Staff Reporter

The run-up to the ANC’s provincial conference has spawned new tensions, reports Rehana Rossouw IN another salvo fired at the African National Congress’sleadership, the branch members in the Free State town of Bothaville this week condemned national leaders’ “arrogance” and nominated former premier Terror Lekota for the position of provincial chairman. The ANC’s Bloemfontein branch […]

SABC this week hastily unbanned a Prophets of da City video after it won a prestigious international award.Charl Blignaut reports CAPE Flats hip-hop outfit Prophets of da City scooped the prize for Best Music Video/Clip from Non-Francophone Africa at the prestigious annual Cannes Midem international music awards this week. But, while in France a clip […]

Mungo Soggot SACKED Transnet executive director Sipho Nyawo has launched a legal attack against the parastatal, Public Enterprises Minister Stella Sigcau and the retired judge who presided over an internal inquiry about him. Nyawo was dismissed from his R830 000 job last year after Judge John Trengove found him guilty of 65 charges of credit […]

IT may be that President Nelson Mandela is genuine in his desire to draw other parties into his Cabinet and we should accept at face value his statement that there is a great deal of talent in all parties which can contribute to government. But however benign his motivation, the effect will be malevolent: other […]

Gillian Farquhar DURING the past six months the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA), which consists of 14 committee members and operates on an annual budget of just less than R500 000, has received a total of 130 complaints. Some of these complaints are listed below: Biased reporting: SABC 3 – The Chief, August […]

A TICK that has a toxin in its saliva that can kill animals may also have, in this secretion, a compound that can be used to treat human diseases. The Sandtampan tick, common to the arid regions of the Northern Cape, lives, like most ticks, on the blood of its host. So when it attaches […]

THE extraordinary Cabinet meeting this week in which ministers stood up and applauded a “breakthrough” in Aids research raises intriguing questions about Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma’s approach to the crisis. Still smarting from the R14,2-million Sarafina II debacle, Zuma turned down the scientists’ request for funding from her department late last year, claiming she could […]

Certain TV programmes directed at children have provoked outrage from the public. Gillian Farquhar reports RECENT complaints lodged with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) have once again raised the controversial issue of who or what dictates the parameters of programme content for child viewers. Some of the most serious complaints received by […]

Gustav Thiel FOLLOWING bomb blasts at two homes of people linked to People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) in Cape Town this week, observers warned the organisation was creating an environment in which gangs could flourish. Pagad could end up promoting what it is trying to destroy, warned Don Pinnock, a former University of Cape […]

Julia Grey Measuring the reach of the goggle box HOW do TV broadcasters figure out audience ratings for their programmes? – Laura, Gauteng * SOME theories about how broadcasters measure the number of people watching each programme really tickle the imagination. “The waterboard,” say some. “The sudden surge of water supplied to households during ad […]

plan Mungo Soggot THE SABC has temporarily frozen plans to drop the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) because the corporation’s actions apparently breach key sections of the new Labour Relations Act. Radio chief Govin Reddy admitted this week he had erred in his execution of the decision. He confirmed the SABC had not taken legal advice […]

Squatters at Cape Town’s Waterfront could go to the Constitutional Court to fight their eviction, reports Gustav Thiel NEARLY 300 squatters living next to a proposed new entrance to the upmarket Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town could force the Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of the Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act. According […]

Andy Duffy WITS University is to restart the long and arduous search for a vice-chancellor, following the eleventh hour rejection by its chosen candidate, Sam Nolutshungu. The university’s council met on Thursday to discuss options to fill the gap Nolutshungu left, but campus sources insist there really is only one: to advertise for new applicants, […]

Justin Arenstein DISSENT over the Mpumalanga Parks Board’s (MPB) decision to place its prime nature reserves in the hands of the shadowy Dubai- based Dolphin Group deepened this week with the resignation of one of the provincial parks board’s most influential members. John Hanks, who is also executive director of Worldwide Fund for Nature South […]

THE ANGELLA JOHNSON INTERVIEW IT is hard to imagine Major-General Refiloe Phelile Florence Sedibe (aka Jackie Sedibe and wife of Defence Minister Joe Modise) barking orders to stiff young soldiers. The country’s highest-ranking woman in the military is a shy, softly spoken, grey- haired matron, who looks like she should be at home baking cookies […]

Glynis O’Hara on Abo Babes THREE small, young and shy little women troop into the lounge, throw themselves down on the couch and gaze expectantly at you, volunteering nothing. Well, that’s what happens when you’re 14 and 15, as Mammi Vilankulu and Khumo Mokae are … you defer to the grown-ups. Jeanette Mokhela, though, is […]

Imaginative alternatives are needed to deal with poverty, argues Jeremy Baskin. And he has a particularly bold one to offer UNEMPLOYMENT and poverty are arguably the biggest challenges facing South Africa. And yet there is a startling paucity of ideas on how to tackle them. Certainly there are lots of specific ideas that could make […]

Allegations of insider trading could sour Nissan manufacturer’s delisting from the JSE, writes Max Gebhardt The stormy relations between Automakers and investors entered a new phase this week with accusations that it botched its delisting announcement – opening the door to massive insider trading and heralding an embarrassing official investigation. The share price of the […]

Mark Tran in New York Banc One, one of the United States’s top regional banks, this week vaulted into the top tier of US credit card companies by announcing the acquisition of First USA for $7,5-billion. The deal will make Banc One the third biggest credit card issuer behind Citicorp and MBNA with $33-billion in […]

The officer handling a rape case on Robben Island this week was himself accused of rape six years ago, report Rehana Rossouw and Gustav Thiel The police officer investigating the rape on Robben Island of political activist Nomboniso Gasa this week was himself accused of rape six years ago. Captain Kevin Jones was tried in […]

Angella Johnson REPORTED incidents of rape in Johannesburg went up 64% in the last half of 1996 compared with the previous year, according to police figures which were due to be published this week but have been witheld by National Police Commissioner George Fivaz. The report, which was obtained by the Mail & Guardian, and […]

Gustav Thiel GIANT wine co-operative KWV’s bid to be converted into a company is becoming increasingly controversial as industry stakeholders accuse it of trying to hang on to more than R1,6-billion worth of assets, accumulated during apartheid years. KWV’s members – 4 751 wine farmers – form an exclusive white club with an enormous stake […]

`I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player at 20 have so much’ – Bobby Robson on Barcelona’s boy wonder Ronaldo, who this week was named world player of 1996 SOCCER: Christopher Clarey RONALDO may or may not be the next Pele, Diego Maradona or Marco van Basten. How can anyone know for certain what […]

ATHLETICS: Julian Drew MANY of South Africa’s best middle distance athletes will not be in East London on Saturday when the trials for the world cross country championships take place. Three of South Africa’s four world class women have decided the March world championships in Turin do not feature in their plans for 1997, while […]

Stix Morewa is leaving but it will take a lot more than that to heal the wounds in South African soccer SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi AS South African Football Association (Safa) executive president Solomon “Stix” Morewa prepares to pack his bags and abandon centre stage, he leaves the sport in a sad and sick state. If […]

In which NATHAN ZENO gets to grips with the rarefied world of Cape Town models and their photographers 1. A picture … (in which Nathan tries to understand the reality of being a fashion photographer in South Africa) It’s not so much that the standard of fashion photography in South Africa is bad, it’s just […]

Ann Eveleth ESTCOURT health officials are investigating the circumstances behind the bizarre overnight consignment of large quantities of meat, eggs, milk and other perishable foodstuffs destined for Estcourt Hospital to a local mortuary this week. Regional health services director Thoko Mtshali visited the hospital on Wednesday to open the investigation. She said staff were disgusted […]

Chris McGreal in Kigali THE Zairean government this week finally ordered its much-threatened counter- offensive against Rwandan-backed rebels who have seized swathes of territory in the east. But despite claiming it has Libyan support, there is little evidence that Zaire’s battered and ill-disciplined army is any more able to carry out the directive from the […]

Six-and-a-half years later and R55-million richer, one diamond player has made its fortune, reports Bronwen Jones Foreign investors have given another much needed capital injection into the economy with the purchase of one of South Africa’s 2 500 diamond mining concerns. The Canadian-based, but Bahamas-registered, Becksham Coporation recently acquired Messina Investments for R68,52-million. Becksham has, […]

Zambia’s president is moving from controversy to controversy, reports Anthony Kunda in Lusaka ZAMBIAN President Frederick Chiluba has suspended a distinguished high court Judge, Kabazo Chanda, who has a history of criticising the president and the country’s poor human rights record. Chiluba has refused to disclose reasons for the suspension. According to Article 98 Section […]

Max Gebhardt FEARS are growing that South African Breweries (SAB) may have to offload troubled retail subsidiary OK Bazaars after years spent trying to turn the operation around. The group, whose interests also include beer, windscreens and men’s clothing, attempted this week to scotch growing market speculation that the OK is flying a For Sale […]

South Africa’s specialist batsmen will have to perform more consistently in the tough one-day series and against the competitive Australians CRICKET: Jon Swift TO properly quantify the true shape of a Test match, it is perhaps necessary to examine the best of the batting, how comfortable, confident and collected it manifested itself to be, and […]