Staff Reporter

At dawn, Tsitsi Savanhu wakes up her teenage daughter so that they can prepare for the 25km journey to neighbouring Mozambique. Once there, they will dig up as much ginger as possible before rivals descend to challenge their claim to certain areas.

"I tend to get massively irked at those simple types, many of whom are employed in local media, who know little or nothing about political science, intelligence or counter-intelligence history. But the truth is hidden in plain sight and the real conspiracy theories are right in front of us." Conspiracy nut Ian Fraser unveils the truth.

A study by South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council has confirmed earlier findings regarding the under reporting of emigration by highly skilled South Africans to major consuming countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

South African producer prices for all commodities fell by 1,8% in the 12 months to the end of December from a 2,5% decline for the 12 months to the end of November, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday. ""The figure is just about spot-on with what we expected," said an economist.

The <i>Daily News</i>, Zimbabwe’s lone independent daily newspaper, on Tuesday won a stay of execution in its battle to continue publishing. The country’s most senior judge postponed a bid by state lawyers to have the newspaper closed until the Supreme Court had decided on an array of law suits involving the paper.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=30277&t=1">Consultant called for Mugabe’s ‘removal'</a>

Southern Africa is facing another difficult year of food insecurity. Donors have so far provided $168-million of a $533-million humanitarian appeal covering six countries in the region. Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Regional Office for Southern Africa Chris Kaye, speaks on the humanitarian community’s response to the current emergency.

Partially privatised telecommunications utility Telkom has been slammed for continued anti-competitive behaviour after it lodged an appeal against a Competition Tribunal order compelling it to hand over copies of disputed client agreements to a rival operator.

King Mswati has expressed concern that Swaziland’s international image was being tarnished by "cowardly" citizens who expose the country’s problems. Mswati made the remark at the weekend while delivering his annual speech on the state of the kingdom at Engabezweni royal village, 25km east of the capital, Mbabane.

As in Lewis Carroll’s <i>Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland</i>, nothing is ever as it appears on the surface in what one journalistic wag has nicknamed "Mugabeland". This is Zimbabwe, the politically and economically tattered Southern African country President Robert Mugabe has straddled like a Colossus since independence in in 1980.

Dealing with the medical-aid industry use to be a science, now it’s an art, says Medihelp’s CEO Anton Rijnen, referring to the juggling act of trying to guess annual increases. There are reportedly seven million members of medical aids, but that number is said to be declining because of the lack of affordability.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=30170">Manto lauds medical-aid reforms</a>

Cash-strapped homeowners whose properties are repossessed and sold by their banks are likely to get a better deal in future, thanks to recent interventions by the Ombudsman for Banking Services, Advocate Neville Melville, who became deeply concerned by the particulars of a complaint received by his office.

The gloves have come off in the African bid to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Earlier this month Egypt tried to have the South African bid red-carded by fabricating a slanderous statement by Speaker Frene Ginwala. The Egyptian minister responsible for this furiously rowed back from his allegations, but the damage has been done.

Zimbabwe’s popular independent <i>Daily News</i> — a fierce critic of the government — hit the stands for a second day on Friday, four months after being forcibly shut down by authorities who have renewed moves to gag it again. Like the previous day, the daily was snapped up by curious readers.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=30019">Zim govt seeks to gag Daily News</a>

Zimbabwe’s destruction and descent towards starvation and madness continues, helped almost singlehandedly by the South African government which clearly has little or no morals any more, writes Ian Fraser. Read the AP report entitled "Zimbabwe cruelty extends to domestic animals", and Cathy Buckle’s latest letter called "Little begging girl".

Remember those schoolyard crazes? When one kid would arrive with a yo-yo/dingbat/tamaguchi and everyone else would just have to have one? Oom Krisjan’s thoughts strayed back to his schooldays recently when he saw all the little ones lining up for their first day of grind.

Zimbabwean police on Wednesday complied with a court order and finally left the printing works of independent newspaper the <i>Daily News</i> for the first time since it was shut down in September, said the newspaper’s legal adviser, Gugulethu Moyo. "We hope to get a paper on the streets tomorrow," said Moyo.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=29943">Cops must stop dogging Daily News</a>

Cellular telephone services provider Vodacom, in which partially privatised telecommunications giant Telkom has a 50% stake, has surpassed the 10-million customer mark. At the end of 2003 it had 10,2-million customers on its networks operated in South Africa and other African countries.

The fourth World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, comes not a moment too soon. As 2004 begins, conflict and terrorism continue to grab the headlines, while issues of inequality and injustice are not given the urgency they require. This is true even though we know that poverty and social exclusion are at the root of so many of the problems that we have today.