Staff Reporter

Have the ANC’s young lions turned into pussycats? Rehana Rossouw looks at the dilemmas facing the ANC Youth League THERE was a time when the African National Congress Youth League’s leaders roared and the security establishment’s grip automatically tightened on its rifle butts. This was the 1980s — when the ANCYL was one of the […]

We chose a mid-month weekend, a Friday, Saturday and Sunday — and tried to get a sense of how many died, where, and how. South Africa is one of the most violent societies in the world — and the murder victims are often faceless, unidentified bodies, buried in unmarked graves. In one ordinary weekend in […]

It was a first: an advertisement flighted simultaneously on all four channels. And it cost millions. Hazel Friedman watched the advert which brought mysticism to the concrete industry Strange, inexplicable sightings have been known to take place on the SABC from time-to- time. But nothing could rival the image onslaught that hit viewers during prime-time […]

Marion Edmunds It was a casual weekend — Hernus Kriel was wearing baggy tracksuit pants, Sheila Camerer a light pink slack suit, John Mavuso designer moccasins and FW de Klerk a checked shirt. But behind the informality and bonhomie in Hermanus, the Nats were in deadly earnest. “Tell me,” said De Klerk, leaning in earnest […]

The Budget must set the stage for investment growth if Thabo Mbeki’s ambitious employment plan is to succeed, writes Madeleine Wackernagel Thabo Mbeki’s ambitious blueprint for economic growth and job creation brings into sharp focus the need for the “right” Budget on March 13. Without the building blocks to encourage foreign and local investment, the […]

Justin Pearce SOMEWHERE in the suburbs of Pretoria, religious prejudices have collided with a roadsign. Last year, the directorate of roads erected signs on the N1 Eastern Bypass indicating a recommended speed limit for night driving. The signs show a crescent moon and a star together with the recommended speed. Then suddenly, towards the end […]

Two months prior to the Constitution’s finalisation date, minority parties are panicking over checks and balances on the future government, writes Marion Edmunds Disillusion is setting in among minority parties, as they believe the new Constitution will not provide sufficient checks and balances on the power of the future majority party government. At the same […]

A TV documentary series puts township residents behind the camera, writes HAZEL FRIEDMAN THERE’S a poignant scene in Ghetto Diaries where an unemployed man articulates his dreams of moving from his cramped cement house into one built from bricks. “Maybe I’ll build a swimming pool and tennis court. Move away from the smells and dirt. […]

Justin Pearce ‘IN Cuba only a few old people have TB,” explained Dr Leandro Ruyz. “In 1959 we had a revolution — and everyone born after that was vaccinated at birth.” A day after arriving in South Africa from Cuba, Ruyz was sitting in the superintendent’s office at Klerksdorp Hospital, a facebrick pile where the […]

Karen Harverson South Africa’s corporate standards are being polluted by corruption, and the toll on the country is far higher than the mere monetary value. For example, corruption in Nigeria was initially accepted as a way of “getting the job done” — and so the cost of corruption was less than its monetary value because […]

Next week sees the beginning of the end of one of the most sordid chaptersin South Africa’s history. Ann Eveleth previews the Malan trial History will also be in the dock when the multiple murder trial of former defence minister Magnus Malan and 19 other security force officers gets under way next week. As it […]

Gaye Davis MINISTER Zola Skweyiya’s announcement of a radical shake-up for the Public Service Commission (PSC) — often cited by government ministers and officials as the biggest obstacle to the country’s transformation — faces a rearguard action. The Forum of Commissions — a non-statutory body comprising the national PSC and eight provincial PSCs — intends […]

While the government considers more equitable ways of aiding the film industry, Justin Pearce reports that a single producer scooped more than half the subsidy money in recent years Films, including Oh Schucks, it’s Schuster and There’s a Zulu on my Stoep, earned more than R20-million in government subsidies for film production giant, Toron, over […]

The controversy over the now-celebrated musical, Sarafina II, can be seen at two levels. The first is the justification and circumstances of the expenditure of more than R14-million on the Aids-awareness production. The second relates to the handling of the row by our political masters, and what it says about the workings of our newly […]

A tortuous series of irrelevant preambles is being played before getting down to the real nitty-gritty of the World Cup CRICKET: Vic Marks THE match between England and South Africa should have been a crucial, spine-tingling affair, but such is the ludricrous format of this World Cup that it is little more than a form […]

The Super 12 competition will provide a feast of top quality rugby and television viewing, but the lesser unions not invited to the meal are likely to starve RUGBY: Jon Swift THE new Super 12 competition has kicked off amid all the magic that a media circus tends to give an event which it has […]

Madeleine Wackernagel The appointment of Graca Machel to the Thebe Investment Corporation’s (TIC) board should ensure it a first bite at Mozambique’s privatisation cherry. Litha Nyhonyha, executive director of TIC and chief executive officer of its financial arm, Msele Financial Holdings, said the new appointments underline TIC’s intention to be a major player in the […]

STEVE GORDON, organiser of several music tours to South Africa, explains why the Cape Town jazz festival collapsed — and how to put together a successful event ANNOUNCED by Captour in 1994 as “the biggest- ever jazz festival in Africa”, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, which collapsed last week, had already tasted controversy a […]

Once a ‘bush college’ which defied apartheid, the University of the Western Cape has entered a new ‘struggle’ era. In the first of a series of articles focusing on universities, Philippa Garson reports on UWC’s attempts to meet the needs of its students A DISTURBING photograph of campus unheaval at the University of the Western […]

A substantial damages claim against the Thor company in South African will be heard in a British court, writes Eddie Koch ENGLISH lawyer Richard Meeran arrived in South Africa this week to prepare a multi-million-rand lawsuit in the British courts against Thor Chemicals for damages suffered by 20 workers, exposed to high levels of mercury […]

Sipo Mzimela, the Minister of Correctional Services and IFP national deputy chairman, in The Mark Gevisser Profile IF KwaZulu-Natal premier Frank Mdlalose is the bluff country doctor of Zulu ethnicist politics, then the Reverend Sipo Mzimela is its fire- breathing priest. He looks like the archetypal avuncular Anglican cleric, right down to his ecumenical sideburns […]

THEATRE: Hazel Friedman Isnt poverty, illness and death worse than waiting for a boy to ask you to dance? The answer is NO! This plaintive soliloquoy, spoken against the backdrop of the Greek Cypriot Club in Bedfordview, encapsulates the agony of Mira (Irene Stephanou) and just about every other teenager who wishes to be everything […]

With the legalisation of gambling becoming a reality in South Africa, various problems are arising, reports Simon Segal THIS weeks parliamentary ad hoc committee debate on changes to the National Gambling Bill brings legalised gambling closer, and accentuates certain problems. The enabling legislation provides for the granting of 40 licences, a National Gambling Board (NGB), […]

A senior official in the safety and security secretariat stands charged with child molestation, reports Philippa Garson A top official in the safety and security secretariat has been suspended, pending the outcome of a court case against him involving charges of indecent assault against two female minors. Etienne Dirk Marais, chief director of liaison and […]

ATHLETICS: Julian Drew AT the Old Mutual South African Cross Country Trials on Saturday the cream of South Africas middle-distance running talent will do battle over the same Stellenbosch course that in six weeks time will play host to the world cross country championships. The world championships will be the biggest and most prestigious athletics […]

Marion Edmunds Cape Town wine merchant Vaughan Johnson is to appear in the Cape Town magistrate’s court on February 20 charged with employing a foreigner illegally in his Waterfront wine shop. British-born Sharon Meeking pleaded guilty to working without a permit and paid a fine of R750. Johnson refused to pay an admission of guilt […]

The public service is run by a code so detailed and archaic that it prescribes acceptable body weights for job applicants and provides endless blockages to government progress, reports Anton Harber ONE issue, more than any other, will determine the extent to which President Nelson Mandela’s government succeeds this year in its ambitious mission. It […]

As the symbols of the past moved out, the RDP moved in to kick-start the process of parliamentary transformation, write Richard Calland and Christelle Terreblanche THE long-awaited transformation of Parliament, driven by Speaker Frene Ginwala of the African National Congress, will be paid for by a one-off grant of R82,5-million from the coffers of the […]

THE SABC’s launch of three new television channels on Sunday night complete with jumbo jet, lasers, Stevie Wonder and Nelson Mandela was the most spectacular launch this country has seen. If it was the national broadcaster’s intention to show self-confidence and razzmatazz, it was a great success, with 150 minutes and R3,8-million of often-breathtaking extravaganza. […]

Selecting which teams and individuals will represent South Africa at the Olympics is a controversial task, and the decision on the hockey team is a particularly hard one, writes Julian Drew ON Saturday morning in Durban Sam Ramsamy, president of the National Olympic Committee of South Africa (Nocsa), will announce the first contingent of competitors […]

Government is committed to reducing the national debt, but South Africa must not expect overnight miracles, reports Madeleine Wackernagel Chris Liebenberg, the Minister of Finance, has primed the markets for an overrun on the budget deficit to about 6% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year. Longer term, his aim is to trim it by […]

leon Perlman Faced with shrinking margins, not everyone welcomes the return of multi-national information technology (IT) companies to South Africa. The re-entry of major IT companies is proving to be a mixed blessing for some local hardware and software distributors. Some say that local users might have to start forking out more for what they […]