Pro-whaling Japan narrowly failed on Monday in a bold attempt to ensure that voting at the International Whaling Commission is carried out in secret. Japan said secret balloting would allow small nations to vote without fear of economic or political pressure from foreign governments or anti-whaling organisations.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=118949">Dark clouds on anti-whaling horizon</a>
Casino and gaming equipment group Admiral Leisure looks set to be the latest company to delist from the JSE Securities Exchange. Austrian Gaming Industries GmbH (AGI) — a company incorporated in Austria — is proposing a scheme of arrangement to acquire all of the shares held by shareholders.
No staff will be retrenched when the South African Social Security Agency starts operating next year, Minister of Social Development Zola Skweyiya said on Monday. "[Under] the Labour Relations Act, all staff in the social security function will be transferred to the agency," Skweyiya told reporters in Cape Town.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=118944">Govt outlines social security agency</a>
While the Zambian hotels and resorts fronting the Victoria Falls are teeming with tourists, it is relatively quiet on the other side of the river. "Zimbabwe’s political and economic woes have benefited us tremendously," explains one of the locals, adding that tourism has probably been the biggest benefactor.
A team from the national Department of Social Development is visiting the Western Cape to outline the processes of the establishment of the South African Social Security Agency, the government news agency said on Monday. The agency will ultimately take over from provinces the payment of social welfare grants.
The South African rand broke free of its narrow trading range on Friday, breaching the R6,00 per dollar level in afternoon trade. The rand was quoted at R5,9913 per dollar from an overnight close of R6,1001 — the first time it has traded below R6,00 since October 1999.
Benin customs police said on Thursday they have arrested four traffickers trying to smuggle 27 Beninese and Nigerian children out of the country on a minibus, first to Togo and then on to Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. The traffickers were stopped with the children aged between six and 12 at the Hillacondji customs post on the Togo border.
The president of the transitional government in Burundi, Domitien Ndayizeye, and representatives of three of the country’s main political parties will be in South Africa this weekend to discuss power-sharing arrangements. In a parallel event, women of South Africa will be holding talks with Burundi women.
"When viewing the photographs of Jo Ractliffe one realises that it is not only what the photographer captures within the lens that is of significance, but also that which lies at the edges or just beyond the image which is worthy of contemplation." Curator Warren Siebrits talks to photographer Jo Ractliffe about dogs, donkeys and the CCB.
A high court tug-of-war over prime property in Port Elizabeth is turning the vision of a giant statue of Nelson Mandela into little more than a pipe dream. Transport parastatal Transnet, which owns the land, has distanced itself in court papers from the proposed statue, saying it has "no intention of participating in the proposed development".
Janjaweed is not a name. It is a curse. To the militia’s victims the Arabic word has come to mean devil on horseback, but the chief "devil" accused of bringing devastation to Sudan sits not on horseback but in a plush armchair in his family residence in Khartoum. He is allegedly the most senior field commander of the Janjaweed.
Every parent knows the moment the balance of dependency shifts. Nothing needs be said; both parties know instinctively that from now on it is negotiation time. It is the recognition of equality of power. Governments know it, too. Phoney equality — as represented by the P in Nepad (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) — is seen for what it is.
The <i>Mail & Guardian</i>’s 2/10 rating for Ntsika Enterprise Promotion Agency in its assessment of agencies last week does not reflect our reputation as a leading agency that supports small business in South Africa. We operate as a wholesale agency, which means we use intermediary organisations to deliver business services on our behalf, writes Lefa Mallane.
Listed South African banking group Standard Bank and associated financial services group Liberty Group have announced agreements which will see an effective 10% of Standard Bank’s South African banking operations and 10% of Liberty Life’s South African operations go to broad-based black groupings.
A Companies Amendment Bill, which will be piloted through Parliament by Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa, has been tabled in Parliament. The Bill deals with such matters as the circumstances under which "persons" are disqualified from being directors of companies.
As the South African government is finally coming to understand, President Robert Mugabe and his ministers make pledges and assurances they have no intention of honouring. Mugabe’s stance on the independent media must be seen in the same light. And now Mugabe’s state has turned its guns on the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>.
Botswana, with the highest per-capita rate of HIV infection in world, is struggling to cope with the demand for treatment, despite pouring much of its diamond wealth into the battle against the disease. “We are faced with an ever-worsening, perpetual, insatiable demand,” said Ernest Darkoh, operations manager for Botswana’s anti-retroviral drugs programme.
The civil war in Côte d’Ivoire is allowing government figures, businessmen and other high-ranking figures to cash in spectacularly, says a new report compiled by a top international think tank. It says that the conflict is so lucrative that those benefitting from it may be ‘ill-served by the restoration of peace’.
A new report, compiled by the United States and the United nations, warns that more than one in five children in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe will be orphaned by Aids. The report further found that 20% of Southern African households with children are taking care of one or more Aids orphans.
Police say they are certain that Leigh Matthews, who disappeared on Friday after being held to ransom, has not left the country. It is five days since her family last heard from her, when on Friday afternoon her captors allowed her to speak on the telephone. "We are looking into every single lead," Investigating officer Gabriel Hall said.
The intermittent debate around the role of black intellectuals, especially academics — whether they are absent from public debates and hence have minimal impact on critical policy issues — is apt and needs to be urgently addressed. Though these accusations are partly grounded in fact, there are gaps in the analyses that need to be confronted.
"You may not like what he does, but are you prepared to give up his right to do it?" That is the tag line on Milos Forman’s 1996 movie <i>The People vs Larry Flynt</i>, which tells the story of how the bellicose founder of <i>Hustler</i> magazine defended his first amendment rights in courts across the US. If they made a movie about local porn king Joe Theron, the tag line wouldn’t be much different.
South African business will speak the common language of investors around the world for the first time when South Africa adopts global auditing standards on January 1 next year, the chairperson of the South African Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, Suresh Kana, said in a statement on Tuesday.
FirstRand announced on Tuesday that Cyril Ramaphosa has resigned as a non-executive director of the banking group. "Mr Ramaphosa … has been offered an opportunity to participate in a BEE [black economic empowerment] transaction, which will result in a conflict of interest with his existing position," a statement said.
Microsoft will release a major update to the Windows XP computer operating system in August that focuses on boosting protection against malicious intrusions. The company had previously said the free update, called Service Pack 2, would be available sometime this summer but did not offer a specific date.
A five-year community participation project in Malawi has improved the quality of education in more than 2 000 of the country’s schools. The project aims to alleviate problems linked to a the glaring shortage of facilities, poor management and an inadequate number of teachers.
Reality is sucking a little too much these days, so I figured for a change, a column filled with stupid stuff <i>and</i> serious stuff might relieve the boredom. Let’s dive straight into the deeply serious stuff with a little game known as Rock, Paper — Saddam!
Israel’s Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, said on Sunday that the World Court’s ruling against his country’s vast barrier through the West Bank encourages terrorists, shortly after a bomb at a Tel Aviv bus stop killed a young woman. Sharon said his government "totally rejects" Friday’s non-binding ruling by the International Court of Justice.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=118506">Court declares Israel barrier illegal</a>
I’m not an expert on sport. But being locked up in a foreign hotel room often makes you feel like you are. Sport, sport, sport, you realise, is all you are about to be served — unless you feel like following another aimless coming-of-age film on the movie channel, or submitting your soul to the suicidal power of various gospel choirs dotted around the southern hemisphere.
Given recent economic developments, South Africa’s domestic growth prospects seem positive and in general most factors favour a containment of inflation within the target range, according to South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni. However, he had a word of caution about the rate of increase in CPIX.
Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla has appointed a committee of inquiry to probe the country’s liquidation industry, it was announced on Friday. This follows allegations of fraud and illegal practices in the multi-billion rand industry. Mabandla said the committee would be appointed as soon as possible and would report back to her within three months.
CDS OF THE WEEK: What’s new on the shelves at your local music store: Alanis Morissette on Prozac, the Hanson brothers all grown-up, Dead Prez resurrected, and more …