controls lifted Madeleine Wackernagel COME July 2, the markets will hopefully breathe a collective sigh of relief and wonder what all the fuss was about. Granted, the rand has taken a bit of a knock but there are no signs of panic as yet. There has been some speculative dollar buying in anticipation of the […]
NO ANC-IFP SOLUTION YET TALKS between the ANC and IFP in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal, on Thursday yielded no real agreement about special amnesty conditions in the province. Provincial Premier Ben Ngubane said: “It’s going to be a long road to find real peace, real brotherhood, but we are confident that we are going to walk that […]
FRIDAY, 3.00PM ANGOLA’S Unita rebel movement, apparently preparing to return to war with the Angolan government in the north of the country, is receiving war matriel from South Africa, according to reports by the Institute for Security Studies. Institute senior researcher Jakkie Potgieter said that during filed trips last November and in March, he saw […]
FRIDAY, 11.30AM SOUTH Africa’s first quarter current account deficit widened to R1,9-billion from only R100-million in the last quarter of last year, largely due to an unexpected drop in exports, the Reserve Bank said on Thursday in its Quarterly Review. The figures are being taken as bad news for economic growth, given that the rand’s […]
A newspaper report that tied a top band to an audience uprising got it hopelessly wrong, reports MARIA McCLOY WHILE one edition of the Sunday Times (the one aimed at the paler natives) last weekend led with a story and picture detailing the recovery of the South African Everest expedition photographer Bruce Herrod’s camera and […]
It’s not Independence Day that’s set the record for the longest-running movie in Durban. It’s Raja Hindustani – one of a crop of Bollywood hits. SUZYBELL bought a ticket I CAN see the lure – it’s pure disco. Okay I can’t understand a word of Hindi, and the acting is quite appalling, but there’s a […]
AT the heart of the debate around Cape Town’s Olympic bid lies a question of ownership. Faced by accusations of nepotism and racism this week, bid company chief executive Chris Ball responded that the spirit of volunteerism was integral to the Olympic movement. When pressed for details as to the costs of the bid process, […]
FRIDAY, 11.00AM The free-spending Independent Broadcasting Authority has a R3,8-million deficit on last year’s budget and is set to spend R9-million in excess of this year’s budget, according to a report by auditors Deloitte & Touche. Earlier this year, IBA CEO Harris Gxaweni was suspended for failing to institute financial controls, and five of the […]
Tom Hibbert on Abel Ferrara IT was four years ago that I first set out to interview Abel Ferrara, the “maverick” film director whose talent to shock seems unparalleled. His Bad Lieutenant – in which Harvey Keitel plays a corrupt copper who is coked to the gills, given to masturbating in public and having writhing […]
Anne Eveleth DYNAMO Investments Chairman Oscar Dhlomo says he promised full editorial independence to staff at City Press – South Africa’s largest black weekly – before a consortium led by his company bought a controlling share of the newspaper from Naspers. The R110-million sale of 51% of the paper – to Dynamo, Ukhozi Investments and […]
There is a growing gulf between what is important to those at the top of the police force and those at the bottom, reports Tangeni Amupadhi after two weeks at a police station CONSTABLE Mbekeni Mthetwa died for a car. Minutes before his shift was to end on the evening of May 26, the 34-year-old […]
meet Moshoeshoe Stephen Gray TWO hundred years ago a pair of lowly lads was born in Scotland, that great producer of emigrants. One was the son of a humble joiner in the northernmost Highlands, the other of a mere shepherd in the Border area. Both were self-educated, ambitious enough to make something of themselves in […]
Top films, like Abel Ferrara’s The Addiction, are being released straight to video. ANDREW WORSDALE finds out why TO see some really great movies these days it seems you have to go to a one-off film festival or visit the video shop. “Marginal” films often go straight to video. This is the case with clunky […]
FRIDAY, 8.30AM FORMER justice minister Adriaan Vlok has admitted to ordering the placing of “small explosive devices” outside two cinemas showing anti-apartheid movies, and to making false bomb threats to cinemas planning to show the Biko film Cry Freedom. Vlok is believed to be referring to a series of anti-censorship film festivals run by the […]
SOCCER:Andrew Muchineripi AS Manning Rangers bask in the glory of winning the inaugural Castle Premiership soccer championship, several key figures within the squad have continually created headlines. Coach Gordon Igesund has received due praise for moulding a team of virtual nonentities into one good enough to finish eight points clear of Kaizer Chiefs and 10 […]
THE full-page advertisements inserted in South African newspapers (including the Mail & Guardian) by the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association over the last week should be recognised for what they are: a crude attempt to protect vested interests of an industry, the commitment of which to the public welfare is questionable to say the least. Headlined “Health […]
FRIDAY, 12.00NOON: BRITISH LIONS manager Fran Cotton on Thursday announced the team to play the Springboks in the first Test between South Africa and England, at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday. LIONS: Neil Jenkins, Ieuan Evans, Scott Gibbs, Jeremy Guscott, Alan Tait, Gregor Townsend, Matt Dawson, Tim Rodber, Richard Hill, Lawrence Dallaglio, Jeremy Davidson, […]
Stephen Gray attended the clannish celebration of writer, doctor and cook Louis Leipoldt in the Cedarberg area. On a warm winter West Coast long weekend … over an old Republic Day … ‘ Twas nostalgia all the way … the village churchbells chimed and rimed. Season to commemorate the folk poet with the jug ears […]
IFP-ANC TALKS The second round of peace talks between the ANC and IFP began in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday. The talks are a continuation of the June 8 talks, when the ANC presented its proposals to the IFP, offering a senior national government post to IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi and a special amnesty package for […]
THURSDAY, 1.00PM: THE SA Professional Golf Association has called for clarity over broadcast sponsorship rights to the 1998 SA Open golf championship, after rival cellphone networks Vodacom and MTN both claimed exclusive rights. The PGA board has called for copies of the contracts between the SA Open and the two rival sponsors. The PGA’s executive […]
THURSDAY, 8.30AM THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange celebrated the biggest trading day in its history yesterday, when just under R2,8 billion in shares were traded. Market speculation pointed to London-based SBC Warburg as the source, acting as principal in buying shares from an unknown South African institution for sale to an overseas company. Warburg refused to […]
THURSDAY, 12.30PM: KAIZER Chiefs signed on a new coach this week — Frenchman Paul Dolezar will replace Wellington Manyathi for a two-year contract from next month. Chiefs PRO Louis Tshakoane said Dolezar has been the national coach of Gabon, and has also coached in the Middle East and Ghana. “Dolezar arrives next week and we […]
THURSDAY, 12.30PM THE Cabinet on Wednesday finally approved the policy proposals in the Defence review, paving the way for the SA Navy acquire its long-awaited new submarines and corvette warships. The cabinet’s approval of policy proposals on defence posture, functions, force design, human resources and part-time forces gives the navy the green light to acquire […]
THURSDAY, 11.00AM: STAND-IN coaches Wim Hollander and Koos Ehlers took over the training of the Gauteng Lions team on Wednesday, in the wake of resignations from the senior coaching team, Ray Mordt, Tito Lupini and Hugo van As. The new coaches are there as a stopgap measure, as Gauteng president Louis Luyt turned down the […]
THURSDAY, 11.00AM: SPRINGBOK rugby stars James Small and captain Gary Teichmann have been declared fit to play in the first Test against the British Lions at Newlands on Saturday. The two have recovered fully from the injuries they picked up during the Test against Tonga last Tuesday. They rejoined the squad for a tentative training […]
THURSDAY, 11.00AM RESERVE Bank governor Dr Chris Stals on Wednesday once again dashed hopes of an early interest rate cut, when he said there will be no rate as long as money supply and credit growth remain high. Acknowledging that since SA’s return to global markets, interpretation of credit and money supply figures had changed, […]
WEDNESDAY, 4.30PM A DRAFT Bill to make the SA Revenue Service autonmous from the public service was presented to parliament on Wednesday. Sars staff will become an institution outside the public service, but staff will remain members of the government pension fund. An advisory board consisting of a commissioner, two senior Sars employees and up […]
THURSDAY, 5.00PM FOLLOWING a month of violence between rival taxi groups servicing Soshanguve north of Pretoria, residents, who have been caught in the crossfire, have called for a 10-week taxi boycott in the area in a bid to end the violence. The recent violence has claimed the lives of 22 people, many of them taxi […]
THURSDAY, 11.00AM MINERAL and Energy Affairs Minister Penuell Maduna told Parliament yesterday that the Strategic Fuel Fund, the state-owned body that negotiated apartheid oil purchases, could not account for R173-million spent in oil deals by the National Party government. Maduna said wrongdoers will be uncovered in an investigation by private auditors Ntsaluba Nkoni Sizwe and […]
WEDNESDAY, 11.00AM FOLLOWING the outcry by the medical aid industry about a proposed dispensing fee to be charged by pharmacists, United SA Pharmacies, which represents half of SA’s pharmacists, on Tuesday announced that from July 28, most of SA’s 1 750 pharmacies will sell prescription medicines on a cost plus R17,10 flat fee basis. Responding […]
WEDNESDAY, 1.45PM: THE British Lions made mincemeat of the Emerging Springboks on Tuesday, beating them 51-22 in Wellington. But Lions coach Ian McGeechan was still not impressed with his team. He said there was a spell when they looked “bloody awful” and that they were showed up at times by the good rugby played by […]
MP’s SISTER MURDERED The mutilated body of Letitia Lindt, sister of Pan Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille, was discovered near Kuilsriver late on Monday. De Lille said on Tuesday: “Her mutilated body was found on a farm near Wallacedene squatter camp … she is the latest victim of barbaric acts of criminals who have […]