THE ANGELLA JOHNSON INTERVIEW MEET Gilbert Magabotse, a South African sporting hero. His face may not be as familiar to you as that of Olympic marathon gold medallist Josiah Thugwane, and he has not been invited to tea with Nelson Mandela, but here is the country’s latest world champion. The reason you might not have […]
The hard men chosen for the Lions squad arrive on Sunday, and the Springboks are looking particularly vulnerable at the moment RUGBY:Steve Morris THERE must surely be the realisation that, as was the case when this country was first re-admitted to the international arena five years ago, our rugby has again suffered the type of […]
THE response to the publication of Washington Post correspondent Keith Richburg’s book Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa, which provides a dramatic depiction of the suffering and brutality of our continent, has been heated and acrimonious. Though this extract first appeared in the Post two years ago, the fury of the debate has […]
The women played some strokes of genius but there were not many spectactors to witness them GOLF:Mark Lamport-Stokes LAST week’s South African women’s amateur golf championships at Killarney Golf Club highlighted two factors: this country possesses women golfers of a high quality but the sport still struggles to attract the galleries. Immaculate Killarney in Johannesburg […]
FRIDAY, 11.00AM MORE than half the sample in an informal email survey of South African emigrants to the United States said their quality of life and prospects had improved in the US. The survey, using a random sample of subscribers to Juluka, a newsletter for expatriates, found 80% had reported incomes above the median for […]
Researchers can’t agree on whether we are sleep-deprived, writes Jay Rayner from London, but the evidence suggests that few of us get enough IN their recent paper We are chronically sleep deprived, doctors Michael Bonnet and Donna Arand from Dayton, Ohio, produced facts and figures to support their title. They found that 50% of college […]
Julie Barker AT Western Platinum Mine in Mooi Nooi, near the Magaliesberg, a group of mine employees is rehearsing a play. They are putting the final touches on Shortcuts. The group is called Thuto ke Lesedi, which means Education is Light. Formed just over a year ago, Thuto ke Lesedi has, with the help of […]
South Africa’s economic revolution is under way and trade unions are leading the charge, writes Eddie Koch WHAT began as a silent coup, hatched in the corporate boardrooms of Main Street, Johannesburg, and Sandton, has burgeoned into one of the most radical transformations since the 1994 elections. At stake is the very nature of South […]
Anticipating International Museums Day on Sunday May 18, STEPHEN GRAY visits the African Window THE new African Window – part of a developing belt or mall of museums in downtown Pretoria – is the first suitable home there has ever been for that city’s vast Museum of Culture. Six exhibit spaces are already up, in […]
Despite a drop in import duties, do not expect to see a decrease in the price of CDs, writes Glynis O’Hara IMPORT duties have dropped significantly since the Budget, but most CD retailers don’t intend to pass the saving on to consumers just yet. Customs and Excise in Pretoria says import duties have been reduced […]
After decades on the mines, a Mozambican man has been offered R1 777,54 for long service. He is one of thousands left without old-age security, writes Ferial Haffajee FORTY-EIGHT years ago, Andre Muianga joined the throng of Mozambican men leaving their homes in Xai-Xai to work in South Africa’s booming gold mines. On January 20 […]
Gavin Lewis IT’S easy to be cynical about the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). The programme has not been helped by the rhetorical overload that accompanied its launch, unrealistic targets accompanied by impossible deadlines and the spectacle of many “opinion-makers”, particularly in business and the media (with some honourable exceptions), jumping on and off the […]
Another year, another Bandslam, another phase in the South African rock revival, another review from MALU VAN LEEUWEN … ANOTHER Bandslam. Another five bands, another 1300 people, another six hours of exchanging sweat, smoke and beery conversation. Having your feet crunched by Arno Carstens as he pogos on your boots. Having to shout your bar […]
FRIDAY, 5.00PM SWAZILAND’S government has ‘suspended” the country’s Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU), using the pretext that it failed to submit its financial returns on time, officials said today (Friday). The government of King Mswati II has been in dispute with the unions all year, over union demands for a democratic society. A month-long national […]
Millions of people camped in informal settlements are transforming the country’s industrial heartland. Mungo Soggot and Tangeni Amupadhi report on the urban time bomb THEY often strike in the early hours of a cold winter’s morning. Groups of men armed with bags of chalk and a flag assemble on empty land. They mark out plots […]
Marion Edmunds `I WANT my rape courts,” bellowed the exasperated attorney general of the Western Cape, Frank Kahn, down the phone line this week. “We’ve been waiting for four years and nothing has been done.” Earlier this week, Kahn hit out at the Department of Justice in his annual report tabled in Parliament for its […]
THURSDAY, 10.30AM: The older hands have been left out of the Gauteng Lions team to face the Natal Sharks in the Super 12 match on Saturday night. After a trail of injuries claimed the Springboks on the team, young players have been put in the side to face Natal. “We decided it would be better […]
THURSDAY, 10.00AM: BAFANA BAFANA will lose some key stars for the friendly against England at Old Trafford on May 24, becuse the Premier Soccer League title race interferes with the international. Bafana Bafana will have no members from the top two teams in the Premier League, Kaizer Chiefs and Manning Rangers, who have pulled their […]
THURSDAY, 11.00AM ALTHOUGH a country’s airspace is sovereign, organisations are looking into ways to improve air safety over Africa, according to Transport Minister Mac Maharaj. Under consideration is a meeting convened by SAA of all airlines flying north-south routes over Africa, in which each airline would “adopt” a country whose procedures were suspect, “taking responsiblity […]
SUTTNER IN SWEDEN RAYMOND SUTTNER, chairman of parliament’s foriegn affairs committee and a vociferious proponent of an “ethical” foreign policy, has been appointed ambassador to Sweden. Sheila Sisulu, director of World Wide Africa Investment Holdings, has been appointed consul general to New York. ZIM BANS LANDMINES ZIMBABWE announced a ban on the sale and use […]
FRIDAY, 8.00AM NELSON MANDELA has sent President Mobutu Sese Seko a proposal that he hand over power to a transitional authority, and given him until Monday to respond. Mandela said he was confident of a resolution of the Zaire war, after two hours of talks with rebel leader Laurent Kabila in Cape Town. Neither Kabila […]
THURSDAY, 4.00PM: TWO pupils have lodged assault charges after being injured in racial clashes at Elandspoort High School in Pretoria West (see below). Police are investigating attacks on a white boy, Chris Janse van Rensburg, and a black girl, Gina Mokabe — Van Rensburg’s nose was broken and Mokabe’s ear was torn after she was […]
THURSDAY, 8.30AM MINING HOUSE Gold Fields SA announced last night that it is in talks with black empowerment group New Africa Investment Limited, backed by Rembrandt, to buy 34% control of the company, split equally between them. The complex deal, which also involves the related company Driefontein Consolidated, is expected to take several months. Goldfields […]
THURSDAY, 12.00NOON: WESTERN Province triumphed in the Nite Series rugby final against Boland, when they won 36-25 at Newlands in Cape Town on Wednesday night. Province led 19-10 at half time, and then kept the lead despite a concerted effort by Boland in the second half. Province had five tries from Pieter Rossouw, Robbie Fleck, […]
Coetzee was the first security policeman to publicly confess and recant for his crimes.
THURSDAY, 4.00PM MPUMALANGA safety and security MEC Steve Mabona finally appeared before the Moldenhauer Commission into fake drivers licences, quoting biblical phrases and insisting that the special treatment given to parliamentary Deputy Speaker Baleka Mbete-Kgositsile was reasonable. Mabona, who failed to appear last week due to “stress”, said the deputy speaker deserved to be transported […]
THURSDAY, 8.30AM THE European Investment Bank yesterday gave South Africa a soft loan of R2 billion to finance infrastructure: and the European Union announced that it will provide another R2 billion in grants over the next three years to development projects. The Investment Bank money will be released in parcels over three years to finance […]
WEDNESDAY, 3.00PM SOME 1 200 soldiers were on standby during the 1994 Zulu march on Johannesburg, but police chose not to use them because soldiers are trained to fight, not to control crowds. Police Senior-Superintendent Kobus Peche told the Shell House inquest in Johannesburg on Wednesday, “Soldiers use live ammunition and not rubber bullets and […]
WEDNESDAY, 3.00PM ZAMBIA has switched sides on the ivory trade ban, announcing that it will support the continued ban to prevent opening the “floodgates of senseless elephant slaughter”. For the past eight years, Zambia has urged a lifting of the ban, along with Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana, which are all vociferous proponents of a renewed […]
TUESDAY, 8.30AM THE European Union will today launch an information technology programme designed to encourage partnerships between European and South African technology businesses, to draw university expertise into business and to assist small technology businesses. Called Esprit, the programme provides EU money to fund European members participating in joint projects. BUSINESS BRIEFS SA FINANCIAL OVERVIEW […]
WEDNESDAY, 9.30AM: INJURY has taken its toll on the Northern Transvaal side, facing a key Super 12 match against Free State at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night. Scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen will stand in as captain in place of Ruben Kruger, and Jannie Brooks will replace Adriaan Richter, who was injured at last weekend’s […]
WEDNESDAY, 9.00AM: UNITED Cricket Board MD Ali Bacher announced yesterday the UCB will donate 20% of all ticket sales last summer to disadvantaged sports. The sum, over R4-million, will be divided between the board’s development programme, the Sports Trust, and towards improving cricket facillities in disadvantaged areas. Bacher said over a million people had bought […]