Several investigations are under way into NIA operatives allegedly involved in money laundering schemes, writes Justin Arenstein Police are preparing to arrest at least two members of a shadowy National Intelligence Agency (NIA) unit next week after they allegedly tried to cash stolen share certificates worth more than R180- million. The operatives have also been […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni Black students at Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) in Johannesburg are being subjected to vicious assaults and humiliating harassment by white students. Black students also say some “no go” areas for them at the university include white residences at the university. A document handed to black students early this year by university […]
Phillip Kakaza Diva shouts, harmonic sounds and thunderous rhythms swept through the remote village of Taung during the North West Cultural Calabash Festival last week. The high-pitched voices of the undisputed queen of gospel Rebecca Malope and her backing group Pure Magic resonated from the Mmabana (mother of the children ) Cultural Centre where the […]
Andrew Muchineripi Soccer It is exactly 100 days since Shaun Bartlett converted a late penalty kick to earn Bafana Bafana a 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia before departing the World Cup stage. The wind of Marseille, the heat of Toulouse and the tranquillity of Bordeaux are rapidly fading memories along with controversial French coach Philippe […]
handouts Jacqui Boulle Since 1994 there has been much talk about developmental social welfare and the need to move away from grants and handouts to more sustainable programmes. While this approach – which underpins the Department of Welfare’s campaign during welfare month – has had some success, its impact is limited: nearly half the poor […]
Chris Barrie The transformation of the television set from humble programme provider to multi- purpose information hub has continued with the announcement that the box will soon be able to make and receive your telephone calls. As if 200 channels of programming combined with interactive services such as shopping and gambling were not enough, development […]
Lesotho rebel soldiers this week invited reporter Sechaba ka’Nkosi to view their secret camps Rebel soldiers of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF), who ignored this week’s ultimatum to report back to their bases, claim a large quantity of arms are in their hands at safe houses around the capital Maseru and in surrounding villages. The […]
West Coast Ann Eveleth looks at plans to make economic well-being more than a brief tourist boom Most Septembers a sea of wild flowers drowns the rugged protrusions of the Cedarberg mountains that separate the quaint mission villages of Wupperthal from the Atlantic seaboard. In that lucky month, the narrow roads lead bands of tourists […]
Ferial Haffajee The chiefs in fatigues from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) jetted into Luanda this week to talk war. They could send soldiers to provide military assistance in Angola as the SADC did in the Democratic Republic of Congo last month and in Lesotho last week. The SADC’s new role is a triumph […]
British trip-hop band Massive Attack arrive in South Africa on Sunday. Charles Leonard did a telephonic interview with Robert `3-D’ Del Naja from his hotel room in Detroit `We’re on a 17-date tour of North America. We’ve been here a couple of times before. They must like us because they’ve invited us back, but we […]
Maureen Barnes Down the tube It’s probably age, but I got competely confused last week between the shots of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) invasion of Bophuthatswana and those of the South African National Defence Force marching into Lesotho. Scenes of the AWB fiasco were screened on TV in the wake of the truth commission hearing […]
Roger Southall Right to Reply It is precisely because of the deep respect which is widely accorded to the Mail & Guardian’s reportage that one simply has to object in the strongest possible terms to the criminally ignorant and politically irresponsible coverage of the Lesotho election by your reporter William Boot. His constant, uncritical repetition […]
Peter Dickson Battered by bureaucratic bungling, the Eastern Cape government discovered this week that its expenditure has been technically illegal for the past six months. Owing to an “oversight” by Premier Makhenkesi Stofile, its 1998/99 provincial budget remains unpublished in the provincial Government Gazette, which is in contravention of the Constitution, In reply to a […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni and Swapna Prabhakaran The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) this week faced the difficult task of finding the families of nine South African soldiers killed in action in Lesotho. The SANDF statement on the deaths listed the names, ages and home towns of the soldiers and included a brief message […]
Tim Radford European scientists are to build an antimatter factory at Cern, the European nuclear research laboratory in Geneva. But even though antimatter would be the perfect fuel – 200 times more efficient than thermonuclear fusion – it may be some time before they have made enough to boldly go with Captain Kirk and Dr […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 7.45pm. A SPOKESMAN for Angolan separatists said on Friday that government troops supported by attack helicopters are advancing on an unknown number of Front for the Liberation Of Cabinda (FLEC) separatists in the country’s oil-rich enclave of Cabinda. Carlos Puna said that a battalion of 400 Angolan soldiers began an […]
Keep South Africa Beautiful closed its files this week after its funds dried up, writes Wonder Hlongwa South Africa’s biggest waste management and environmental awareness organisation has closed shop because of corruption, mismanagement and lack of funds and direction. The closure of Keep South Africa Beautiful comes at a time when government departments are struggling […]
CD of the week Adam Sweeting The idea that Brian Wilson could ever again approximate his own back- catalogue masterpieces has grown increasingly laughable. There was the critically-feted Orange Crate Art in 1995, but that was really a Van Dyke Parks project cunningly disguised as a Brian Wilson album. While it’s true that Wilson has […]
Serious questions are being asked about the state of South Africa’s defence forces following the Lesotho intervention, writes Howard Barrell The public, defence and security analysts and African National Congress and opposition politicians have expressed concern over the past 10 days about the coherence of the young South African National Defence Force (SANDF) after it […]
Mungo Soggot The Supreme Court of Appeal has ushered in a new era of press freedom with a ruling that journalists can escape liability for false and defamatory facts by showing they were reasonable or careful. The landmark judgment in favour of City Press will release South African journalists from a long list of rulings […]
Richard Nelsson Spending It During the Eighties a bulging Filofax was the symbol of the successful and upwardly mobile; for the Nineties the “must have” is an electronic organiser. But these “personal digital assistants” (PDAs) are much more than just hi-tech versions of their leather-bound antecedents. The latest models have not only the capacity to […]
Peter Makurube There is no better way to suss out where a country is at than through its music. There has never been any doubt about the quality of music this country can produce, the problem has been a chronic case of arrested development. Now that the old is out and the new is in […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Maseru | Friday 11.00pm. THE various political players in Lesotho have agreed that new elections will be held in 15 to 18 months, SA Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi said on Friday night. However a sticking point is whether or not Lesotho Prime Minister Pakhalitha Mosisili’s government should remain in power until […]
Andy Capostagno Rugby A few weeks ago I was lamenting the fact that after a promising beginning the Currie Cup had gone a little flat. Anyone who saw Sunday’s 24-17 win for Free State over Western Province at Newlands may well have concurred. We have reached that stage of the season where results are far […]
Stuart Hess Patient care in Gauteng could be curtailed as state hospitals run out of funds because of overspending of this year’s budgets. Government health officials said no additional financial assistance will be made available until the start of the next financial year in April 1999. However, major institutions such as Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital […]
October is welfare month, with activities planned around the country. But do we need it, asks Black Sash pension campaigner Rosemary Smith When the Roman authorities wanted to appease the populace, they laid on bread and circuses. The Department of Welfare’s planned activities for welfare month in October smack of circuses. Is it the right […]
Belinda Beresford Something is rotten in the state of South African business. The legacy of the old South Africa has been disrespect for the law and a culture of entitlement, and the past influences the present. Ahead of the latest round of awards to companies that do business honestly and openly, some of the seedier […]
Bop Broadcasting’s latest audit has revealed major financial discrepancies, reports Mungo Soggot The Office of the Auditor General has rejected the Bophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation’s 1997 accounts after uncovering possible fraud involving millions of rand, widespread mismanagement and a breakdown of its financial systems. In a report signed off on July 21, the finance watchdog said […]
Robert McCrum talks to his long-time friend Salman Rushdie as he emerges from the shadow of the fatwa `I didn’t expect to survive,” says Salman Rushdie. “I didn’t expect to live.” We are sitting alone in the office of anti-censorship group Article 19’s director, Frances D’Souza, in the aftermath of a sweaty press conference at […]
Michael Metelits Despite the market’s negative reaction to Customs & Excise’s monthly trade figures released on Tuesday, South Africa’s outlook may not be as gloomy as indicated by the August statistics. The figures showed a deficit of nearly R3-billion, a surprise to most analysts. They had expected a slight trade surplus. Exports dropped massively in […]
ROB DAVIES, Johannesburg | Thursday 8.30pm. WESTERN Province under Bobby Skinstad will be hoping for a scorcher when they meet a fired-up Blue Bulls side in a vital Currie Cup match on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. The Bulls are already assured of a spot in the semifinals, and the defending champs will need […]
Alexander Chancellor REMIND ME WHO I AM, AGAIN by Linda Grant (Granta) It is told in this book how Frankie Vaughan, the handsome crooner once thought to be England’s answer to Frank Sinatra, came to acquire his surname. His real name was Francis Abelson, and he lived as a child with his sister, his mother […]