading on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange early on Monday, opening at 600 cents a share and closing one cents down at 599c. Turnover in Sanlam shares was close to R200-million, representing half the JSE’s turnover early Monday, analysts said. The life assurance company […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 9.00pm. FUGITIVE former Zimbabwean president Canaan Banana, on the run from a conviction charges of sodomy and sexual assault, is hiding out in South Africa, a South African diplomat said Monday. “I talked to him on Thursday and he expressed an interest in going to South Africa,” the diplomat said, […]

SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Friday 3.30pm. PANDEMONIUM broke out in ABSA Bank branches nationwide on Friday morning when thousands of the new-look bank’s customers were denied access to their finances. A well-placed source in ABSA head office told ZA*NOW that the bank had a complete system crash on Thursday night, leaving it unable to process […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 10.30am. DEMUTUALISED insurance giant Sanlam makes its long-awaited listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Monday, having raised R4-billion in its pre-listing offer to take its market capitalisation to R15,7-billion. The figure suggests a listing price of 600c, with analysts predicting the shares will trade between 700c and 900c, especially […]

SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Monday 6.30pm. THE listing on demutualised life assurer Sanlam dominated the market on Monday, accounting for some 40% of trade. Dealers said without Sanlam providing R370-million worth of trade, which totalled R1,82-billion, on the day would have been dismally thin as investors start to consolidate their positions ahead of the Christmas […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 3.00pm. 3.00PM SCORE: SOUTH Africa has won the first test at the Wanderers by four wickets — after a bad start and a last-second disaster, when man of the match Sean Pollock was caught from a full-toss, with only a run to go. South Africa made a shaky start, losing […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Sunday 11.00pm. ZIMBABWEAN Nick Price won the Zimbabwe Open by five shots with a 17-under-par total of 271 after a final day nine-under-par 63 saw him drive back the field at the Royal Harare course on Sunday. Price’s win makes him the first player to win the title for the second […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Sunday 11.00pm. SOUTH Africa are firmly in position to take the first Test against the West Indies in Johannesburg after dismissing the tourists for 170 runs in their second innings, a slender overall lead of 163 runs. Only a sixth-wicket partnership of 68 between Carl Hooper and wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs gave […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Saturday 8.30pm. KAIZER Chiefs beat Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1 on penalties to retain the R1-million Rothmans Cup at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday. The final was decided on penalties after the sides drew 2-2 after 120 minutes of thrilling football. Striker Pollen Ndlandya’s score in sudden-death secured the match for […]

go’ Chiara Carter A damning report on the conflict-ridden University of the Transkei (Unitra) recommends that its principal, Alfred Moleah, take early retirement and the university’s finances be investigated. The report by independent assessor Louis Skweyiya was requested by Minister of Education Sibusiso Bengu. Skweyiya found that the relationship between Moleah and the rest of […]

from the inquest courts Leading human rights lawyer George Bizos has written an account of inquests into the deaths of people who died in detention under apartheid. This is an edited extract from the book After its passage through Parliament in 1963, the detention without trial law soon claimed its first victim. On August 20 […]

The once-staid centre of Pretoria is bursting with cultural life waiting to be released, writes Charl Blignaut It’s a very different Church Square that we approach on a sweltering Sunday morning – and it’s not just that the drag queen trippling on the grass is drawing more attention from the startled pigeons than from the […]

Despite the pretty lights and bells, there’ll be little Christmas cheer and ho ho ho-ing in the retail sector this year, writes Ferial Haffajee At Edgars, Christmas comes in July. The manager of the city store in Johannesburg begins planning for the summer high season in mid-winter. “The atmosphere, the look, the gift- wrapping corners. […]

Louise Viljoen VIR ‘N PERS HUIS by Karin Cronj (Human &Rousseau) Karin Cronj’s novel Vir ‘n Pers Huis starts with a scene in a supermarket. The narrator is overcome with disgust as she observes a woman who gorges herself on the Danish pastries she is loading into her shopping trolley, and cringes pathetically while selecting […]

`snub’ Mungo Soggot The Bar and the Bench were awash with speculation this week that Judge John Myburgh is to resign as president of the Labour Court and quit the judiciary after being snubbed for promotion by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). It is understood that Judge Myburgh, one of South Africa’s most respected judges, […]