Marion Edmunds A South African-born doctor — a specialist anaethetist — has had his citizenship cancelled by the Home Affairs Department while he was out of the country. The anaethetist, who has been living and working in Canada for the last six years and does not want to be named, said he discovered he and […]
LIKE prospectors heading out into the wild west in search of wealth beyond their wildest dreams, Andrew Sweetnam and Fanie Pelser left South Africa in February to investigate mining opportunities in Angola. They have not been seen again. In March, Namibian advocate Jan Malan left on a similar expedition and disappeared just as mysteriously. Malan […]
South Africans wanting to bring home people they’ve married overseas or intend to marry at home have to fork out R6 000, reports Marion Edmunds The Department of Home Affairs is making 28-year-old Mitch Yuill pay for his love — it is costing him more than R6 000 to bring his British-born bride into the […]
SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi SOUTH AFRICA staged the Rugby World Cup last year, the leading cricket nations will gather here in 2003 to battle for supremacy and Cape Town wants to host the Olympic Games one year later. Football has also got in on the act to a lesser extent, successfully staging the 1996 African Nations’ […]
TML’s charter has been criticised — again. This time by the union which objects to the presentation and timing of the draft. Jacquie Golding-Duffy reports The South African Union of Journalists (SAUJ) is recommending that its members disregard Times Media Limited’s (TML) charter and start the entire process from scratch. SAUJ vice-president for Gauteng and […]
TO art dealer Warren Siebrits, the name of his new exhibition space, Gallerie Metroplex, is a bad pun. It’s “gallerie” in the European sense because it’s situated between two trendy shopping centres in Rosebank, Johannesburg — home to the generally well-off, consumer-friendly folk Siebrits refers to in passing as “transplanted Europeans in BMWs”. But it’s […]
Mungo Soggot CLAIMS that the Mossgas sale was an expensive botch were bolstered this week after it emerged that yet another consultancy was hired by the government at the last minute to help massage the process. Officials have confirmed that British consultancy Chem Systems was recruited to evaluate bids for the troubled project in the […]
Justin Pearce MPUMALANGA launched its provincial gaming board on Wednesday, putting itself months ahead of the other provinces. The result is Mpumalanga expects to issue its first casino licences by March next year, says Andre Wilsenach, the board’s chief executive. Most other provinces are talking of issuing licences in the first half of next year, […]
Rehana Rossouw A group of Cape Town hikers are outraged by a local farmer’s wife who refused to help them after they were forced to abandon a hike on the snow-capped Overberg mountain range two weeks ago. The party of 17 had slept overnight in a hut owned by the Burger family of the farm […]
Judith Watt THE Grande Arche de la Defense is not a practical venue for a fashion show, but anything is possible during the Paris shows — and last Friday Belgian designer Dirk Bikkembergs presented his 1997 menswear collection there. As about 20 briefly clad male models marched on like automata, the final boot was given […]
Ann Eveleth Minority Front leader Amichand Rajbansi has called for punitive legislation to prevent Inkatha’s KwaZulu-Natal finance MEC Senzele Mhlungu’s gambling interests benefiting from provincial legislation drafted by his department. Mhlungu’s recent announcement that he would quit his post in late August coincided with the adoption of provincial gaming legislation to end the mushrooming of […]
Jack Schofield in London Once, the easiest way to put news on the radio was to get someone to read it from a newspaper. The easiest way to put it on television was to film a radio newsreader. That’s not how things work today, except on the World Wide Web, where the standard approach is […]
Victoria Brittain and Larry Elliott THE wealth of the world’s 358 billionaires is greater than the combined annual incomes of nearly half the world’s people, according to a United Nations report highlighting the growing gulf between rich and poor countries. Warning that the disparity threatens an instability that can only be tackled by a new […]
They came, they tried, they failed. To win at the Games means glory, yet those who muck it up in style deserve a mention too, writes Pete Nichols Thipsamay Chantaphone: Chantaphone celebrated his 19th birthday by competing in the 20km walk at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The Laotian came last, half an hour behind the […]
civil war’ Chris McGreal in Dar es Salaam THE former Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere has said that East African troops will, if necessary, invade Burundi in an attempt to pacify the escalating civil war and halt ethnic massacres. Nyerere, the elder statesman mediator between the Tutsi-controlled government and Hutu rebels, said Burundi’s leaders will not […]
Stefaans BrUmmer and Marion Edmunds THE auditor who “exposed” mismanagement of R7,8- million by the former leadership of the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) is an old contact of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela — and was embroiled in the controversy surrounding Hazel Crane’s failed “gift” of a luxury Cape Town house to Madikizela-Mandela. ANC spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa this […]
Housing delivery may finally be on the increase, but there is still a long way to go to meet promises made, reports tebello Radebe Pieces in the housing jigsaw puzzle are falling into place. An upbeat Housing Minister Sankie Mahanyele last week announced that housing delivery is on the increase. “Major differences of the past […]
Eddie Koch Dirk Coetzee, the police hitman who first exposed the existence of death squads in the police, will not receive legal assistance from the government when he is arrested on Friday this week for the 1981 murder of human rights lawyer Griffiths Mxenge. The decision not to pay Coetzee’s legal costs, even though he […]
It was business as usual at Brixton Murder and Robbery police unit this week. Despite the loss of its controversial commander Charlie Landman — suspended on corruption charges — the country’s most effective investigative police squad was soldiering on. “But without our chief, it is like taking the engine out of a car and replacing […]
Justin Pearce Tensions between Free State Premier Patrick “Terror” Lekota and provincial ANC members are not over yet. A new storm is brewing which will see provincial MPs’ loyalty to the premier tested in a vote in the Free State legislature. This follows the suspension of five senior officials from the province’s Department of Trade […]
Duncan Mackay discovers a computer link to the tangled web of dope trafficking in sport THE Olympic athlete sat in front of his personal computer and dialled a telephone number on his modem. Within seconds, he was connected to an Internet site that offered him the most sophisticated drugs on the market. “Dear Friend and […]
Gareth Patterson The Mail & Guardian last week published a story about 11 lions in a forgotten Ethiopian zoo that experts believe may be related to either of two extinct African subspecies — the Cape lion of Southern Africa or the Barbary lion of North Africa. The lions are descendants of a group kept by […]
Thabo Mbeki meets monthly with a council of advisers. Marion Edmunds names the members of this exclusive group DEPUTY PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki has set up a secretive, 24-strong think-tank called the Consultative Council to give him political advice. All members of the group — which appears to have no constitutional or administrative status despite its […]
Local is lekker for casino operators as they concentrate on making their money in the cities, writes Justin Pearce FORGET the tourists — it’s local money we’re after. That’s the prevailing view among prospective casino operators, with the result that no one is going to try and build another Sun City. A report by consultants […]
South Africa’s involvement in humanitarian assistance in Africa is still under discussion, reports Stefaans BrUmmer THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs this week gave mixed signals whether South Africa would consider contributing troops to a multi-national peace force for Burundi. Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad appeared to contradict President Nelson Mandela this week when he told […]
Angella Johnson He is one of the country’s most wanted criminals. Prime candidate for Police Commissioner George Fivaz’s hit list of serious offenders to be rounded up. A fugitive being sought for extradition to Britain on murder charges. But today Glen Chait (44) is a free man (albeit still on the run) following a remarkable […]
Everybody wants Keanu Reeves. But is it a case of great body, shame about the brain? ADAM SWEETING investigated while Reeves was in London with his rock group, Dogstar NOT even Keanu Reeves’s best friends think his rock group, Dogstar, is much good, but that hasn’t hindered it. It has been the support band for […]
Justin Pearce SUN International is likely to end up with the lion’s share of South African gambling licences despite being forced to cut back operations in some provinces. Southern Sun, a company once closely associated with Sun International, is also expected to be a major player, and a third operator is headed by a former […]
To justify all the plaudits, Ernie Els needs to win a second major — and this week’s British Open would do just fine GOLF: David Davies ERNIE ELS was standing on the practice putting green at the Augusta National Golf Club last April when he heard a familiar, high-pitched voice call over to him. “Hey, […]
Experts believe 11 lions found in a forgotten Ethiopian zoo may be related to two African subspecies wiped out by colonists. Eddie Koch reports Ever wondered why the beast roaring out of the screen at the start of every MG M movie doesn’t really look like the cats you see in the Kruger National Park? […]
THERE’S a lot to be said for slouching over a barstool, alcohol seeping through every crack and recording otherwise unrepeatable gems of wit and wisdom (yours and anyone else’s within slurring distance). That’s how Chris McEvoy has put together his material for Hollow, a searingly funny stand-up comic routine on the relationship between life and […]
A barrister berates Shell in front of village elders. It’s music to the ears o f the military, writes Patrick Donovan GIVE him a wig and black silk gown, and Napolean Agbedetse could have walked b ack into the south London courtrooms where he used to practise as a barrister. He is on the bank […]