It is the latest version of the imported American “high five.” But it is a rather sluggish kind of “high five” to be indulging in. In other words, there are not two players to play the game. It is a one-sided kind of slapping of the palms. This is because the opponent is in fact no longer even alive. He or she is a mere passive participant in the sport. This is how it strikes me as I read about the latest in a long line of human muti stories.
The critical gaze of the international community is as much on South Africa as it is on Equatorial Guinea as the trial of 18 men charged with plotting a coup against President Teodoro Obiang Nguema plays out. Any legal travesty in the oil-rich African state will reflect badly on South Africa as it does on the man who came to power in 1979 by killing his uncle.
A small aviation company based in the Free State town of Bethlehem has emerged as central to the arrest of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s son, Mark. Mark Thatcher was arrested on Wednesday by the Scorpions for allegedly aiding the plot to overthrow the Equatorial Guinean government.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=121234">SA, E-Guinea mull Thatcher extradition</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=121192">Mark Thatcher’s ‘difficulty'</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=121195">’Dimwit’ beyond mum’s help</a>
Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni’s surprise rate cut last week jolted markets out of their slumber and provoked a noisy stir among financial journalists who had been lulled by a series of non-events at his media conferences. Much of the coverage has missed the central drama of the announcement.
Far from rescuing our economy, as Robin Friedland suggests, "Old King Coal" (<i>Mail & Guardian</i>) is an obstacle to a rational energy policy and public-interest electricity pricing. Friedland’s justification of more coal-fired power stations ignores energy efficiency, including conservation, and fails to distinguish between energy costs and market prices, writes Richard Worthington.
The argument about whether Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni’s half a percentage point rate cut was justified, or whether he was pushed politically, misses the point (Thebe Mabanga’s Market Buzz). Monetary policy, used in isolation from other economic measures, is a blunt instrument. Monetary policy can work against inflation, but its side effects can be almost as bad as the original problem.
At least 74 people were killed and 376 wounded in a mortar attack at a mosque and shooting on demonstrators loyal to rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the southern city of Kufa, the Iraqi Health Ministry said. Officials were unable to distinguish between those who died in the double mortar bombing and the shooting.
Six Armenian air crew members accused of helping to plot to oust Equatorial Guinea’s long-time leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema told a court in Malabo on Thursday that they had nothing to do with the alleged plot. They said they were until recently unaware on what charges they were being held.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=121156">Verdict expected in Zim 70 trial</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=121128">Thatcher was ready to flee SA</a>
The Scorpions arrested Mark Thatcher, son of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, because he was planning to move to the United States next week, the elite detective unit said on Thursday. "I can confirm he was planning to leave the country," said spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=121107">Thatcher faces court showdown</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=121103">Thatcher released on R2m bail</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=121039">’Thatcher met with coup plotter'</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=121052">Wayward son of the Iron Lady</a>
Even dogs of war shouldn’t have rats the size of cats running over them as they sleep; or be shackled in leg-irons; or be woken up at night for interrogation sessions conducted past the end of a rifle; or be denied access to their lawyers; or have their trial conducted in Spanish sans translation. That is the fate of eight South Africans and other nationals holed up in Black Beach prison
Russian Federal Security Service spokesperson Sergei Ignatchenko said on Wednesday that studies of the wreckage of the two planes that crashed on Tuesday have shown no terrorist act was carried out aboard the planes. The two planes crashed nearly simultaneously, killing a total of 89 people.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=121090">Twin air disasters raise security fears</a>
The United Nations said on Wednesday it is still lacking two-thirds of the money it needs to meet emergency aid needs in Sudan for the rest of the year, particularly in the war-torn western Darfur region. Families who were forced to flee their homes and abandon their fields have completely missed this year’s planting season.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=121075">After exodus, refugees dig in</a>
South Africa’s CPIX inflation (headline inflation excluding mortgage costs) was up 4,2% year-on-year (y/y) for metro and other areas in July. Absa economist John Loos said: "The July CPIX figure is better than what I had expected." Dawie Roodt, chief economist at the Efficient Group, said: "CPIX was in line with expectations."
One lucky reader who takes out a subscription to <i>Earthyear</i> magazine before September 15 2004 will win a weekend getaway for two at birders’ paradise
Ndumo Wilderness Camp worth R6 720.
"Feel like sending United States troops some goodies to help them in their fight against Everyone Else? Yes, I’m being ironic, but it’s still interesting to see the facilities set up to help the US troops online. (Whereas back in South Africa, 89% of the South African National Defence Force isn’t going to be around soon, and our government just shrugs)." Ian Fraser finds some interesting stuff online.
A bird-flu virus closely related to the strain that has infected South African ostriches has been found in pigs on several farms in China, according to an announcement from a Chinese scientist. The virulent H5N1 strain is highly infectious in poultry and can spread from birds to humans.
Standard Bank staff vigilance helped prevent fraud of more than R286-million against the bank last year. To reward staff who have gone out of their way to prevent fraud, Standard Bank has an incentive programme called Fraud Miles. Its objective is to remunerate staff who report incidents of fraud.
In 2002, South Africa successfully hosted the World Summit on Sustainable Development, enabling the world to negotiate a plan and set targets to shift global growth onto a sustainable path. Last year, South Africa commemorated the first anniversary of the World Summit with a media campaign and stakeholder roundtable discussion. This year, the second anniversary will be marked by a more memorable suite of high-level events, to take place between 1 to 4 September at the Sandton International Convention Centre, Johannesburg.
South Africa’s decade-old democracy presents us with many confounding questions about the nature of our freedom and our relationships with one another. Deep divisions of race, class, language, culture, religion, income and education persist and, in some cases, have even increased. In the midst of this, gender sometimes gets lost despite being possibly the most important aspect of identity.
Shares in media group Naspers jumped 1,21% or 55 cents to R46,05 by midday on Monday following subsidiary M-Web’s successful R320-million successful bid to buy internet service provider Tiscali South Africa on Friday. "I do believe that this is the best outcome," said Diego Massida, managing director of Tiscali SA.
United States aircraft on Monday bombed the vast cemetery in Najaf, where Shi’ite Muslim militiamen have been hunkered down, while sporadic clashes continued to flare around the holy Iraqi city’s revered shrine. The US military denied that a US helicopter had fired a missile into the outer western wall of the mosque compound.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=120891">Journalists seized on Najaf road</a>
The official opposition Democratic Alliance says the near-record current account deficit recorded in the second quarter of 2004 of R49-billion — 3,7% of gross domestic product — "is cause for concern". Shadow finance minister Raenette Taljaard said there are at least four reasons for this jump in the figures.
South African information technology group Datatec on Monday announced that it has acquired United States group Solution Technology for a maximum consideration of $15,7-million. The group is funding the acquisition using group cash resources and may issue Datatec ordinary shares to the Solution Technology vendors.
South Africa must have the biggest mall culture in the world. I discovered this on arrival. If you want to check out what the different classes and cultures of South Africa feel like, go hang out in the mall. Any mall. (Well, any northern suburbs mall. The malls in Soweto and the southern suburbs are a bit different, of course.) Everything happens in the mall.
There’s more to the possible appointment of Snuki Zikalala as managing director of news and current affairs at the SABC than the private media admit, argues Prof. Tawana Kupe.
George Monbiot, internationally renowned author, UK <i>Guardian</i> newspaper columnist and recipient of a United Nations Global 500 Award for Outstanding Environmental Achievement will be giving the keynote address at EnviroMedia 2004.
Zimbabwe’s Information Minister — Jonathan Moyo, who has closed down three newspapers and ordered the arrest of more than 75 journalists — has been accused of seizing a wildlife sanctuary and turning it into a "slaughterhouse". Conservationists say South African hunters are paying to mow down wildlife.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=120842">In Mugabe we trust</a>
Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s militia still occupied their mosque stronghold in Najaf on Saturday despite handing the keys to a top Shi’ite Muslim cleric, and fought a fierce battle with United States forces in the twin city of Kufa. Two mortar bombs were fired on US positions 200m from the Imam Ali Shrine at about 9.50am local time.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=19686">’Death after death, blood after blood'</a>
Inside the pockmarked entrance of Najaf’s Imam Ali Shrine, there were no police to be seen on Friday afternoon. Only hours earlier a senior Iraqi government official had claimed that Iraqi police had secured the shrine, apparently bringing to an end the two-week standoff with Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s militia.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=120807">’No truth’ to Najaf victory claims</a>
A Corporate Law Reform Bill is scheduled to be put to the South African Cabinet for approval by September next year, while the drafting process is expected to be completed by the end of this year. It is expected that a single corporate entity will replace distinctions between close corporations and public and private companies.
South African cellular network operator MTN Group on Friday issued a statement in a bid to allay concerns that the public — and in particular its subscribers — might have regarding other cellphone users tapping into their calls. The operator said "it is near impossible" for anyone to eavesdrop on GSM cellular conversations.
Old Mutual South Africa has announced the resignation of Sello Moloko, CEO of Old Mutual Asset Managers (Omam) South Africa. He will be replaced by Thabo Dloti, currently executive general manager of Group Schemes at Old Mutual. Sparks said it was with "deep regret" that he had accepted Moloko’s resignation.