Staff Reporter

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 […]

When the melon seller stabbed the swimmer … and other tales from Moscow. David Hearst and Steven Downes report DYNAMO Stadium, once the impregnable fortress of teams representing the Soviet Union’s Ministry of the Interior, is today under siege from a multitude of vendors’ stalls. The Metro stop, done up like a Roman temple, still […]

FINE ART: Suzy Bell HER painting is untitled, unsigned and undated. Her subject matter: social realism. Her colours: depressingly dark and dull. So what if Monet said “Colour is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.” Because masters student of Fine Art at the University of Durban-Westville, Patience Ngcobo (22), is quite honestly sick of bright […]

Playwright JONATHAN HARVEY also wrote the screenplay for Beautiful Thing. It’s been called a fantasy, but here he argues that it could be true … PEOPLE think of Beautiful Thing as my first play, when in fact it’s my seventh. But though they’re technically wrong, they are right in a way – it was the […]

Black empowerment suffered a body blow when Transnet high-flyer Sipho Nyawo was fired for abusing his company credit card. Andy Duffy reports MISMANAGEMENT and racism turned what could have been a quiet, early censure into a spectacular, politically embarrassing downfall, say former colleagues of sacked Transnet executive Sipho Nyawo. Little else, they claim, can explain […]

DANCE: Suzy Bell HE recently presented a paper on “Culture in South Africa” to Art International in New York, then nipped across to Scotland to choreograph a Scottish dance theatre company and then leaped across the continent to Vienna to attend a workshop with choreographers from Bulgaria to Japan. He’s Boysie Cekwana, multi-award winning choreographer […]

THE paradox facing the World Food Summit in Rome this week is no less grim for being very familiar. At an aggregate level, the world still has enough to eat. But individual people do not eat around an aggregate table. Many dine in comfort. Others continue to get by. And a large minority (800-million) struggle […]

Stuart Hess SOUTH AFRICA’S first census since the establishment of a fully democratic government looks like it will be a success, say census organisers. An undercount of only 2% is foreseen. With the counting of the nation nearing completion, the preliminary results are expected late in January. The census has not, however, always gone smoothly […]

Homeless communities in KwaZulu-Natal have been locked into land agreements which they don’t understand and can’t possibly afford, reports Ann Eveleth ALPHEUS MNCUBE believes he is a lucky man. Smiling proudly from the corrugated-iron roof of his freshly packed wattle-and-daub house, the railway worker boasts about the fruits of his labour: “This house wasn’t here […]

Winning the Standard Bank Young Artist Award can launch a career. GLYNIS O’HARA talks to the four artists who topped their class THE importance of the 1997 Standard Bank Young Artist Award, announced this week, cannot be over-estimated for the winners. People slogging away at their canvases, writing or music in their back rooms, are […]

The new Springbok management style has been a success on and off the field – so far RUGBY:Andy Capostagno TWO weeks into tour and still no banana skins. There were a few slippery moments in the first Test, but seven tries to two is a fairly emphatic victory in anyone’s language, and no one is […]

Space technology may be vital for the development of Africa, but, asks Koffi Kouakou, will African countries ever be more than consumers of space products? LAST week, delegates gathered at the second United Nations regional conference on space technology for sustainable development to ponder the effective use of space technology for local needs in Africa. […]

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- […]

body Mail & Guardian reporter SEVERAL senior military men, including former Civilian Co-operation Bureau (CCB) operatives, will receive subpoenas in the next three weeks ordering them to appear before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. While most former policemen implicated in “dirty tricks” operations are busy preparing submissions in pursuit of indemnity from prosecution, few members […]

Applause for Chief Justice Michael Corbett may be uneven, but he put in place a progessive approach to public employees’ rights NOW that the tenure of Chief Justice Michael Corbett is drawing to a close, the retrospectives and potted reviews of his incumbency will doubtless come thick and fast in the press. Of course, it […]

Rehana Rossouw DOOR-TO-DOOR campaigning has already started in some Free State towns as African National Congress members rally support for their candidates for the election of new leaders in the forthcoming provincial conference. A drive for new members is also under way to win seats on the regional executive – amid complaints in areas known […]

For many in Goma, Zaire, the arrival of Rwandan rebels means a better life than before, reports Chris McGreal THE first rebel recruiting table was set up outside Goma post office, a building which ceased to serve its original function several years ago when the Zairean government stopped delivering the mail. There were no volunteers […]

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 […]

The Catholic Church is not taking action against those who voted pro-abortion, but Jennifer Ferguson could face expulsion for failing to toe the party line, reports Gaye Davis THE Catholic Church will not be taking action against members of the faith who, as African National Congress MPs, voted in favour of the Choice on Termination […]

The investigation into playboy Paul Ekon’s alleged gold scam deepens. He is also said to have offered the ANC `tiny little guns’, reports Stefaans Brmmer NEW details have emerged of gold syndicate suspect Paul Ekon’s association with African National Congress leaders – including his alleged loan of a handgun to Thabo Mbeki – but ANC […]

Marion Edmunds and Andy Duffy WHILE Minister of Health Nkosazana Zuma is inviting Cuban and German doctors to South Africa to heal the nation, the Department of Home Affairs is refusing to give foreign doctors already in the country permanent residence status. And while Zuma welcomes Cuban doctors with open arms and cigars, other foreign […]

Former Sunday Times editor Ken Owen disputes Kathy O’Dowd’s version of her trip to the top of Everest CATHY O’DOWD’S account of what happened on the sorry expedition to Everest, insofar as it deals with matters within my knowledge, is untrue. She would have done much good for her reputation as a journalist, and a […]

The threatening mood at the latest Pagad press conference held in Cape Town was captured by Rehana Rossouw THE latest onslaught on the media by People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) has been condemned by Minister of Post, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Jay Naidoo as worse than the threats against the media at the height of […]

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 […]

Allegations of political horse-trading have tainted the selection of the new SABC board, reports Jacquie Golding-Duffy THE new South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board members await President Nelson Mandela’s approval before they can take up their seats at the end of the month. But this round of nominees, selected by a parliamentary committee, has raised […]

Plans to restructure many of Gauteng’s hospitals have been delayed following much criticism, reports Andy Duffy THE Gauteng government’s plans to close or downgrade nearly a third of its hospitals have been put on hold, pending further investigation. The provincial health department, which has faced a barrage of criticism, says it is “sympathetic” to calls […]

John de St Jorre in London AN oil painting which has been missing for 400 years and is attributed to the Italian old master, Caravaggio, could fetch up to 10-million at an auction in London next month. The picture is the property of a private owner. The auctioneers, Phillips, originally attributed the picture in their […]

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 […]