Staff Reporter

Hurricane Ivan drilled southern American states along the Gulf Coast with 209kph winds that inflicted far less damage than feared everywhere except Florida’s western Panhandle, where residents were left with surge-ravaged beachfronts, flooded streets and homes ripped apart by deadly tornadoes.

It’s all systems go for South Africa’s second national fixed line telephone operator (SNO). Communications Minister Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, on Friday announced that she had granted the licence to a consortium consisting of Nexus Connexion, Transtel, Esitel, WIP Investments Nine (trading as Communitel), Two Consortium and the remaining un-allocated equity shareholder, to provide public switched telecommunications services.

While she was social development minister of Gauteng, Angie Motshekga helped a trust — in which her husband played a key role — to land a stake in the lucrative provincial contract to pay pensions. Motshekga, now Gauteng’s education minister, this week denied that her then-department had recommended in 2002 that the trust be given a 6% empowerment shareholding in Allpay Gauteng. Allpay, a division of Absa, is answerable to the social development department in its R170-million a year pensions contract.

The United Nations Security Council has approved the extension of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea for another six months, but expressed concern over the lack of progress in efforts to resolve the dispute on the demarcation of the border between the two countries. The council also approved Secretary General Kofi Annan’s recommendation that the mission be scaled down.

Many liberal white South Africans are suffering identity crises. After 10 years of democracy they are asking themselves whether they’ve come through the rigours of transformation with their principles intact. Answer these 14 questions honestly and see where you stand.

South African trade union Solidarity has received notice from gold mining group Harmony that the group plans to shut down its Welkom 1, Elands and Merriespruit shafts. Large-scale dismissals are also planned at the Bambanani mine, Solidarity added. Trade unions, including Solidarity and the National Union of Mineworkers, have 30 days in which to respond to the planned dismissals.

Did you know that the Coca Cola company in the mid-1930s was failing in its attempts to market Coke in the Third Reich, because of the growing Nazi anti-American sentiment — and so the German wing of Coke created a special Aryan-friendly drink called "Fantasie" — shortened to "Fanta". So, all of you Fanta guzzlers consider that the orange-tasting muck you drink comes to you direct from Hitler’s Third Reich.

It was a sad day when listeners of SAfm that used to market itself as one for the well-informed, praised high-handed police action in Intabazwe, Harrismith, that led to scores of injuries and the death of a 17-year-old youth. Listeners who made time to call in suggested there was no price too high for the maintenance of law and order. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but here’s what makes me uneasy.

The four-day old strike at oil and chemicals group Sasol’s Secunda plant has ended. This comes after Sasol’s management reached an agreement with trade union Solidarity, in terms of which the trade unions will take part in the internal investigation into the explosion at the Secunda plant on September 1.

It is an increasingly horrible scenario. As we neared the fateful anniversary of the as yet unexplained suicide bombings by hijacked airliners that brought the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City crashing to the ground, with the loss of thousands of lives, the heavily hyped war on terrorism saw an increase in terrorist attacks across the world. The lines of battle have reached a new pitch.

A new phrase entered our vocabulary with South Africa’s liberation — the "culture of entitlement", which apparently threatens the new democracy. Black people allegedly think they are entitled to everything without having to work for it. We certainly do have a culture of entitlement, but not among excluded people who have nothing. It flourishes at the top where people are already extremely rich.

The most important changes in South African higher education since 1994 are not to be found in the dramatic structural reorganisation of the sector or in the impressive policy/planning apparatus created for public institutions. Rather, I contend that the most far-reaching changes in higher education are to be found in the gradual, but systematic, erosion of historical standards of autonomy that were ingrained within the institutional fabric of universities.

The mother of all pay talks, involving eight public sector unions and 1,1-million civil servants, is headed for a strike — again. In 1999, 2000 and 2001, this difficult wage round has gone into dispute and almost to strike. With six nights to go to reach a settlement, a strike seems increasingly likely unless cool minds and heads prevail. Workers have been balloted already.

The advertising and propaganda exercise known as "the Olympics" has come and gone, and reinforced the totally artificial and nonexistent illusion called "patriotism" yet again. So what could be more fun than looking at a collection of evil pictures that tend to show the Olympic athletes looking like retards? I’m there …

Notwithstanding a 4% decline in group revenue, electronics group Grintek increased attributable earnings by 286% from R12,3-million to R47,5-million for the year to the end of June. Headline earnings for the 12 months rose by 131% from R22,9-million to R52,9-million.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Tuesday dismissed platinum producer Lonmin’s recent black economic empowerment deal as "fake". "This is a fake empowerment because the so-called stake is a debt that will be only liquidated in seven years. Our members are expected to work now and liquidate the debt for the benefit of future generations," said NUM Secretary General Gwede Mantashe.

The private sector is often unfavourably compared with the parastatals in meeting employment equity targets — Eskom, Telkom and Transnet have for the past decade put in place radical equity programmes and are largely black-led. In response, business argues that the parastatals have been able to embrace transformation because, as monopolies, they don’t have to worry about profitability.

The government has no intention of building low-cost homes in upmarket suburbs, as claimed in a <i>Sunday Times</i> report at the weekend, Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu said on Monday. She described the newspaper’s front-page headline — "Low-cost houses for elite suburbs" — as "unfortunate" and "regrettable".
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=121703">DA frets about property values</a>