Simon Segal One of the key components of Finance Minister Chris Liebenberg’s Budget is to address fears around the budget deficit and government debt. These blight an otherwise impressive economic record that boasts the most buoyant growth, lowest inflation, largest net capital inflows and most sizeable fixed investment in two decades. Liebenberg’s numbers for the […]
South Africa got it wrong in the quarter-final against the West Indies, but on the public relations front they got it right every time CRICKET: Mark Lamport-Stokes SOUTH AFRICA may have suffered the extreme disappointment of exiting stage left from cricket’s World Cup after their quarter-final defeat against a resurgent West Indies in Karachi on […]
Justin Pearce Etienne le Roux used to install carpets in Heidelberg. Nicolaas Barnard, Abraham Myburgh and Jan de Wet farmed in the North West province. These four men, who escaped from Diepkloof Prison last weekend, are among those who could have the most to lose when the Witwatersrand Supreme Court delivers judgment on March 29. […]
POLITICS: Two very different responses to the recent attack on liberals Margaret Legum IN her autobiography, Mamphela Ramphele quotes Steve Biko’s opinion that white liberals “lacked a coherent critique of racism and its socio-economic manifestations”. Since then white liberals have been accused of unconscious racism, patronising behaviour and refusing to countenance criticism of themselves, while […]
Christie RUGBY: Jon Swift THE decision by the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) to get national coach Kitch Christie to step down as the steersman of Transvaal’s storm-tossed fortunes should come as no real surprise. Neither should the volte-face be examined in any other light than that Sarfu inspired the double-barrelled responsibility in the […]
The new Constitution could give local government a better place in the hierarchy, writes Marion Edmunds The new Constitution is likely to raise local government from its Cinderella status to a position in the new South Africa where it can compete with its two ugly sisters, national and provincial government, for revenue and political status. […]
An open letter from ANC parliamentarian Phumsile Mlambo-Ngcuka to Human Rights Commission chair Barney Pityana, supporting his attack on ‘racists’ Your response to the remarks made by Professor Dennis Davis (Mail & Guardian February 23 to 29) will hopefully encourage more of us in the government to defend the decisions we take from the assaults […]
Cawe Mahlati, acting CEO of Bop Broadcasting, in The Mark Gevisser Profile NIGHT has fallen over dirty-grey veld around Mmabatho; the sun has set behind the hulking Rhino Recording Studios, built by Bop Broadcasting during the height of its deluded grandeur. Cawe Mahlati and I wander through the boma and along a water feature, back […]
1996 BUDGET Few surprises and lacking in boldness Lynda Loxton There was a predictably mixed reaction from political parties to Finance Minister Chris Liebenberg’s 1996/97 budget on Wednesday. The African National Congress welcomed the fact that Liebenberg had not succumbed to the “short-sighted and insensitive free advice” of the likes of the South African Foundation […]
TELEVISION: Hazel Friedman ‘HOW can one forget or forgive when the distrust lies so deep?” This is one of the many questions posed by Beauty (Mama) Mkhize, one of the central protagonists in award- winning producer Barbara Volscher’s Chronicles of Change, a documentary series to be screened weekly on SABC3 from March 18. Divided into […]
1996 Budget: We asked several people how they live now, and how this week’s Budget would affect them in the year to come The teacher Belinda Wort, 29, a Mitchells Plain high- school teacher for nine years, lives barricaded in a comfortable house with a sparkling pool. Her husband, Logan, is a personnel officer at […]
The World Cross Country Championships should be a boost to athletics in the country, but Athletics South Africa isn’t taking advantage of the event, writes Julian Drew THE biggest athletics event ever staged in South Africa will take place in Stellenbosch next Saturday amid growing concerns that Athletics South Africa (ASA) has failed to capitalise […]
The 18% excise duty increase on cigarettes displeases both anti-smoking lobbyists and the tobacco industry, reports Karen Harverson Anti-smoking lobbyists are disappointed at the 18% increase in the excise tax on cigarettes announced in the Budget on Wednesday. Total tax on cigarettes (including value-added tax) now comprises about 42% of the selling price compared to […]
Bafana Khumalo I GIVE up on old movies. I am one of those people who condescendingly complain that “they don’t make them like they used to”. I have always believed that anything made after I was 10 years old is just plain old garbage. And on Saturday night, I had the opportunity to see something […]
A high-ranking policeman faces charges in what is thought to touch on a much larger probe into police corruption, writes Stefaans Brummer TOP policeman Charlie Landman, head of Johannesburg’s Brixton Murder and Robbery squad, is facing charges in what well-placed sources say is “chapter one” of a probe into massive high-level police corruption. Transvaal Attorney […]
1996 Budget Borrowing within a framework of good fiscal discipline The deficit target has fallen again. So South Africa is in a strong bargaining position when it comes to foreign aid, says the deputy director general of finance. Aspasia Karras reports South Africa has been promised R7,5-billion over the next three years in “foreign aid”, […]
on fiscal policy Job creation in South Africa remains a blot on the economic horizon, reports Madeleine Wackernagel Economic growth last year was the best on record since 1988, despite setbacks in the agricultural and mining sectors and a slip in the fourth quarter owing to a decline in manufacturing output. But the doomsters are […]
The revamp of the public sector is a major thrust of government’s commitment to delivery, reports Madeleine Wackernagel The 10,4% increase in total expenditure is higher than expected, mainly owing to the R6- billion allotted to improvement of conditions of service. The process of restructuring the public service is expensive in the first year, says […]
HAZEL FRIEDMAN bids farewell to once fted, now forgotten rural woodcarver Doctor Phutuma Seoka FEW people would have noticed the small farewell to a “well-known woodcarver from the Northern Province” which recently appeared in the Mail & Guardian personals column. Doc Phutuma Seoka died on February 22 at Duiwelskloof “after a long illness”, the notice […]
Finance Minister Chris Liebenberg was quick this week to deflect any charges that his Budget was a holding exercise, insisting that “this must be the year to get points on the scoreboard”. He is trying to get the government’s fiscal ducks in a row and, while this is commendable, the route he has taken has […]
Ann Eveleth many of the 20 accused in the Magnus Malan trial this week dropped their erstwhile stoicism and began to fidget nervously when a slight, bookish ex-soldier, Johan Pieter “JP” Opperman (38), took the stand on Tuesday. Former defence minister Malan’s jowls worked constantly during the proceedings in a bizarre facial exercise routine, while […]
The settlement of the Makgoba crisis at Wits was the result of weeks of behind-the-scenes work, writes Philippa Garson Weeks of secret negotiations brokered by lawyers Dennis Davis and Cecil Wulfsohn delivered the deal which effectively ended the six-month-long “Makgoba” crisis at the University of the Witwatersrand. The Mail & Guardian has pieced together the […]
Gaye Davis CHANGES to the National Archives Bill that bring under political control decisions on what records should be kept and what should be destroyed have caused an outcry among archivists and historians who helped draft the new law. But a clash with Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Minister Dr Ben Ngubane may yet be […]
One of the questions most frequently asked of President Nelson Mandela at the Park Lane Clinic last week was whether he was scaling down his activities. To find out, Rehana Rossouw peeked at his diary for this week This is what President Nelson Mandela’s diary looks like this week. There are early morning dashes to […]
RUGBY: Jon Swift THE pre-season form book on the Super 12 — at least the one written in this country — lies in tatters with only Northern Transvaal, on the strength of a single outing, looking competent to provide a South African challenge. Transvaal’s campaign is already in ruins. Three defeats in as many games, […]
People who know Diepkloof prison say the AWB men could never have escaped unassisted, reports Justin Pearce While Correctional Services remain “embarrassed” about four alleged bombers who escaped from prison last week, people who know the jail have poured scorn on initial claims that the men escaped by sawing through security gates. “I’ve welded those […]
Gavin Du Venage THE Cape Town Olympic Bid committee is about to clinch the two crucial sponsorship deals that will bring it close to the R80-million it needs to fund its bid to host the 2004 Olympic Games. The two sponsors, almost certainly Sun International and South African Airways, are expected to announce their backing […]
PW Botha’s ex-private secretary has denied rumours of illegal cargo flying. But that’s not the end of the story, reports Stefaans Brummer EX-President PW Botha’s arms-dealing former aide, implicated by the Namibian government in illegal cargo flights to Angola, this week denied direct involvement — yet a complex tale has emerged of contacts in high […]
Gaye Davis A NATIONAL survey of political responses to last year’s nurses’ strike has revealed that “wholly inadequate” health information systems are hindering the government’s ability to communicate with employees and deal with industrial action. Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health canvassed the national and provincial health departments for information about the nature and extent of […]
A 61-year-old white farmer stands accused of sexually abusing nine schoolgirls. Strangely, none of his neighbours seem surprised. Ricardo Dunn reports Ockie Olivier’s smallholding in Louisrus is typical of this depressed area south of Johannesburg: a creaking windmill, wild flowers and stray dogs set against the backdrop of steelworks, industry and pollution billowing into the […]
Jacquie Golding-Duffy The Parliamentary Select Committee on Communications has submitted the names of four nominees for the IBA councillors’ posts to President Nelson Mandela for approval. Mandela has to rubber stamp the nominations which are: Lyndall Shope- Mafole, currently an IBA councillor; Pietie Lotriet, former head of SABC commercial radio; Raymond Louw, a media task […]
THE fat file from the archives in Military Intelligence on the 22nd floor of the Liberty Life building in Central Pretoria was the key which opened the door for the team from the Investigative Task Unit. The file was handed over by the then head of counter intelligence General Niewoudt and Brigadier Van Deventer to […]