Graham Hopwood THE managing director of Namibia’s most controversial parastatal has been sacked by the TransNamib board of directors. The board issued a statement saying that Francois Uys was retiring from TransNamib at the end of April by mutual agreement. Speculation is rife that Uys was given a package of nearly N$3-million in exchange for […]
Nervous citizens may worry that the enshrining of the right to silence in the Constitution will encourage crime. Is this true? THE right to silence accorded to people accused of criminal offences is deeply rooted in our law, and dates back about 300 years in Anglo-American legal systems. It means that no person can be […]
Norman Kempster AT least three Liberian gunmen were killed by Marine guards this week when they tried to invade the US Embassy compound. Monrovia was swept by factional fighting and lawlessness after the breakdown of a 10-day- old cease-fire. The Pentagon said unidentified Liberian assailants fired on the embassy on three occasions, drawing return fire […]
The SABC is considering commissioning a business programme from Times Media Limited. Is this a poor reflection of the broadcaster’s own economics desk? Jacquie Golding-Duffy reports The SABC, with no immediate plans to develop its own business show, is considering commissioning a new business programme from Times Media Limited (TML), whose Business Day Tonight contract […]
Chris McGreal attends the bizarre trial of two Russian pilots in Kinshasa THE judge rattled his bell in a vain attempt to restore order in the crowded Kinshasa courtroom. But most eyes were on the Zairean television reporter who had marched to the bench and fired off the question on many lips. “Everybody knows these […]
Moyiga Nduru A banana war between two of Somalia’s main warlords is under way over the control of the lucrative banana export trade. The forces of General Mohamed Farah Aideed, the self-proclaimed president of Somalia, are pitted against the militiamen of his former financier, Ali Hassan Osman “Atto”. Aideed needs the revenues, estimated at around […]
A decision by curators will allow indigenous people to claim back body parts of ancestors which have been kept at museums, writes Eddie Koch A CONFERENCE of South African museum curators last week resolved to back demands for the body parts of a Khoisan woman whose pickled brains and genitalia are being stored in a […]
Philippa Garson talks to an adviser who is determined to help turn South African universities into world-class institutions The drive by South African universities to become world-class institutions is endangered by the number of top administrators leaving their stressed jobs for greener pastures, according to a top American educator who has been advising these campuses. […]
Mungo Soggot RESERVE Bank governor Chris Stals said this week he feared lifting exchange controls because of the heavy “pent-up demand” in South Africa to invest abroad that had built up in the past 30 years. Talking about the rand’s meltdown and the Reserve Bank’s relationship with the government, Stals rejected the view that the […]
As demand for South African exports increases, mining houses can expect profits, but the consumer will be hard hit, writes Bronwen Jones COAL will be in short supply this winter as overseas demand soars and the rand makes foreign sales more attractive. Add to this the lulls in production enforced by heavy rains earlier this […]
Michael Fletcher AFRICAN-AMERICANS are more likely than the general American population to be victims of crime – a reality that fuels their support of tough criminal penalties, although they have little confidence in the criminal justice system, according to a new poll. That ambivalence reflects the dilemma facing many blacks: they feel more threatened by […]
Amy Lawrence talks to the proud men of Croatia, a nation that has emerged from the ravages of war to create a team capable of challenging Europe’s finest SINGING the cherished national anthem with hand on heart, wearing the red and white check shirt of Croatia, is a feeling beyond description for the 11 men […]
Anger over racist teachers and the department’s failure to provide English- language classes sparked the Vryburg riots, reports Justin Pearce Policemen were everywhere in Vryburg on Tuesday. Casspirs rumbled through the streets of the quiet farming town, and coils of razor wire surrounded the local Education Department office. Armed with shotguns and assault rifles, a […]
A new document on commissioning will bring the SABC in line with broadcasting worldwide, provided internal resistance can be overcome. Eddie September reports Independent television producers say the new SABC document on commissioning is bringing the broadcaster in line with the rest of the world, but they still have reservations about the SABC’s ability to […]
THE advice to NGOs to “adapt or die” in a changing environment is becoming painfully repetitive. It is also superfluous, as we – the remaining NGOs –would not have survived until now if we had not constantly restructured, repositioned and transformed ourselves. In her response (“NGOs are not about to roll over”, April 19 to […]
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SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi Star defender Mark Fish has been persuaded to make one more appearance for Orlando Pirates, and it could be his most vital yet AN important occasion was given added significance this week when Mark Fish agreed to don the black and white one last time and play for Orlando Pirates in the […]
Secret documents handed in at the Malan trial last week link two current cabinet ministers to violent raids into Lesotho in the 1980s. Minutes of the State Security Council (SSC) show Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs Pik Botha was authorised – along with three other ministers in the National Party government – to use […]
Hazel Friedman and Janet MacPherson Pact unions have produced evidence suggesting that two of their representatives were involved in a sweetheart deal with Pact management to sell their comrades down the river. The Mail & Guardian is in possession of a cheque for R15 000 made out by Pact’s legal advisors to one of two […]
Shilowa Jacquie Golding-Duffy THE Congress of South African Trade Unions said it will “definitely not apologise” to Democratic Party leader Tony Leon after his assault by a protester during a Cosatu demonstration in Cape Town on Tuesday. Cosatu general secretary Sam Shilowa says: “No, we will not apologise to Tony Leon. I have made a […]
Rehana Rossouw President Nelson Mandela’s dream of a museum near his birthplace – Qunu in the Eastern Cape – has been given the green light, and should open to the public early next year. The museum is not intended as a shrine or a living monument to the president – its primary purpose will be […]
A FRISSON of fear is running through the ranks of junior advocates, following the recent decision of the Bar Council to allow attorneys to appear in court with senior advocates. Attorneys were given the right to appear in court on their own last year, but the latest move is seen as more of a threat […]
Hugo Young in Washington THE United States bestrides the world, but the colossus is bewildered. She doesn’t know where to fix her gaze. Her responsibility has never been more solitary, but her attitude never more uncertain. In the Middle East, and Asia, and Europe, other outside powers count for little. But nor, often, does the […]
Telkom has five years to connect four million lines. Can it meet the challenge of universal service without a substantial restructuring? Aspasia Karras reports Telkom is probably the most vilified of South Africa’s parastatals. Seen as inefficient and bureaucratic, consumers’ greatest frustration is the lack of an alternative. While cellular technology promised to provide an […]
Mungo Soggot THE Taiwanese journalist barred by the United Nations from covering a conference in Midrand said this week it was the first time in his 30-year career the UN had banned him. Taiwan is not recognised by the UN which says it does not allow journalists working for Taiwanese state-backed news companies to cover […]
Raising interest rates may not be enough to save the rand. Government needs to define a firm strategy for growth, argues Madeleine Wackernagel When the authorities finally moved to stabilise the battered rand, it was a case of too little, too late. If a hike in interest rates was the solution, the Reserve Bank should […]
IN February of 1994, two months before the elections, I returned to South Africa. Accompanied by a friend, I embarked on a four- week journey to explore the Northern Cape, Namaqualand and the Karoo, areas which have always fascinated me. Because I have lived abroad for so many years, my perceptions and expectations were influenced […]
Mungo Soggot JUSTICE Minister Dullah Omar said this week he was awaiting “certain information” about the controversial retirement of former Witwatersrand attorney general Klaus von Lieres und Wilkau, but had yet to launch an official investigation. After resigning and receiving a R12 000-a-month ill-health pension courtesy of the taxpayer, Von Lieres took on the defence […]
Gaye Davis THE Human Rights Committee has asked the Constitutional Court to allow members of the public to appear before it to give their views on the final Constitution, on grounds that much of what has emerged has come out of closed political party negotiations. The Constitutional Court has set aside the month of June […]
CINEMA: Andrew Worsdale POSSIBLY the greatest action director in the world, John Woo is relatively unknown in South Africa. The only one of his films to have played on the main circuit is Hard Target, his first US feature, with local boy Arnold Vosloo as a dinkum Afrikaans mercenary, and Jean-Claude Van Damme intent on […]
Arthur Goldstuck Give it to me straight: how many people really are on the Internet? How many people will get my marketing message and buy my product? That remains the single most vexing question about the potential of the Internet, at least when you get past the hype about pornography and security. If you still […]
After a couple of years in the wilderness, Marius van Heerden is firmly back in the limelight after breaking the South African 800m record ATHLETICS: Julian Drew THREE years ago Marius van Heerden approached the new athletics season full of optimism. He was one of this country’s rising new stars who, the previous year, had […]