SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi ZIMBABWE stand alone among the leading football teams in Africa as the only one never to reach the biennial Nations Cup finals. This weekend the Warriors have another opportunity to erase 17 years of frustration when they travel to Angola needing a draw to secure a ticket to the tournament in Burkina […]
Double standards: The British government has proposed changing the laws on sex between men under 18. Back home in South Africa, the anomalies remain unchanged Zackie Achmat THE unequal age of sexual consent in South Africa (16 for hetero-sexuals, 19 for lesbian and gay youths) places unjust, irrational and arbitrary burdens on lesbian and gay […]
FRIDAY, 1.30PM: JOHN MASHEGO , Ashley Roestoff and Michael Scholtz currently share the lead at the Trust Bank Gauteng Classic golf tournament at Randpark golf course in Roodepoort. They lead after scoring 68 in the first round. TRUSTBANK GAUTENG CLASSIC 68 – J Mashego , A Roestoff , M Schultz 69 – D Fichardt, C […]
race Lynda Loxton SOUTH AFRICA risks falling behind in the information technology (IT) race if it fails to step up the training and education of IT users and practitioners, according to a new study. University of Cape Townacademics James Hodge and Jonathan Miller say in the latest issue of the university’s Trade and Industry Monitor […]
FRIDAY, 3.00PM: A FORMER engineer at Namibia’s Rossing mine has won a breakthrough compensation case in the House of Lords after a three-year legal battle. Edward Connelly lost his ability to speak to throat cancer, which he blames on working on ore crushers that spewed radioactive uranium and quartz dust. The dispute before the House […]
Kwame Dawes SALT by Earl Lovelace (Persea, R107) IT has been over 10 years since Earl Lovelace published his last novel, The Wine of Astonishment, so it is wonderful that Salt has been honoured with the Commonwealth Prize. It is his most assured work to date, and it allows him to display his remarkable capacity […]
ON Wednesday night the Mail & Guardian received a faxed letter from a firm of lawyers in Pretoria representing the arms manufacturer, Denel, which can only be described as impertinent. The letter demanded a “written undertaking” by 10am last Thursday that we would not publish the name of a country with which Denel is negotiating […]
Jungle music is finally gaining the recognition it deserves in South Africa. GREG BOWES looks at some of the places and faces it’s touched JO’BURG’S hippest live music venue, 206, jumps to the voodoo beats every Tuesday night. The city’s trendiest nightclub, Krypton, has also been doing its bit for new dance culture on Wednesdays. […]
The meeting between President Nelson Mandela and East Timorese Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta has been shrouded in secrecy.
FRIDAY, 8.00AM THE Pretoria High Court last night granted an interdict agains the Mail & Guardian preventing it from the publishing the name of a middle eastern country with which Denel is negotiating an arms deal. Earlier in the day, the paper had refused to comply with a demand from Denel’s attorney’s that it sign […]
Judging by his failure to deliver on past promises, Kenya’s president will no longer find many willing believers, writes Stephen Buckley from Nairobi A SERIES of dramatic moves last week by Kenya’s government gave the appearance that President Daniel arap Moi is backing down in the face of protests for constitutional and other legal reforms. […]
FRIDAY, 8.30AM INVESTIGATORS into the case of army chemical warfare director Brigadier Wouter Basson have reopened investigations into the mysterious 1987 crash of the SAA Boeing 747 jet Helderberg, in which all 159 people aboard perished. An inquiry into the crash ruled out a bomb or explosive device as the cause, but strange aspects of […]
NATAL SERIAL KILLER POLICE have discovered 18 bodies buried in shallow graves in Phoenix, north of Durban. Five bodies were discovered yesterday, one of which appeared to be a young black women probably murdered this week. Another three bodies were discovered at a nearby cemetery on Monday. Police have warned that the killer, who preys […]
MARIA McCLOY reports on an ongoing dispute between sportswear manufacturer Nike and the popular cartoon Doonesbury THE impact of cartoons seems to be stronger than most thought, judging by the reaction of sportswear billion-dollar giant Nike to Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury cartoon strip that runs in newpapers round the world, including the Mail & Guardian. The […]
The shark is well-known as a dangerous and efficient killer. But its full nature is not understood, writes Ellen Bartlett FOR all the exposure it gets every time it bites or kills someone, the great white shark is a poorly understood animal, maligned in science and fiction alike as an evil but mindless man-eater. Perhaps […]
FRIDAY, 11.00AM RANDGOLD-managed East Rand Proprietary Mine is is on the brink of closure as the falling gold price and lower than expected gold yields push the embattled producer to its knees. The mine, once one of the largest and most profitable in the world, currently employs 4 500 people. Although ERPM is managed by […]
Springbok coach Carel du Plessis is rightly looking ahead to the 1999 World Cup, but this seems to have blinded him to the needs of winning Tests in the present Tri-nations series RUGBY:Steve Morris THERE are any number of questions to be answered in the wake of the 35-32 defeat of the Springboks at the […]
Stephen Ellis THE international trade in illegal drugs is worth $400-billion a year, according to the United Nations, making it the world’s second-biggest trade after oil. A successful drug-smuggling enterprise, like one of the big South American syndicates, has a bigger annual turnover than half of the world’s governments. Drug profits on this scale are […]
Lizeka Mda recently discovered that South Africa’s ambassador to the United States is a consummate salesman WAYZATA is a picture postcard pretty town some 30 minutes south of Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota, with a population of about 3 000. On this Saturday afternoon, the weather is perfect for the northern hemisphere June – balmy […]
FRIDAY, 1.30PM: MICHAU WARRIORS’ case against the Premier Soccer League disciplinary committee was on Wednesday night dismissed after an arbitration hearing in Johannesburg. Warriors’ lodged an appeal against the PSL, after the League committee ruled in favour of AmaZulu earlier this month, awarding them two points from their drawn match against Umtata Bush Bucks. Premier […]
Joe Seremane, whose brother was killed by the ANC in the infamous Quatro camp, is determined to discover the truth behind his murder. Peta Thornycroft reports AN African National Congress leader accused of torturing the brother of chief land claims commissioner Joe Seremane in the infamous Quatro detention camp has been identified as Gabriel Mthunzi […]
Gustav Thiel HENNIE MARAIS, Western Cape director of the South African Narcotics Bureau, is resigned to his officers doing little more than watching the drugs coming into the city, and occasionally checking the flow. They no longer bother with dagga, or even with releasing information about their successes in drug convictions. “There are 100 000 […]
Glynis O’Hara IF you switch on your radio and think you’re hearing Celine Dion singing Unbreak My Heart in Zulu, you won’t be far wrong. It is Unbreak My Heart in Zulu, dubbed Khululua Inhliziyo Yami, but instead of Celine belting it out, it’s Faith Kekana. A long-time music stalwart, she’s done backing vocals for […]
READERS abroad can subscribe to the Mail & Guardian by electronic mail and receive the full South African text of the paper hours before it reaches the streets of Johannesburg. Rates in North America, Europe and Australia are cheaper than print, at US$100 for a year. Send e-mail to [email protected] for more details. * Join […]
In her letters – auctioned this month by Sotheby’s – the late Patricia Highsmith is revealed as a tough, sometimes bigoted woman, writes Sarah Boseley CRIME novelist Patricia Highsmith was a semi-recluse from about 1970. She was very private in her Swiss home, having settled in Europe, which loved her amoral heroes whose escape from […]
The man who `can’t show mercy’ WILLIAM MAKGOBA was probably born arrogant. He is proud of this natural trait, which he sometimes refers to as self-confidence or self-assurance. It’s not his fault. He knows he’s intelligent and sees no point in hiding it. The problem is: he likes to ram it up other people’s noses. […]
FRIDAY, 1.30PM: SOUTH AFRICA’S John Bland leads the Senior British Open after the first round on Wednesday at Royal Portush in Northern Ireland. Bland fired a six-under-par 66 to take the lead. “I played good, drove beautifully, but I’m just happy to be playing,” he said. Bland is two strokes ahead of compatriot Gary Player, […]
Nicholas Whittaker in London THAT Mr Polaroid has a lot to answer for. Picture this muddy snap, for instance, of a naked man on a hotel bed. Passing behind his knees and around the back of his neck, a doubled-up inner tube trusses him into a human hoop, head tucked well down towards his groin. […]
FRIDAY, 11.00AM ANGLO American Corporation’s gold division saw its mines producing a solid aggregate performenace in the June quarter, with production slightly up and capital expenditure on new projects up 16%. Despite the difficult conditions in the gold market, group aggregate taxed profit was up to R396-million from R357-million in the March quarter. However, available […]
WITH less than two years to go before South Africa’s second democratic elections, the murder of five African National Congress members including two elected councillors in Richmond is a threat to more than just peace in the Natal Midlands. It is proof that sinister forces bent on subverting democracy are still active in South Africa, […]
A joint venture between Zamani and Templeton seeks to ensure skills transference in portfolio management, reportsMadeleine Wackernagel BLACK economic empowerment deals in the financial services sector are not unusual, but one involving a foreign company and a purely focused asset management venture is a first. Together, Franklin Templeton Group, via its Templeton arm, and Zamani […]
THURSDAY, 5.00PM ZIMBABWEAN Congress of Trade Unions president Gibson Sibanda has castigated the government for high budget deficit, saying it is a major contributor to workers’ suffering through high interest rates and inflation levels. “The biggest problem in this country is the budget deficit, which is causing high inflation, which is the worker’s enemy number […]