Kobus Rust, of the South African Boerboel BreedersÕ Association (ÒBoerboels: A breed apartÓ, Letters, July 25 to 31) excellently describes this pure and attractive breed. But I do wonder, as I do when I look at our poodlesÕ tails, why we choose to mutilate some breeds? Or is a Boerboel, like a Manx cat, born […]
Wally Mbhele reports on the bribery and corruption behind the Eikenhof massacre convictions THE state witness who helped destroy the alibis of the three African National Congress members convicted of the Eikenhof killings has confessed to lying in court because the police had promised him a R250 000 reward. Abel Korope’s claim, made in a […]
THURSDAY, 5.00PM FORMER Springbok rugby player Johan Ackermann, has lost his appeal against his two-year suspension from rugby for illegal drug use. Ackermann, a policeman, tested positive for the anabolic steroid Nandrolone at a Springbok training camp in in February. Ackermann says the handling of his urine sample did not follow procedures prescribed by the […]
FRIDAY, 12.00NOON INDUSTRIAL shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Thursday ignored a sliding rand to make cautious advances on the back of a strong bond market as hopes for an early interest rate cut were renewed. Government’s benchmark R150 long bond once again breached the 14% yield mark amid cautious optimism over comments on […]
Ros Coward Those who thought “violence against women” was an archaic feminist concern had better think again. In the 1990s, concern about this violence has undergone a quantum leap. It is no longer a local issue of refuges: violence against women has become a global issue. In July, for the first time, the United Nations […]
A few black players are starting to deal inthe arms world, writes Ferial Haffajee THE two men in dark suits riffle rapidly through the sheafs of paper. “Fifty? No. Was it 60?” Seelan Moodley asks Krish Naidoo. They page again. Then Moodley confirms that “in the two months since we’ve started, we’ve landed or are […]
FRIDAY, 1.00PM: KENYAN athletes are in great form in Athens and are expected to dominate in the long distance events in the World Athletics Championships which starts on Friday. Kenya is hoping that their top athletes will bring back medals – fastest 5 000m runner this season Daniel Komen, three-time world 3 000m steeplechase chapmion […]
“Betrayed” is a harsh word to describe the government’s failings. So it was not a casual decision when we chose to use it on our cover on May 9 when the plight of seven-year-old rape victim Mamokgethi Malebane first came to light. We were angered by the fact that she had disappeared after her alleged […]
FRIDAY, 1.00PM: NEWCOMERS to the Premier Soccer League (PSL) – Lightbody Santos and African Wanderers host league giants – Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs respectively, in the opening matches of the 1997/98 soccer season. Santos, who eliminated Real Rovers in the preliminary rounds of the Rothmans Cup last weekend, entertain Pirates at Athlone Stadium in […]
Mamokgethi Malebane was one of numerous rape victims who have been betrayed by the system, writes Gustav Thiel ON the day of the school memorial service this week for seven-year-old rape and murder victim Mamo-kgethi Malebane, the agency which first raised the alarm about her unveiled a string of similar cases – young children, raped, […]
FRIDAY, 12.00NOON GOVERNMENT’S hopes of creating 252 000 new jobs this year appear set to be dashed as latest employment statistics released by the Central Statistical Service show that SA’s formal, non-agricultural economy shed another 42 000 jobs in the first quarter of this year. Government’s growth, employment and redistribution strategy (Gear) had projected the […]
* Walter will not get a letter this week due to the unfortunate disappearance of Nelson’s briefcase in Smal Street, Johannesburg. We present this occasional column instead FOLLOWING is a cautionary tale for those seeking a modest weekend getaway in the Magaliesberg. There is a farm on the R24, in the shadow of cliffs where […]
Peta Thornycroft Johan “Sakkie” van Zyl, a manager working for a subsidiary of the arms parastatal, Denel, has been named as the leader of the unit that killed Eastern Cape activist Matthew Goniwe. In his amnesty submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, former hit-squad leader and convicted murderer Eugene de Kock, says Van Zyl […]
FRIDAY, 6.00PM: SEVEN foreigners were lynched in Dakar, Senegal on Thursday, following hysteria over “penis shrinkers”. Locals believe that foreigners who make brief physical contact with them on the street have the power to shrink their penises. Bystanders then go after the alleged “sex stealers” and mercilessly beat them. One of the murder victims had […]
South Africas deteriorating position on an international corruption index reflects worsening perceptions of the country, reports Ferial Haffajee South Africa has dropped 10 places from last year in an international survey of corruption. The country was placed 33rd in a poll of 52 countries by Transparency International (TI), a corruption-tracking non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in […]
FRIDAY, 6.00PM: PSYCHOLOGIST Dr Micky Pistorius has provided police with a preliminary description of the Phoenix serial killer, wanted for at least 18 murders. The murderer is a Zulu man aged between 30 and 40 who is able to gain the confidence of women by offering them employment. He is probably not a wanted criminal. […]
Law students could soon be following in the footsteps of student doctors if a community-service proposal gets the go-ahead, reports Marion Edmunds LAW graduates could be next in line for the government’s drive to recruit students into community service. Ideas for practical training for lawyers have been under consideration for some time. Earlier this year […]
Francis Murape ZIMBABWEAN nationalist leader and co-vice-president Joshua Nkomo rarely appears in public these days because of poor health and old age – a development that is increasing the strain on President Robert Mugabe’s fractious administration. Mugabe is worried not so much because he loves the man, but because Nkomo’s departure could undermine the political […]
THE ANGELLA JOHNSON INTERVIEW YOU must remember Ian Smith. Ian who? I hear you ask. Who could forget the obdurate, dour leader of the Rhodesian government, with his skein of black hair parted perilously close to the right ear? The man who tried to hold up the march of history by leading his country through […]
FRIDAY, 1.00PM: NORTHERN Transvaal rugby supporters will elect a committee to fight for the sacking of John Williams as coach and Hentie Serfontein as president of the Northern Transvaal Rugby Union on Friday. The supporters have been unhappy with the team’s recent performance. Dannie Coetzee, one of the organisers, said a march has been planned […]
the future It’s time to consolidate the wealth of knowledge Africans are carrying around in their heads, argues Nhlanganiso Dladla A nation with no knowledge of its history (and culture) is like a tree without roots. – Marcus Mosiah Garvey My 13-year-old daughter (whom I would refer to as “niece” if I were of the […]
FRIDAY, 4.30PM A TEENAGER was mauled by Kruger National Park lions on Wednesday night, the fifth person to be killed by lions in the park in the past week. Adam Chauke, 18, was one of 11 Mozambicans who attempted to enter South Africa illegally by walking through the park. They were scattered by a herd […]
Chris McGreal in Kigali RWANDA’s Parliament is demanding that the government arrest a prominent Hutu politician who has been appointed as a regional governor despite his inclusion on the administration’s own list of men wanted for the 1994 genocide of Tutsis. Boniface Rucagu is number 120 on the list of about 2 000 people who […]
As South Africa demands an apology for the Nigerian foreign minister’s statement that Mandela is the black head of a white country, Guinness Ohazuruike urges action against the military dictatorship in Lagos THE hydra-headed problem of Nigeria will again arise when Commonwealth heads of states meet at their annual summit in Edinburgh in October. The […]
The bottle of brown sludge handed to Dr Linda Makwatini, the adviser to Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs Penuell Maduna, in Parliament earlier this month went almost unnoticed. It came from a mining town and was brought to the centre of power by a range of environmental organisations. The contents were highly contaminated and […]
Funding shortfalls in provincial education could derail more than just the new school curriculum, reports Ann Eveleth THE Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, walked into a meeting last Friday with little good news for the provincial education and finance leaders who confronted him. They had hoped that Manuel could cover the spiralling cash shortfalls threatening […]
FRIDAY, 6.00PM: THE Portuguese government is in a dispute with the South African electricity parastatal Eskom over an 18-year-old agreement about funding the Cahora Basso power station project, parliament was told on Friday. The acting director-general of South Africa’s department of mineral and energy affairs, Dick Bakker, said South Africa loaned Portugal R35 million in […]
Chris Gordon WITH two weeks to go before the United Nations slaps crippling sanctions on Jonas Savimbi’s Unita movement, UN peace monitors, Savimbi and the Angolan government are openly warning the country should prepare for war. Diplomats in Luanda said in the last week that the peace process is on the edge and war is […]
FRIDAY, 6.00PM: FORMER SA Breweries chief executive Meyer Kahn started work as a policeman on Friday. Kahn’s role as the most senior civilian in the police force will be to restructure the force, taking charge of personnel and financial matters while freeing up the police commissioner George Fivaz to concentrate on policing. His appointment, announced […]
Rehana Rossouw and Marion Edmunds THE Middle Eastern country to which Denel is trying to sell arms worth R7-billion was publicly named in Cape Town last week – by Kader Asmal, the minister whose words were quoted by Denel in a successful high court bid to prevent the Mail & Guardian from identifying its client. […]
Ann Eveleth THE Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s chief investigator in the Eastern Cape has quit amid allegations that his team failed to deliver any significant research on apartheid-era atrocities in the province. Loyiso Mpumlawana was suspended on full pay in April pending a disciplinary inquiry into claims that he had failed to manage the unit […]
THURSDAY, 1.00PM: MOROKA SWALLOWS on Thursday announced their three sponsors for the season — Nike, Elephant Beer and Independent Newspapers. Swallows have signed a three-year contract with Nike as their technical sponsor and have renewed their contract with Elephant Beer. The sponsorship means that Swallows will have constant contact with other Nike-sponsored clubs — Brazil’s […]