Staff Reporter

As the fight for the commercial TV licence heats ‘up, bidders are closing their doors to the press. ‘Gillian Farquhar and Jacquie Golding-Duffy report Bids have already begun for the commercial television licence to be awarded by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), but most contenders are shrouding their plans in secrecy as the race heats […]

Would court action to prevent the recent tax amnesty ‘succeed? Our legal columnist thinks not The government has again extended its tax amnesty to non-payers. In essence, this is an invitation to people who have not paid tax, for various lengths of time and often ever, to come forward and put themselves inside the taxation […]

BAFANA KHUMALO spoke to Dawn Mpati, one of the new faces and voices in continuity on SABC2 in 1997 There used to be a time in this country when being on television meant celebrity. Continuity presenters would also appear in newspaper features full of inane details about their lives. That was when the television test […]

Your front-page headline ‘Top firms in huge medical aid scam’ (December 13 to 19) is not really news. The whole medical aid business is one huge scam. Why should anyone be forced to help pay for the sleeping-pill and Prozac addictions of others? And why should anyone have to pay for the consequences of the […]

A unique project has ‘saved a little girl from a lifetime in hospital, reports Marion Edmunds The evil has for once been taken out of Ondine’s Curse, thanks to a determined mother and the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. They have saved a ‘cursed’ toddler from life in a hospital ward. On Wednesday, […]

Iden Wetherell in Harare Despite growing demands in Zimbabwe for political reform, President Robert Mugabe has declared that his ruling Zanu-PF party will continue to take precedence over Parliament as far as governing the country goes. Mugabe slapped down members of Parliament who had been calling for change ahead of last weekend’s Zanu-PF conference held […]

This will have to be a hurried letter. Some people can begin relaxing at this time of the year, but not the president of the republic. First of all it was the Free State, which I thought I had sorted out until Friday morning when Ivy came banging on my door, sobbing and wailing that […]

Archbischop Desmond Tutu, as chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is recently reported to have issued a decree to commission members to act impartially. Among the commissioners who are reported to have been cautioned are Denzil Potgieter and Khoza Menojo. Ironically neither of these commissioners were nominated by interested parties according to nomination procedures […]

Almost a quarter of a ‘million rand intended for ‘the poor was allegedly diverted by Allan Boesak. ‘Stefaans Br’mmer and Rehana Rossouw report AMONG the 30-odd charges faced by former African National Congress Cape leader Allan Boesak when he appears in court next year is that his foundation misappropriated a donation of almost a quarter […]

Ann Eveleth The special amnesty mooted for KwaZulu-Natal may help African National Congress chairman Jacob Zuma’s bid for the party’s deputy presidency, but the idea is still highly controversial within ANC ranks. ANC leaders say details of the proposal to grant a special amnesty to KwaZulu-Natal’s warlords has not been discussed by either the party’s […]

Marion Edmunds NATIONAL Public Service Commissioners are hoping to claim hundreds of thousands of rands of financial compensation for early retirement next year, even if they continue to work in the public service. Forty-four public service commissioners – appointed after 1994 in terms of the interim Constitution – will have to retire early from their […]

THE shortcomings of the media have been much commented upon by President Nelson Mandela this year, most memorably when he criticised our fraternity for failing to solve the country’s political crimes. Last weekend he further compounded our sense of collective inadequacy by denouncing the press for failing to use “scientific analysis” – a shortcoming which […]

THEATRE: Sifiso Maseko AT its best Booksy, Cooksy, Doopsy at the Windybrow Theatre in Johannesburg is an elaborate orgy of uncomfortable orgasms. Few plays can claim to revolt our sense of dignity and ideals, yet find our sympathy. The comedy that recently won the Windybrow’s annual community arts festival, it is set somewhere within the […]

Bafana Khumalo ONE of the most enduring images I have of Hugh Masekela is that of stocky man surrounded by a band, hand raised and confronting an audience of rowdy revellers who would rather be sitting at a shebeen regaling each other with stories of sexual conquest than listening to jazz music. This would sometimes […]

A retrospective of Jrgen Schadeberg’s work over the last 40 years confirms his enduring photographic eye. HAZEL FRIEDMAN spoke to him IT takes a strange kind of eye to be able to see life constantly through a lens — a kind of nomadic outsider-looking-inside perspective and a remarkable degree of detached curiosity. Not to mention […]

The Constitution was signed this week at Sharpeville. Guest writer Pippa Green takes a look behind the scenes THERE is a moment in the making of the Constitution when Sheila Camerer of the National Party asks, “What are universally accepted fundamental rights? Perhaps we need a workshop to discuss them?” It is a moment way […]

Stefaans Brmmer STRICT vegetarians beware – fish ingredients, although filtered out, may well be used in the brewing of your favourite beer. The “war” between South African Breweries (SAB), the largest player in the South African beer market, and the Windhoek-based Namibia Breweries, probably SAB’s most serious contender, escalated this week with SAB conceding that […]

revamp Andy Duffy THE Gauteng provincial government is to revamp its maternity services – a move which could lead to the closure of poorly supported units in Soweto. The plans, to kick in next year, include attaching new maternity facilities to overloaded hospitals and, according to department sources, closing some of the 20 existing outlying […]

ART: Suzy Bell THE entire Victorian and Foreign collection should be sold,” said Andrew Verster with panache. “What?” shrieked the British Empire, “Has the man gone quite mad?” Certainly not. But have you walked into The “Pink Victorian Room” or “The Circular Gallery” lately? It reeks of colonialism — and we’re not just talking about […]

There are plenty of surprises at the top of the Premier League table with only Kaizer Chiefs representing the big names SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi WHEN the Castle Premiership kicked off last August, traditional giants Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Sundowns were expected to lead the chase for a record R500 000 first prize. As the […]

Mail & Guardian Reporters FRANOIS PIENAAR’S agent, Zimbabwean businessman John Bredenkamp, has dismissed as “lies” the allegations that he was a top arms dealer. Bredenkamp said the Mail & Guardian in its article last week had repeated “lies” aired by Britain’s Channel 4, which broadcast a programme two years ago claiming he had conducted a […]

Chris Dunton THESE THINGS HAPPEN by Shaun de Waal (Ad Donker, R59,95) AT over 200 pages, this is a generous collection a dozen stories, one of them, “Dave”, a wonderfully sustained piece, taking up a quarter of the book. All but four of the stories are on gay life, one way or another even so, […]

Jacquie Golding-Duffy scrutinises the credentials of the newly appointed South African Broadcasting Corporation board members THE appointment of members to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board has been finalised, with President Nelson Mandela rubberstamping 16 of the 21 names submitted. But only five of the successful candidates seem to have specialist media experience, while […]

Contenders for Gauteng’s only medium wave licence are eagerly awaiting the IBA’s decision, reports Jacquie Golding-Duffy THE Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) faces a tough decision as the time draws near for it to award the single medium wave (MW) licence up for grabs in Gauteng. According to an IBA representative, the licence for Gauteng will […]

A secret memorandum reveals details of Project Natural, the latest weapon in the beer battle, reports Stefaans Brmmer A LEAKED internal memorandum shows how brewing giant South African Breweries (SAB) went on a near-war footing – in a multi- million rand campaign dubbed “Project Natural” – which enforces a company line on its products in […]

Tic Tic Bang has shown that there is room for competition in the local music industry. Glynis O’Hara reports TWO idealistic young men, who loved what South Africans might call alternatief (alternative) music, have proven that being big in the distribution business is not necessarily better. Anybody who knows anything about the music industry will […]

Joshua Amupadhi and Jacquie Golding-Duffy UNIVERSITIES and technikons discovered this week just how harshly the government has slashed their funding for 1997, with a string of institutions facing severe and damaging cutbacks. Universities including Wits, Pretoria, Natal, Transkei, Rhodes and the Orange Free State complained their government funding has been cut to “even much lower […]

POP & ROCK CDs: Shaun de Waal CHRISTMAS looms, and thus it is the time of the greatest hits compilation. There are various straightforward collections — Simply Red, Fine Young Cannibals, Van Halen, Queen, Roy Orbison, even Boney M — and then there are variations on the theme. Rod Stewart, for instance, has followed the […]

The new student leader aims to introduce a code of conduct that will clean up campuses, reports Joshua Amupadhi THE new president of South Africa’s leading student body is determined to end the widespread perception of his organisation as a trasher of campuses. Andile Sihlahla, elected last week to lead the South African Students’ Congress […]

We have a lift-off – of a multitude of satellites and enormous profits. Adam Sweeting looks at the amazing growth of the space business THE Apollo programme is history now, and Neil Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind” seems about as newsworthy as the Gettysburg Address, but there is still a mystique about Cape Canaveral, like […]

Mail & Guardian Reporter PX, Transnet’s loss-making container shipment and consignment distribution unit, is on the road to recovery after the unions endorsed a restructuring plan, says Thabang Motsohi, deputy chief executive. The strategy, which involves closing 34 mini-depots, will see the company break even in the1998 financial year – after making a loss of […]

Mail & Guardian Reporter IT appears some unusually colourful curricula vitae have been thrown at the Judicial Services Commission which is selecting new permanent judges in Cape Town this week. In his enthusiasm for a seat on the Bench, one of the applicants, Solly Sithole of the University of the North, apparently flagged some of […]