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/ 23 May 1997

Lethal little predator the Boks dread

RUGBY:Mick Cleary THE British Lions who stepped off the plane last weekend are big, physical men, selected for their size, their power and their brooding intent, the mirror image of those they are about to meet across the playing fields of South Africa over the next seven weeks. But the South Africans will not be […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Warning shot fired over corvettes

Mungo Soggot PARLIAMENTARY defence committee head Tony Yengeni this week slammed the Department of Defence for keeping the committee in the dark about the controversial plan to buy four corvettes for South Africa’s navy. Yengeni’s criticism follows comments by Defence Minister Joe Modise last week that he might leapfrog a tender process for the boats […]

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/ 23 May 1997

EDITORIAL: Hiding behind race

THE Mail & Guardian today breaks another story pointing to possible corruption in government – this time involving the Department of Housing and a R185-million housing contract. The scandal worries us on two levels. The first and obvious one is the reputation that the “new” South Africa is beginning to earn itself for administrative corruption. […]

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/ 23 May 1997

CTO takes the plunge

Bongani Ndodana WITH the new policy on the arts, Dr Malan’s bust, perched in its shrine in the Nico Malan opera foyer, has witnessed the unceremonious undoing of the Cape Performing Arts Board (Capab). First it was the frantic campaign to save the orchestra, then ballet went independent under the banner of Cape Town City […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Roseanne bows out as laughter fades

Alex Duval Smith in Washington NINE years after Roseanne began its ground- breaking, irreverent portrayal of working- class family life, television viewers in the United States will switch on with relief tomorrow for the last episode with the family America used to love to hate. Roseanne’s ratings have plummeted in the last two seasons and […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Out of the closet, into the firing line

The issue of homosexuality tests the commitment of African states to a culture of human rights, argues Shaun de Waal HOMOSEXUALITY as a social issue – and gay and lesbian rights as a political issue – has recently arisen several times in the region, raising controversy in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland. It seems to […]

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/ 23 May 1997

SA aid for Kabila’s Congo

FRIDAY, 8.30AM DEPUTY PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki has asked both finance minister Trevor Manuel and Reserve Bank governor Chris Stals to send a task team to Kinshasa to help with economic recovery. Stals said yesterday that the Bank could help with the managing of bank regulations, and foreign and gold reserves. The team has not yet […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Provincial police a spent force

Seth Nthai WE repeatedly hear arguments from certain political parties and individuals that the solution to our crime problems is to devolve enough police powers to provinces. According to them, devolution of police powers would strengthen the arm of the South African Police Service (SAPS). I believe the devolution of police powers to provinces, to […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Proud stranger struts off soccer’s stage

Richard Williams on Eric Cantona, catalyst of Manchester United’s stunning revival, who announced his early retirement this week HOW typical of Eric Cantona that he should stand not upon the order of his going, but simply clear off. No farewell tours, no curtain calls. Yet, being Cantona, somehow the sense of a coup de thtre […]

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/ 23 May 1997

School sows division in Sophiatown

Dawn Blalock A PLAN to build a high school for disadvantaged students has stirred up charges of racism in Sophiatown – and illustrates how the community is still haunted by its turbulent history. Sparrow Schools Educational Trust, a non- profit group that runs special education schools for disadvantaged children, is trying to buy a plot […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Kabila makes government appointments

FRIDAY, 1.00PM LAURENT KABILA, self-proclaimed president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), has named his first government, but has left certain key ministries vacant, and leaving out for the time being the popular former prime minister Etienne Tshisekedi. Kabila opted for an American-style administration, abolishing the post of prime minister for which […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Stealing beauty from Africa

Gary Younge NIGERIAN art treasures are being looted from museums to supply an underground network of dealers, most of them based in London and New York. The multi-million pound trade, which contravenes a United Nations convention on the sale and smuggling of stolen artwork, has left some museums in the country virtually empty. The looting […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Who wants what in this year’s wage

negotiations Ferial Haffajee TOUGH talking will be the order of the day as crucial wage rounds involving South Africa’s biggest employers in the mining, motor, engineering and clothing sectors get under way. “It’s going to be a difficult year for negotiations,” predicts Jackie Kelly of Andrew Levy & Associates. In its most recent quarterly bulletin […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Naive SA must not adopt missionary

position Mahmood Mamdani analyses why South African diplomacy failed in Congo SOUTH AFRICA emerging from apartheid is not the same as Congo emerging from Mobutuism. At least two political differences are worth noting. The South African transition was a compromise between forces for and against apartheid, the Congolese transition is marked by a military victory […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Bad ref decisions mar squash victory

FRIDAY, 12.00NOON: SOUTH AFRICA’s Trevor Wilkinson beat Geoff Davenport of Australia in an exciting match at the MacMed World Masters in Johannesburg on Thursday. Wilkinson won the semifinal 9-5, 8-10, 9-1, 9-10, 9-6, in a match plagued by bad decisions from referee Gordon Ashby. Wilkinson will play top-seed of the 35-39 division, Ashraf Hanafi of […]

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/ 23 May 1997

EMI admits payola

Glynis O’Hara PAYOLA, long the battle of the music industry, reared its ugly head this week when Mike Edwards, former managing director of EMI South Africa, was quoted in the press as saying his company had actively participated in the system of paying for airplay. It’s long been said that it is rife, especially on […]

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/ 23 May 1997

King of worms makes a dainty dish

The mopane caterpillar is a dietary staple for many people – and a vital agent in keeping the veld healthy, writes Ellen Bartlett THE larva of Gonimbrasia belina, the emperor moth, is fat and spiny and mottled black and gray. It does not immediately spring to mind as food.But G belina, better known as the […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Textbooks on Web

Libby Young A NEW Web site is set to help academics and teachers source new teaching material and textbooks from around the world. PubText’s plans could revolutionise academic publishing, giving publishers the chance to market their wares on a global scale and enabling teachers to choose from a much wider variety of books. The PubText […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Black business reaches for the sky

The imminent sale of Sun Air has brought together many black businesses. Stuart Hess looks at who is bidding BLACK economic empowerment is taking to the skies in more ways than one. Four consortiums headed by black businesses comprise half the companies bidding for Sun Air, the next parastatal up for sale. Tenders for the […]

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/ 23 May 1997

IBA chief ‘misled’ public accounts committee

FRIDAY, 3.00PM INDEPENDENT Broadcasting Authority co-chairman Peter de Klerk, who resigned last week in a financial scandal, misled Parliament’s public accounts committee over double claims for expenses on an overseas trip, and may be liable for prosecution for fraud. The auditor general’s report on financial irregularities in the IBA said that on a United States […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Coetzer ready to demolish Graf again

FRIDAY, 11.00AM: AMANDA COETZER is still on a roll at the Women’s Tennis Association Strasbourg Open. She beat Naoko Kijimuta of Japan 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals on Thursday, and will come up against top seed Steffi Graf in the next match. Coetzer demolished Graf at the German Open last week 6-0, 6-1 and has […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Pepsi dumps troubled NAB

FRIDAY, 10.30AM PEPSICO International, which re-entered the SA market amid much fanfare three years ago, has applied for the voluntary liquidation of its local bottler New Age Beverages. The liquidation application has been confirmed by NAB. The company has been experiencing cashflow problems for some time, and had approached the bloc of African-American shareholders who […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Saturation by celluloid

The 50th Cannes film festival was one of the least memorable in years. DEREK MALCOLM loved and loathed the hype, and the line-up of films SYLVESTER STALLONE wished it could go on for ever. Shock-jock Howard Stern said, surveying the scene, “And they think I’m weird!” Most of the rest of us packed up to […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Delay in fuel fund probe

Mungo Soggot THE probe into the state’s oil trading arm, the Strategic Fuel Fund, is now expected to be finished by the middle of next month after hitting some delays. The investigation’s preliminary findings in late March led to the suspension of the fund’s boss, Kobus van Zyl. Don Mkhwanazi, chairman of the Central Energy […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Wild-card union backs Holomisa

FRIDAY, 4.00PM THE Mouthpiece Workers’ Union, which was behind the crippling strike at Anglo American Platinum Mines last year, on Thursday aligned itself with expelled ANC former minister Bantu Holomisa’s National Consultative Forum. On Thursday the union, which has formally applied for registration with the labour department, shared a platform with Holomisa at a Rustenburg […]

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/ 23 May 1997

Expert’s verdict not so rosy

Angella Johnson SIPHO MASEKO, senior lecturer in political science at the University of the Western Cape, was not quite as kind to the opposition parties as they were to themselves – he consistently gave them lower scores for their performance than the scores the parties thought they deserved. But he and the Democratic Party were […]

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/ 23 May 1997

No escape from history

IT is now three weeks since the Mail & Guardian disclosed the horrific details of the report compiled by Zimbabwe’s Truth and Justice Commission on the atrocities in Matabeleland. The only response has come from Robert Mugabe, who denounced those responsible for the report as “mischief- makers” and declared: “If we dig up history then […]

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/ 23 May 1997

The Vartys’ truly happy camp

Fiona Macleod I SPEAK OF AFRICA: THE STORY OF LONDOLOZI GAME RESERVE by Shan Varty and Molly Buchanan (Londolozi Publishers, R300) THE ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDING GUIDE by Jill Ritchie (Papillon Press, R100) WHY would anyone want to pay R300 for the eulogy to the Varty dynasty in I Speak of Africa? Firstly, because the Vartys have […]

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/ 22 May 1997

Museveni tells Kabila not to hurry elections

THURSDAY, 5.00PM UGANDAN President Yoweri Museveni, widely regarded as the key supporter of Laurent Kabila, has advised his protege not to let himself be stampeded into “unrealistic” early elections. Museveni, who has resisted elections in his own country, urged Kabila to first rehabilitate infrastructure, arrest the country’s runaway inflation, and then set up the infrastructure […]

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/ 22 May 1997

SA squashes Aussies

THURSDAY, 11.30AM: SOUTH African seeds Dawn Kaiser and Bryony Joscelyne were both victorious in the women’s section of the Macmed World Masters squash championship in Johannesburg on Wednesday. Kaiser beat Barbara Sanderson of England in the 55-60 division, while Joscelyne did battle with Jenny Clarke of Australia in the 45-49 division, to win 10-8, 6-9,9-10, […]