"Now because my editor (peace be upon him) has this odd idea that I focus on conspiracy issues too much, I figure I’ll try real hard to keep away from politics for the rest of this column, and instead snipe at safe and easy targets — like religion, the ANC, and rightwingers, and also give away the endings to some current movies instead". (<i>You’re fired. Ed</i>) Ian Fraser looks at the writing on the web.
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday congratulated the Independent Electoral Commission on its readiness to hold Wednesday’s general election and urged political parties to do their part to ensure the poll is free and fair.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=34069">’No land, no vote'</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=34047">De Lille ‘more popular’ than Leon</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=34067">Tutu allays fears about ANC win</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=34055">Eastern Cape ANC apologises to DA</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3_fl2.asp?o=40922">Special Report: Elections 2004</a>
It is estimated that Zimbabwe is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. Hundreds of people have been killed, maimed or injured by mines that were planted by government troops and their opponents in the 1970s, during Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle. A toll has also been taken on domestic and wild animals.
South African resources group Mvelaphanda Resources has announced the appointment of James Wellsted as investor relations executive at the company with effect from 1 May 2004. In 2003 he was ranked the top-rated gold analyst in the <i>Financial Mail’s</i> analyst rankings.
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>New National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk promised jobs, more police officers, teachers, the rapid roll-out of anti-retrovirals and the rights of parents in school governing bodies while touting family values at a rally at Eastridge, Mitchells Plain, on Monday.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3_fl2.asp?o=40922">Special Report: Elections 2004</a>
A spokesperson for the United States army admitted on Thursday that US-led forces in Iraq are no longer in control of two cities, Kut and Najaf, while US forces are engaged in "moderate fighting" in the western city of Fallujah.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=33961">Insurgents threaten to burn hostages</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=33945">Corpses litter Iraq rebel bastion</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=33878">Battles rage from north to south</a>
‘Why should artists vote for you?" This was the question posed to the fishers-of-votes by arts organisations in different provinces over the past month. Generally, it is pretty hard for arts-related concerns to get on to the radar screens of political parties, but in the game of elections, even artists qualify as players, writes Mike van Graan.
High-flying city manager of Durban’s eThekwini Metro Dr Michael Sutcliffe appears unduly concerned about finding who is blowing the whistle on controversial council contracts.
Minister of Trade and Industry Alec Erwin’s recent statement that Canadian aluminum producer Alcan will shortly announce its decision on whether it will build a R2,2-billion aluminum smelter in the Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ) in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, failed to inspire confidence.
<i>Escape</i>, together with Forever Aventura Resorts, is offering a lucky reader the chance to win a super getaway for six people at Aventura Blydepoort, on the edge of the beautiful Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga. To win, answer the following question: Which two rivers meet at Bourke’s Luck potholes?
Synthetic fuels group Sasol and PetroSA, the state-owned oil and gas exploration company, are to sign a heads of agreement document in Pretoria on Thursday to collaborate and possibly engage in joint projects relating to natural gas and chemical operations.
A black empowerment consortium has acquired just more than 25% of listed packaging group Astrapak’s subsidiary Pak 2000, a leading manufacturer of plastic containers for the petrochemical industry, it was announced on Wednesday. The consortium comprises Durban-based entrepreneurs Michael Maziya and Anand Raidoo.
President Thabo Mbeki and his wife, Zanele arrived in Kigali, Rwanda, on Wednesday morning for the commemoration of the genocide in that country 10 years ago, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. They are accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and other senior government officials.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=33786">West ignores Rwanda anniversary</a>
The ruling party is out there on the hustings on a platform of “fighting poverty and creating jobs." Apparently this is the catch-all answer to South Africa’s ills – get the people working, and crime, the country’s highest-profile scourge (along with Aids), will disappear.
"What do you think happens to the corpses of dead dogs and cats? You think they get buried? Burned? How about ‘rendered’, which is a nice way of saying ‘melted down’, and then sold as beef by-products. Now ready to be put into (hopefully) only pet food, and then eaten again. Smacks of Mad Cow Disease to me", writes Ian Fraser.
"Given that the idea of introducing a land tax, or property rates on farm land, originated from the unpopular previous minister of agriculture, Derek Hanekom, farmers have always been sceptical about its real intent and political motivation."
John Pienaar outlines the arguments for farmers’ resistance to the principle of such a tax.
By this time next week, the African National Congress will be headed for its third term in office and there it will stay until the "Second Coming", if an exuberant Deputy President Jacob Zuma is to be believed. But, in vibrant democracies, regular and constitutional changes of government are vital. Waiting for Jesus is not an option; the ANC should serve time on the opposition benches in future.
United States troops battled guerrillas on Tuesday on the edge of Fallujah in an operation to crush the insurgency there, as violence inspired by supporters of an anti-American Shiite Muslim cleric again spread to at least four cities, with 30 Iraqis killed.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=33744">Radical Shiite cleric leaves mosque</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=33724">On the brink of anarchy</a>
The increase at midnight on Tuesday of the retail price of petrol and diesel will further dampen economic growth in South Africa, says official opposition energy spokesperson Ian Davidson. "All taxes and duties that currently make up almost 40% of the fuel price should be reviewed," he said.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Solidarity trade union pledged their support on Tuesday for the National Union of Mineworkers in its fight against Harmony Gold over the possible closure of at least six mine shafts. Harmony announced on Friday that it might have to close the shafts.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=0&o=46097">Union suspends Harmony wage talks</a>
In an effort to arrest worsening humanitarian conditions in Zimbabwe, the United Nations is seeking additional funds to support relief efforts through to the end of the year. The total of $95,4-million in funding requirements for 2003 to the end of 2004 includes $31,1-million requested by local and international NGOs.
South Africa’s manufacturing sector has been shedding jobs as the strong rand and drastic cuts in import tariffs erode competitiveness. The issue has emerged as a major cause of concern as the country prepares for its presidential and legislative elections this month.
The Ernst & Young Financial Services Index increased from an already bullish 86 index points in the fourth quarter of 2003 to a near-record 94 index points in the first quarter of 2004. Since its inception in the first quarter of 2002, business confidence in the banking sector has varied between a low of 53 to a high of 95 index points.
Given the poor harvests in parts of Mozambique over the past three years, the two-month delay in the onset of main planting-season rains is cause for vigilance, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fews Net) has cautioned. As a result of the delay, Fews Net has placed Mozambique on "watch status".
South Africa can be an example of how labour will organise in the 21st century in other countries adjusting to globalisation. Also, the scenes of labour unrest in South Africa during the 1980s are likely to be replicated in China, which is currently a leading recepient of capital. This is the opinion of Beverly Silver, a professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
United States forces attacked armed Shiite Muslim groups in Baghdad and sealed off the town of Fallujah on Monday after dozens of people died in mounting opposition to their year-old military occupation of Iraq. Apache helicopters sprayed fire on units of the Mehdi Army, the private militia of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=33715">City under siege after violence</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=33658">Troops clash with Shias</a>
Nedbank expects the prime rate to increase by 200 basis points to 13,5% in 2004, with the first 100 basis points hike expected in August followed by another of a similar margin in December. However, the key uncertainty remains the rand, the bank’s economic unit says.
The thing is, we all now fervently believe that it is safe to venture out of the woods. The thing is, it isn’t. Consider this. Nosimo Balindlela, provincial minister for sports, arts and culture for the Eastern Cape, has just instituted a civil claim to the tune of R100 000 against a (presumably white) woman, Erika de Beyer, who called her a baboon in the parking lot of an East London shopping centre some time last year.
Several Palestinians were wounded and more than a dozen arrested after clashing with Israeli police on Friday in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest site. Police conducted a rare raid into the compound, which is also revered by Jews, at the end of Friday prayers.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=33590">Sharon threat condemned</a>
Global banking group HSBC, which was recently awarded a banking licence in South Africa, has opened a branch in the country — its first sub-Saharan branch in Africa. The branch is based in Johannesburg and was officially opened by South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni.
South African Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe has announced that Umthunzi Telecoms Consortium is the preferred bidder on the MTN tender that was placed on September 19 last year. The government expects the transaction to be about R2,5-billion.
My personal astrologer has warned me that with my Saturn in decline and my Pluto eclipsed by my moon influence, which is in a flat spin, I must avoid being “personal" in anything I say or write for the next few weeks. With this in mind I will refer only to the rather inane comment made last week by a certain SAfm phone-in talk-show host who shall remain nameless.