The Internet is changing the world’s economy, but does not always benefit those who need it most, writes Victor Keegan in London WE are constantly told how globalisation has shifted the balance of economic power towards multinational corporations at the expense of practically everyone else. Yet in the most exciting area of the world economy […]
Gaye Davis MOVES to convene a summit between the African National Congress and its alliance partners, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), have been given fresh impetus by a call for such a parley from one of the country’s most powerful trade unions. The call – […]
MUSIC: Glynis O’Hara SATURDAY morning it was a case of: Don’t call me, I’m recovering from Senegal’s Baaba Maal. Everyone who attended his show at Mega Music last Friday night deserves a little medal with the citation: “I endured heat, sweat, crushed toes, squashed ribs and conquered claustrophobia – all for my little Baaba.” The […]
Martin Welz has found out who his friends are, writes Rehana Rossouw NOSEWEEK editor Martin Welz was lauded by media institutions this week after successfully defending himself against a defamation action in the Cape Town Supreme Court. But the marathon six-month trial has left Welz disillusioned with the media industry, which he says failed to […]
Mungo Soggot DID the man who killed a reveller at a party thrown by soccer celebrity Doctor Khumalo really study criminology, sociology, psychology and Zulu at the University of Zululand? This was the question that vexed lawyers this week as they debated the sentence to be imposed on Sipho Tshabalala who rocked the cream of […]
LAST week the Mail & Guardian published details of a contract which Athletics South Africa (ASA) attempted to persuade the Olympic 800m silver medallist, Hezekiel Sepeng, to sign. It would perhaps have been naive to expect heads to roll as a result of the disclosures we made. The government’s handling of Sarafina II has not […]
Mail & Guardian Reporter LAWYERS with a bent for gambling might be unhappy to hear that the waiting will not be over after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has publicly interviewed judges Ismail Mahomed and Hennie van Heerden for the post of chief justice. The questioning of the two judges in Cape Town this week […]
Rehana Roussow THE African National Congress’s Western Cape provincial conference last weekend failed to provide a blueprint for victory for the party in the 1999 elections. Delegates who had hoped their organisation’s biennial conference would provide a solution for its inability to attract coloured voters left dissatisfied as not one resolution on the thorny issue […]
After the exposure last week of contracts asking athletes to `rig’ races, attempts were made this week to replace a signed contract with a `clean’ one, writes Julian Drew THE scandal over the “rigging” of races by Athletics South Africa (ASA) escalated this week with allegations that the country’s athletics chief, Bernard Rose, attempted to […]
Chris McGreal in Arusha, Tanzania LUC DE TEMMERMAN’S defence strategy is as brazen as the crime itself. Standing before the first genocide trial since Nuremburg, the Belgian lawyer denied there ever was any slaughter of Rwanda’s Tutsis. And if there was a genocide, then the world has got it all wrong. The real victims were […]
The ANC is making sure more than ever before that its MPs toe the party line. Gaye Davis reports AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS members of Parliament are expressing growing concern with the organisation’s leadership style, citing mismanagement of crises, a consolidation of central authority and a clampdown on internal dissent. The Mail & Guardian has interviewed […]
ART: Hazel Friedman ASK artist John Meyer what his ultimate artistic ambition is and he will answer, unequivocally, “to paint like Velasquez”. As far as this painter of realist landscapes and portraits is concerned, in 300 years nobody has come closer to exuding true power through paint than the Spanish master, painter of the Rokeby […]
Although steps are being taken to curtail illegal liquoe exports and imports, wine producesr are still faced with the problem of excessive excise duties, writes Lynda Loxton HEAVILY taxed at home, South Africa’s wine producers are increasingly concerned about illegal imports and exports of spirits, which could be costing the country about R9- billion a […]
Against a background of pink gins and turbans, cricket in Kenya is gaining in popularity with all population groups CRICKET:Neil Manthorp IT is well known that Africa is a continent as full of contradictions as a pomegranate is of pips, but that does not make the four- nations tournament currently under way in Nairobi any […]
SAILING: Jonathan Spencer Jones THE BY Global Challenge – billed as the world’s toughest yacht race – got off to a fast and furious start in driving rain and high winds in Southampton on Saturday, after some four years of preparation and training. The 30 000-mile race, which will last about 10 months, involves 14 […]
Alex Brummer in Washington WHOLESALE reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) moved a step closer this week as plans were unveiled to give the world financial agency more cash and more power. A British initiative to broaden the IMF mandate, allowing it to police capital flows, won support from financial leaders. Under the new […]
Maurice Hamilton sees pitfalls ahead for Damon Hill in the race to realise his new team’s potential DAMON HILL has taken one or two gambles during his fight to reach the top in Formula One, but the surprising decision to join TWR Arrows is not one of them. Since his future prospects were already in […]
THERE are strong arguments for South Africa’s withdrawal from the arms trade. But – the decision having been made that we cannot afford to shut down the industry – it is difficult to understand the furious objections from some quarters at the proposed sale of weapons to the Rwandan government. Critics who oppose weapons shipments […]
Egypt’s government is torturing the wives of Muslim militants, in an attempt to get at their husbands. Shyam Bhatia reports in Cairo AMAL FAROUK’S screams keep her three children, mother and neighbours awake every night. If she falls asleep, the nightmare returns and she wakes screaming: “No, please, I beg you, keep your hands off […]
This year’s Booker Prize shortlist is one of the least controversial in years, reports ALEXBELLOS THIS year’s Booker Prize judges have fought shy of populism. In London this week they announced a predictable shortlist that includes four previously shortlisted authors. The judges, chaired by Carmen Callil, decided to exclude comedian Ben Elton’s satire on Hollywood […]
NATAL academic Francie Lund thought she was bringing good and bad news when she presented a report in Parliament last week, bearing internationally acclaimed proposals for a new system of child welfare. But the headlines have screamed only the bad: “Shock to single mums”; “Plans to slash child grants”. “I am bemused,” Lund said. “I […]
Marion Edmunds AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS members of Parliament have threatened a parliamentary inquiry into the party’s appointment of consultants if Deloittes and Touche win a R1-million contract for the transformation of the Correctional Services Department. This contract, should it go to Deloittes and Touche, may be the last straw on the camel’s back for many […]
Joshua Amupadhi SEVERAL high schools near Johannesburg are under police guard after 14 pupils died recently in mysterious circumstances. In one incident a week ago, four men allegedly abducted two high school pupils attending funerals at KwaThema graveyard, 50km east of Johannesburg, shot one dead and wounded the other in the chest. But now pupils […]
Anton Katz IN March 1976, Joelito Filartiga was tortured to death by Pena-Irala, the inspector general of police in Asuncion, Paraguay. Filartiga and his family were opposed to the government of Paraguay. His father, Joel, and sister, Dolly, went to the United States and applied for political asylum. Dolly later discovered that Pena- Irala was […]
Much delayed, the new Labour Relations Act could fall flat if a key element, the CCMA, fails to fulfill its brief, reports Max Gebhardt BUSINESS and labour are worried that the new Labour Relations Act (LRA) could trip up before it even gets off the starting blocks on November 11. Its success hinges on whether […]
waste Eddie Koch AN African National Congress senator acting as an official observer in the European Parliament (EP) last week persuaded African and Caribbean countries not to support a resolution from the Green Party demanding that large amounts of toxic mercury waste dumped in KwaZulu-Natal be returned to Europe for disposal there. The Green Party […]
Julian Drew THE row over the Sepeng contract is merely the latest in a series of controversies which have dogged Athletics South Africa (ASA), most of them centring on the chief executive officer of the federation, Bernard Rose. The former athletes’ agent and sales and marketing manager for a sports shoe company was appointed on […]
The IBA favoured new players against the print media giants, writes Jacquie Golding- Duffy THE media industry has taken giant steps to greater diversity with the sale of the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) six regional radio stations. The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) illustrated its commitment to a varied industry when it denied the two […]
Shaun de Waal HAVING frequently been the butt of criticism – especially in these pages – due to the organisation of its categories, the CNALiterary Award has been reorganised. South Africa’s longest-running national literary prize used to have only two categories: English and Afrikaans. Within them, highbrow fiction sometimes fought it out with yachting manuals […]
With Poland an The CzechRepublic as examples, the IMF predicts that Russia has the potential to outstrip European expansion, Alex Brummer in Washington WHEN the countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe – including Russia – finally emerge from the transition to capitalism they could achieve growth levels on a par with much […]
Lynda Loxton BANKS and other financial institutions could soon be expected to play a more active role in cracking down on money laundering in South Africa. Although no hard statistics are available about the extent of the problem, Justice Minister Dullah Omar warned delegates at a conference in Cape Town this week that nobody should […]
THE Athletics South Africa rigging scandal broken by the Mail & Guardian last week was followed up by the rest of the media. Officers of ASA went on radio to defend themselves against the charges. The following are some extracts from the broadcasts: * “I haven’t read the article from this morning.” – Bernard Rose, […]