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/ 1 April 2003

The truth about the war

It’s old hat, of course, to reiterate that the first casualty in war is always the truth. In the 1991 Gulf War a clear decision was taken to keep journalists away from the front lines, in order to avoid embarrassing disclosures of atrocities and on-side ineptitude. This time round, in another war that makes no sense, as far as anyone with half a brain can see, the opposite tactic has been used.

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/ 31 March 2003

Let’s move to propoultrianal representation

They call South Africa’s electoral method by a fine-sounding name, “proportional representation”, in order to cover up the fact that it’s actually a bag of extremely smelly political bones that has far less to do with the practical implementation of democratic ideals than it has with keeping one’s party cronies safely in the driving seats of all those tasteful Mercedes and Pajeros.

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/ 28 March 2003

New CEO for Sanlam

The announcement of the appointment of Santam (SNT) CEO Johan van Zyl as the new head of Sanlam (SLM) on Friday ends months of uncertainty and speculation about the future of the financial services giant following the sudden departure of Leon Vermaak late last year

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/ 24 March 2003

From here to Ouagadougou

It ain’t so easy getting to Ouagadougou from Johannesburg. It would be nice if all these New Partnership for Africa’s Development and African Union initiatives paid less attention to providing our leaders with fancy aeroplanes and paid more attention to how ordinary natives from Africa can get from A to B on their own patch of ground.

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/ 22 March 2003

HIV/Aids barometer – March 2003

Pain in the ass: Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) — associated with vaginal and anal cancer, and pre-cancerous lesions — has been found in a significant number of HIV-positive men who have never had anal intercourse, say researchers from the Georges Pompidou Hospital outpatient clinic in Paris.

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/ 22 March 2003

Towards a more perilous world

The war in Iraq is an unjust war for many reasons. It has no international sanction. The United Nations is solely concerned with Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction; President George W Bush has no international authority to pursue regime change. But the war is also about revenge.

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/ 22 March 2003

World Cup not played in quarantine

The cricket World Cup has not been played behind some ethical quarantine, nor will future ones be. The crookery hasn’t gone and this World Cup no more celebrates true sporting glory than previous tournaments prompted the need for the opening of 70 secret offshore bank accounts by one of the most burnished of cricketing icons.

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/ 20 March 2003

Ebola deaths in Congo reach 111

The death toll in the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Cuvette-Ouest Region of northern Congo has continued to rise. Of the 123 people known to have been infected with the haemorrhagic fever, 111 had died, Joseph M’boussa, who is heading the fight against the virus, told a United Nations news agency.