Staff Reporter

SOCCER:Andrew Muchineripi ALTHOUGH many have probably forgotten, it is the Coca Cola Cup final this weekend. The reason that many forget about this cup is that none of the so-called big guns has ever won the trophy, since its inception in 1992, when it was won by AmaZulu. On Saturday Bush Bucks play QwaQwa Stars […]

Judith Edstrom I WOULD like to address some of the perceptions and misconceptions about the World Bank in South Africa that have surfaced recently, at times with a degree of emotional fervour. First, what is the World Bank and what are we doing in South Africa? The World Bank is a co-operative bank owned by […]

Jan Raath in Harare THE word “august” gets its very meaning from the Law Society’s annual dinner. The legal eagles of Zimbabwe gathered in black tie rectitude last Saturday in the Royal Harare Golf Club, with their wives softening the crispness of the occasion. Imagine Chief Justice Ted Gubbay without his shoulder-length horsehair wig, attorney- […]

Ann Eveleth KWAZULU-NATAL attorney general Tim McNally has again come under fire from the Investigation Task Unit (ITU)probing hit- squads in the province after he declined to prosecute the third hit squad-related case brought before him since the October acquittal of former defence minister Magnus Malan and 19 others. The ITU’s civilian board convenor Howard […]

Nat Zeno `IT’S a buyers market” is the more frequent reply to any question regarding the First Annual Southern African International Film and Television Market, but are there going to be any buyers present? By the time you read this all these and more questions will have been answered. >From November 13 to 17 Longkloof […]

Andy Duffy Transnet has uncovered fraud and theft thought to have been costing subsidiary South African Airways’s (SAA) duty-free operation at least R5-million a year – more than 10% of the operation’s annual sales. The group’s internal audit team paid Johannesburg-based private investigators R470 000 to undertake the six-month investigation into the operation. Its report […]

GOLF: Jon Swift THERE is nothing like the words World Cup to boost the expectations of this nation. South Africa’s success at Ellis Park last year elevated the rugby side to the status of national heroes. The lacklustre 1-0 victory over a jetlagged Zaire in the qualifier for soccer`s premier competition evoked countrywide anger fuelled […]

Andrew Worsdale NODI MURPHY, the ebullient co-director of the Out-In-Africa Bell’s Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, acknowledges that this year’s selection is more mainstream than before. “We’ve learnt our lesson,” she says, downing a robust English breakfast including whisky and espresso at three in the afternoon, “and scaled down the operation. Last year there was […]

The Finance and Fiscal Commission believes it is time the provinces raise their own revenue. Murphy Morobe spoke to Aspasia Karras about the commission’s proposals PROVINCES must start playing a much stronger role in developing their own fiscus if they are to survive as executive entities. That is the message the Financial and Fiscal Commission […]

The justice minister wrote a letter expressing outrage at the way police handled a murder, reports Angella Johnson THE family of an African National Congress (ANC) trainee diplomat killed at the Vaal Dam nearly a year ago, has received a letter of apology from Justice Minister Dullah Omar stating he was “outraged” with the way […]

The National Arts Council candidates have been shortlisted to 18 people. HAZEL FRIEDMAN attended the open hearings this week THE 18 nominees for South Africa’s first National Arts Council have been announced. The list of names, which were chosen after public interviews with 33 shortlisted candidates, has already been submitted to Minister of Arts, Culture, […]

Graham Hopwood in Windhoek THE Namibian government’s failure to release the whole of a report on official corruption has underlined concerns that the authorities here are unwilling to tackle graft within their own ranks. Prime Minister Hage Geingob tabled the final part of the report of the Frank Commission probe into governnment irregularities in Parliament […]

Low costs have attracted investors to Britain, but at the price of quality growth, argues Larry Elliott ONE of comedy’s finest moments is the scene in Fawlty Towers in which Basil flails his broken-down car with the branch from a tree. The year was 1975, the car was British and the moment seemed to sum […]

TELEVISION: Bafana Khumalo SOMETHING new has been happening on Monday evenings on SABC2. I, as a black South African, have been recognising myself on the small screen. It is not exactly my life, but it calls to mind a painting I have seen around me all my life. All this from Gaabo Motho. One has […]

Steve Godfrey THE professional career of Dr Paul Lusaka closely mirrored the recent political history of Southern Africa. A highly respected Zambian, he served variously as a Cabinet minister, plenipotentiary and principal foreign policy adviser to Kenneth Kaunda over three decades. There are few major events over this period with which he was not intimately […]

The presdent’s handling of the leadership issue is an indication that the ANC is asserting the importance of the organisation over the individual.Stefaans Brmmer and Marion Edmunds report PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela’s weekend statement to his party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) was less a reflection on Thabo Mbeki’s chances to be his political heir than a […]

Anthony Kunda and Stefaans Brmmer APPARENTLY faked documents saying that Zambian President Frederick Chiluba’s wife visited South Africa for drugs treatment adds to a litany of irregularities as the Zambian election race enters its final stage. The Mail & Guardian was provided this week with immigration computer printouts, and what appears to be first lady […]

An indaba held by the parks board to discuss the problem of elephants in the Kruger Park ended up being dominated by the needs of neighbouring communities, writes Eddie Koch THE sky on the night of President Nelson Mandela’s inauguration back in May 1994 was moonless and, after watching the song and dance at the […]

Period theme parks, a paddle steamer and a cable car are on the cards for Mpumalanga if an investment with the Dolphin Group gets the go-ahead, writes Justin Arenstein THE international tourism and manufacturing mega-production Dolphin Group, apparently a Saudi Arabia-based corporation, has pledged direct cash investments in excess of R6- billion to the Mpumalanga […]

Palaeontologists have found an 18-million- year-old tooth in Namaqualand, writes Lesley Cowling. Is this proof that Eden extended as far as South Africa? FEW people taking a stroll along a beach would notice this small, white, pebble-like object. A dentist should recognise it as a tooth, says French palaeontologist Dr Brigitte Senut. “And if he […]

Newcomer Facts & Fiction is taking on the industry giant with a formal application to the Competition Board over claims of unfair practices, writes Max Gebhardt THE on-going row between book giant CNA Gallo and the newcomer to the industry, Facts & Fiction, is set to flare up again, with the news that Facts & […]

The Caprivi commander who exposed Inkatha hit squads is angry he wasn’t called as a witness in the trial of Magnus Malan, report Mehlo Mvelase and Ann Eveleth THE man who lifted the veil of secrecy once shrouding Inkatha Freedom Party-aligned hit- squads in KwaZulu-Natal launched a scathing attack this week on the prosecuting team […]

M&G Reporter A fuss this week over a personal secretary to Nelson Mandela who posed for Hustler magazine offers an alternative explanation for the decline of South Africa’s porn industry: that the smut merchants don’t recognise a golden opportunity. Lilian Arrison, a secretary at the president’s official Cape Town residence, submitted her portrait to the […]

THEATRE: Andrew Wilson NEED relief from mind-dulling television? Take a dose of Death-Defying Acts on at Johannesburg’s Civic Theatre until December 21 – three brilliant, hilarious and incisive one-act playlets by David Mamet, Woody Allen and Elaine May. They are thematically interwoven glimpses of urban America, all employing sparkling dialogue to parody and penetrate the […]

Joshua Amupadhi SECONDARY schools in KwaThema, east of Johannesburg, came to a standstill this week when a small group of pupils stopped 10 000 others from writing exams. Pupils were later bused to secret venues to complete their examinations. The police and army presence at schools, there since August, has also been beefed up. The […]

Angella Johnson DURING winter months the joints in Percy Stellenberg’s jaw become stiff and sore as if in need of oiling. Come summer time the right side of his face is distorted by massive swelling, and pain continues to be a feature of his daily life. In any season his sense of smell is confused […]

THIRTY five elephant in the Kruger Park have been darted from the air with sedatives, checked with an ultra-sound machine to ensure they are not pregnant, and given a hefty dose of the pachyderm pill in a novel experiment designed to test whether animal contraception can minimise the need for culling the Kruger National Park’s […]

Anne Eveleth DEPARTMENT of Land Affairs labour tenant rights facilitator Busani Ngubane says many labour tenant eviction cases are complicated by the involvement of a plethora of unions and organisations operating in the Vryheid area. “Some of these unions charge people money just to introduce them to a lawyer. Others get people to sign contracts […]

THREE weeks ago the Mail & Guardian attempted to provoke public debate with a front page editorial advocating the introduction of something along the lines of the United States primary elections to choose a successor to Nelson Mandela as leader of the African National Congress and – by implication – president of South Africa. The […]

Hazel Friedman YUCK. Urgh. Gross. The Pits! These are some of the four-letter responses usually evoked by the following question: “What is your opinion of the giant statue of gold miner George Harrison towering over the Bruma- Eastgate intersection?” And these responses were elicited prior to the sudden appearance (outgrowth might be a better term) […]

Andrew Worsdale in Amiens VETERAN South African cineaste Lionel Nqakane was awarded a Medal of Honour on Monday by the mayor of Amiens, France at the 16th International Film Festival. The award was also given to celebrated Japanese actor Ken Ogata (the star of the films of Shohei Imamura, who’s enjoying a retrospective at the […]

Madeleine Wackernagel BRITISH AEROSPACE (BAe), a front runner in the bidding to replace the ageing Impala trainers, is taking a 20% stake in Advanced Technologies & Engineering (ATE), which supplies the integrated avionics systems for the South African Air Force’s Pilatus “Astra” trainer and the Rooivalk attack helicopter. The value of the shareholding was not […]