Staff Reporter

Gustav Thiel TWICE every Sunday the congregation of the Deo Gloria church gathers in Pretoria to worship. Members of the church prefer not to disclose where they meet, except that it is in another church. They represent many deminations, coming together in the belief that the Bible should be the focus of their worship. What […]

JG Ballard WHAT happened to the Space Age? Its once heroic vision of our planetary future now seems little more than a mirage. Yet in 1957, I remember listening to the radio call-sign of Sputnik 1, relayed on the BBC bulletins, and the sense I had that this was the only news that mattered. As […]

First it was abortion on demand and now it may be death, following the example set by Holland Gustav Thiel THE medical fraternity, still battling with its conscience over the recent advent of legalised abortion in South Africa, will soon have a new medical and ethical dilemma to confront, with the release of proposals to […]

The lineout Steve Tshwete will field in his match with Louis Luyt could include the Receiver of Revenue, reports Stuart Hess SPORTS Minister Steve Tshwete’s special task force will use alleged tax evasion, a charge with criminal implications, as the main thrust of its investigation into rugby supremo Louis Luyt. The Mail & Guardian established […]

The Dolphin Group which has secured huge interests to develop tourism in Mpumalanga is struggling to defend its chief, reports Justin Arenstein THE public relations drive by nature reserve heavyweight Dolphin Group stumbled this week after Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi’s office denied it had issued letters vindicating Dolphin chief Ketan Somaia. The supposed letter […]

Mungo Soggot COLLEAGUES of Professor Sam Nolutshungu, the United States-based academic who turned down the vice-chancellorship at Wits University, say he used the Wits offer to land himself a better job with his current employer. They also say Nolutshungu, who rejected the Wits post at the 11th hour for “health reasons”, is not ill and […]

South Africa’s brain drain Marion Edmunds SKILLED foreigners should be lured to South Africa to fill the gap left by the brain drain, according to research for an influential government task team on immigration. Social scientist Robin Cohen says official statistics have not adequately reflected the exodus of professionals with valuable skills from South Africa, […]

coach CRICKET:Paul Weaver WHEN viewed from a distance, with his chronically arthritic right knee and a hairline that is receding faster than the tide at Timaru beach, it is possible that he has become shrouded in middle age, that quite suddenly he has been mugged by Methuselah. It is only when one gets much closer, […]

FINE ART: Suzy Bell HOW many white middle class males in their 50s living in a retirement village – “where no-one buys art” – are painting berry- brown, sherry-brown bodies to inspire a sensual dialogue in post-apartheid South Africa? Well, Terrence Patrick is one. This artist does not simply yearn for reconciliation but for a […]

As the Australian batting gets better in the run-up to the first Test, the need for more than one of South Africa’s specialist batsmen to make big scores increases CRICKET: Jon Swift THE Austalians will always be this country’s biggest rivals on the cricket field. There is, quite simply, no side the South Africans want […]

Nick Price had his first victory in 15 months last weekend, and he’s hoping it will be the first of many this year GOLF:Jon Swift THERE’S a new lady in Nick Price’s life. A fat one. And she has much to do with the Zimbabwean’s changing fortune in tournament play. The new fat lady is […]

Jacquie Golding-Duffy BROADCAST RESOURCES (BR), the network programming services arm of Primedia Broadcasting, is reassessing its role in the market with rumours persisting that the network may even shut shop. Resources managing director Chris Gibbons this week said the network is “reconfigurating”. BR is operating at a loss and the market it was planning to […]

Rehana Rossouw THE law requiring members of Parliament to declare their assets and financial interests and extra-parliamentary income may be well-meaning but it is nearly impossible to uphold, according to the person responsible for administering the register. Acting registrar of members’ interests, Peter Lilienfeld, said that without funds to hire investigators to check out MPs’ […]

Mature economies are battling to expand rapidly; while this may mean nirvana for some theorists, it could spell hell for Britain’s Labour Party, writes Victor Keegan in London LOOSEN your seat belts, the world is slowing down. According to the latest figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the 15 economies of […]

Stephen Bates in Brussels and Larry Elliott in London FEARS were growing in Brussels, Belgium, this week that Germany’s inability to tackle the costs of its mounting unemployment crisis could scupper the Maastricht timetable and delay the start of monetary union for at least a year. Despite official protestations that the single currency will happen […]

Africa SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi OVERCONFIDENCE will probably be the biggest threat to South African representatives Orlando Pirates, Jomo Cosmos and Bush Bucks when they launch their African club competition campaigns. Pirates have been paired with Rovers of Lesotho in the Champions League, Cosmos tackle Eleven Men in Flight of Swaziland in the Cup-winners Cup and […]

Stefaans Brmmer FLIGHT SA 232 from Johannesburg to London on February 6 1993, two months before Chris Hani was assassinated, had three passengers of note – the South African Communist Party leader himself; right-wing journalist Arthur Kemp, who was later arrested in connection with his murder; and Inkatha Freedom Party militarist Philip Powell. This “coincidence” […]

The struggle for democracy in Swaziland is becoming increasingly violent, reports Ruaridh Nicoll in Mbabane INTERNATIONAL trade union leaders flew out of Swaziland this week threatening to blockade the kingdom unless its monarch, King Mswati III, releases four of their colleagues from prison and reforms the archaic system of government. Four union leaders were jailed […]

GLYNIS O’HARA speaks to the versatile Sibongile Mngoma, a young soprano who is riding the wave of opera in South Africa SUPERLATIVES fly for Sibongile Mngoma (25), the soprano whose voice has overwhelmed critics, conductors and the public. “I think she’s great,” says Robert Maxym, freelance American conductor and musician resident in South Africa. “She’s […]

Charles Krauthammer in Washington IN 1991 in the Dutch city of Assen, a perfectly healthy 50-year-old woman asked her doctor to help her die. Her two sons had died, one by suicide, one by cancer. She wanted to join them. After many hours of consultation, Dr Boudewijn Chabot consented. He was at her side when […]

With market sentiment on its side, now would be a good time for South Africa to act on exchange controls, a USeconomist tells Madeleine Wackernagel THE subject on everybody’s lips at this year’s Socit Gnrale Frankel Pollack investment conference was exchange controls. But the governor of the Reserve Bank wasn’t talking, and neither was the […]

Iden Wetherell in Harare ZIMBABWE’s human rights record has taken a hammering with a United States official report detailing violations ranging from police brutality to interference in the media. The US State Department’s 1996 Country Report on Zimbabwe criticises the government for failing to pursue past allegations of torture and refusing to prosecute police and […]

Grand Prix legend Jackie Stewart is ready to take a back seat in the pursuit of further honours MOTOR RACING:Adam Sweeting IN 1963, Ken Tyrrell received a life- changing phone call. “I was running what was then a Formula Junior team, before the name was changed to Formula Three, so I was always looking for […]

South African companies are under pressure to take a stand on the Swazi strike, reports Max Gebhardt SOUTHAFRICA’S Transport and General Workers Union has vowed to intensify its campaign against South African companies invested in Swaziland as the Swazi general strike moves into its fourth week. The union will meet shop stewards next week to […]

churches While the Constitution promotes human rights, churches refuse to accept gays and lesbians into the South African clergy. Gustav Thiel reports THE religious fraternity is on a collision course with the Constitution over its continued ban on homosexuals. Constitutional and human rights law specialists say the Bill of Rights, formally adopted earlier this month, […]

Marion Edmunds THE government wants to weed out traditional leaders who were placed in their communities by the old apartheid regime. The Department of Constitutional Development is planning an investigation into the background of South Africa’s nearly 800 royals, which would include tracing family trees to try to determine which leaders are legitimate and which […]

TENNIS: Jon Swift IT must be more than satisfying to captain Danie Visser that the 3-1 victory over Russia in the Durban Davis Cup tie was built on the success of the less heralded players rather than on the often overworked talents of Wayne Ferreira. And, in the analysis, only Ferreira came out on the […]

Dow Jones’s share price shows it does not=20 practise the economics preached by its own=20 Wall Street Journal, reports Mark Tran in=20 New York THE Wall Street Journal has waged a=20 relentless campaign for free-market=20 capitalism on its comment pages throughout=20 the years, priding itself for having=20 provided the redoubt for the shock troops=20 of […]

A UN report has revealed mismanagement and breaking of rules by officials at the Rwanda genocide tribunal , writes Chris McGreal A UNITED NATIONS report says the international Rwanda genocide trials have been crippled by chaotic management, underqualified legal staff and indifference at UN headquarters. The UN inspector general, Karl Paschke, said that unless there […]

Iden Wetherell ZIMBABWE’s human rights record has taken a hammering with a United States official report detailing violations ranging from police brutality to interference in the media. The US State Department’s 1996 Country Report on Zimbabwe criticises the Harare government for failing to pursue past allegations of torture and refusing to prosecute police and intelligence […]

Middle-distance runners were dismayed at the samll number of events there were at which they could qualify for the world championships – but help is at hand ATHLETICS: Julian Drew WHEN Athletics South Africa (ASA) suspended all athletics activities in the Boland at the end of January the ramifications of its action hit home far […]

The first stop for Investment South Africa=20 is South-East Asia and interest is strong,=20 Rafiq Bagus tells Madeleine Wackernagel RAFIQ BAGUS’S new job is persuading=20 foreigners to invest in South Africa. No=20 easy task given the fear of crime, but in=20 his previous incarnation at Wesgro, he was=20 instrumental in bringing Levi Strauss to=20 the […]