Staff Reporter

Mighty McDonald’s — with some 16 000 restaurants in 84 countries — has been outwitted by a crafty South African who this week won a court battle for the right to use one of the world’s best-known brand names. At the end of the first stage of the hamburger war, there’s ketchup on the floor […]

The appointment of a national attorney-general could avoid a recurrence of the ‘McNally issue’, argue Dr Jeremy Sarkin and Suzie Cowen THE criminal justice system is in crisis. It lacks legitimacy and is seen as ineffective. It is in this context that the danger of giving attorneys-general independence, without creating mechanisms for effective accountability, has […]

Anti-conglomerate measures are still possible, argues Reg Rumney Anglo American executive director Michael Spicer has arguably made it harder for Trade and Industry Minister Trevor Manuel to avoid taking steps against South Africa’s big conglomerates. Spicer, who has gone to ground now, perhaps fearing further personalisation of the conglomerate debate, went on the offensive after […]

Neil Bierbaum Delays are expected in the issuing of new commercial radio licences in order to ensure the sale of South African Broadcasting Corporation stations. The Independent Broadcasting Authority has been accused of intending to delay the licensing of new commercial radio stations in order to ensure the sale of the SABC radio stations at […]

The French flair of Thierry Lacroix for Natal and the poise of Joel Stransky for Western Province will be vital in a tense Currie Cup final, but the two pairs of locks will also be key factors RUGBY: Jon Swift THERE are some haunting shadows in the importance placed on this weekend’s Currie Cup final […]

Rehana Rossouw Human rights groups are furious at delays of more than two years in bringing child-abusers to justice. A former principal of a children’s home in Cape Town, Mike Viveros, has had his trial on charges of sexually abusing seven children postponed 15 times since he first appeared in court in October 1993. Welfare […]

To get doctors to use their medicines, companies give them free drugs, which the doctors sell at huge profits. Hazel Friedman reports on the practices which have made our drugs the most expensive in the world MANY of South Africa’s 6 000 dispensing doctors receive free bonus drugs which they sell to consumers at high […]

Gaye Davis DEPUTY President FW de Klerk chaired a routine meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security and Intelligence “as usual” on Thursday as both African National Congress and National Party government sources said ANC attacks on him were simply “electioneering” and discounted any threat to the Government of National Unity. An unfounded rumour that […]

The Cabinet and Mangosuthu Buthelezi are at loggerheads again over the controversial Ingonyama Trust Act, writes Gaye Davis LEAKED documents from a Cabinet committee meeting show that government moves to spike a KwaZulu-Natal legislature bid to re-enact the controversial Ingonyama Trust Act have sparked a major showdown. In a strongly worded statement tabled at this […]

Sheena Duncan, former president of the Black Sash, responds to allegations in a new book that her organisation compromised liberal principles Jill Wentzel says in her Author’s Note that her book The Liberal Slideaway is a “subjective account of life in the liberal community during the last 14 years.” Of course, it has to be […]

Fine Art: Ruth Sack PAVED with good intentions, the Right to Hope project was perhaps destined to stumble into predictable pitfalls, especially given its ambition and its hopes. Consisting of three separate exhibitions in Johannesburg, one of which will tour the world for two years, and a multifarious educational component, it was set up to […]

Major-General Karel “Suiker” Britz is under investigation for his alleged poor track record in bringing to book SAPS members tied to political crimes. Philippa Garson reports THE Ministry of Safety and Security this week ordered an investigation into the country’s top crime buster, Major-General Karel “Suiker” Britz, after the Mail & Guardian raised questions about […]

The air force is trying to sell itself in the new South Africa. Jan Taljaard visited the Pretoria air show. Last weekend Top Gun blistered into town on augmented turbo-fans. Tokyo Sexwale briefly ruled Gauteng from the air; the American F16 took top honours in the phallic stakes; and the British Red Arrow aerobatic team […]

Perplexed about the complex issues surrounding privatisation of state assets? The International Finance Corporation offers this parable at the beginning of its latest publication, attributing it to an anonymous agency official. “To privatise is to drive a two-horse cart. The cart is the enterprise in question. One horse is called Political Goals and is flighty […]

CRICKET: Jon Swift LIKE many other eight year olds in this country, young Wynand is a cricket- mad kid. It drives his mother — proud as she obviously is of his abilities — to distraction. So, when the new set of four coaching videos entitled The Woolmer Way were released featuring the national coach and […]

The goings-on at the University of Durban-Westville have all the ingredients of a spy novel, reports Philippa Garson The plot twists and turns in a most confusing way, the players are not what they appear to be, and power struggles and mysterious attacks and subterfuge are the order of the day at the University of […]

An IFC study reveals the irrefutable links between politics and privatisation Reg Rumney reports Privatisation is always political, despite its economic benefits being widely accepted, note the principal authors of an International Finance Corporation (IFC) study of privatisation. Privatisation Principles and Practice is timely in the light of the renewed pressure for privatisation to reduce […]

A marketing study determines that the quickest way to access South African black youth is through subcultures. Justin Pearce reports Ultraviolet light glows on the fluourescent grafitti-style murals. Ambient techno throbs in the background as the guests, their rave tickets hanging round their necks, down smart drinks before entering the venue. Can this really be […]

Ann Eveleth Deputy President Thabo Mbeki avoided confrontation with French President Jacques Chirac over France’s controversial nuclear testing programme and its handling of the recent Comoros coup during a state visit to Paris this week. Mbeki made the official state visit at Chirac’s invitation to discuss a financial protocol and an agreement on the protection […]

GOLF: Jon Swift YOU HAVE to hand it to Brent Chalmers in many ways. Chalmers, who carries the title of tour commissioner of the South African PGA — one would have thought that the association with a commission in the South African context is not a wholly healthy one — does tend to get things […]

Television: Hazel Friedman IT was punted as the show that would transform the face of television, the first magazine programme conceived and created for an all-African audience. But now that the curtain of hype has been lifted, Front Row, M-Net’s bright new brainchild, appears to be little more than a familiar tune played in a […]

Theatre: David Le Page A NAKED queen scrabbles in the dirt of a filthy dungeon, fighting off rats with a crucifix and babbling her way almost deliriously through the Lord’s Prayer. This is the opening of French Gray (at the Market in Johannesburg), a story not only of Marie Antoinette’s last hours, but of her […]

To trace the course of the Olifants River is to trace a history of appalling environmental degradation, writes Eddie Koch Look at a map of South Africa and you will see sprinkled over it names that reveal how rivers were once venerated by the early inhabitants, black and white, of this country. Amanzimtoti, the Sweetness […]

Classical Music: Coenraad Visser MAIN interest in Johannesburg this week was in two symphony concerts featuring Laura Mikkola, the young Finnish winner of last year’s Unisa/Transnet Piano Competition and recently silver medallist in the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Competition in Brussels. Her performance of Schumann’s piano concerto, with the Transvaal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Christopher Dowdeswell, […]

Classical Music: Coenraad Visser AFTER the drought, the deluge. For too long was it rare for overseas string quartets to visit South Africa. Then, within a space of three days, two of the leading United Kingdom-based quartets appeared in the Wits Great Hall in Johannesburg. Interestingly, their performing styles could not have contrasted more sharply. […]

Peter Vale argues the Comoros coup shows the time=20 has come for the government to expunge the=20 mercenary impulse from South African national life=20 THE proverbial fly on the foreign affairs wall must=20 have raised a wry smile when news of the Comoros=20 coup came rattling over the wire. “Hello, we’ve=20 been here before,” it […]

Rehana Rossouw=20 WHEN Chris Ball was Barclays Bank managing director=20 in the 198Os, he became the victim of a bizarre=20 witch-hunt where National Party commie-spotters=20 pronounced they had found a bunny resembling an=20 African National Congress symbol in the bank’s tree=20 Coupled with numerous accounts the bank attracted=20 from anti-apartheid groups, “evidence” surely=20 mounted that […]

Karen Harverson South Africa has the opportunity to leap-frog ahead using other countries’ technology and experience to do things right the first time. “This country should take advantage of California’s advances in environmental issues, computers, communications and electronics,” said California Trade and Commerce Secretary Julie Meier Wright, speaking at the Made in the USA Expo […]

Ann Eveleth=20 Inkatha Freedom Party hardliners this week=20 succeeded in uniting the KwaZulu-Natal opposition=20 against their increasingly divided party.=20 Apparently straining under the weight of a=20 democracy which would have forced them to negotiate=20 a provincial constitution, the party’s hardline=20 cabal of national leaders wilfully burned its=20 bridges with the minority parties whose support is=20 […]

Artists are teaming up with designers for the Johannesburg Art Gallery’s Spring Fashion Show. HAZEL FRIEDMAN takes a peek behind the seams THE Friends of the Johannesburg Art Gallery can’t be accused of timidity. In fact, in their efforts to turn art into entertainment, they sometimes walk recklessly where purists fear to tread. A few […]

The Boland town of Worcester is as divided as ever.=20 But the local government elections could change all=20 of that, reports Gaye Davis=20 WORCESTER’S Durban Street once drew the line=20 between the Boland town’s white and coloured areas.=20 Now town clerk Neels de Bruyn talks about an=20 “integrated town” — with its black township,=20 Zwelethemba, […]

They’re black, they’re pretty small and they believe they can beat the best teams in the Premier Basketball League BASKETBALL: Rowan Callaghan IT IS early evening and the End Street basketball courts are still drenched in sunlight and the usual sounds of the playground can be heard above the traffic. A small noise can be […]