Staff Reporter

It is true that the media landscape and the public are remarkably different from that which existed under apartheid. Media targeted at and run by black people and politically left groupings operated on the fringe of an essentially white, conservative public sphere.

Controversy continues to dog the Immigration Act, as regulations issued in terms of it by Minister of Home Affairs Mangosuthu Buthelezi receive flak from both the ruling party and the opposition.

A controversial new Ethiopian draft press law violates African goals of freedom of expression and good governance, Ethiopian journalists said on Tuesday.

The Commonwealth is threatening to split along racial lines over the continuing controversy of whether the organisation should extend Zimbabwe’s suspension.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=11037">Sigh… still no decision on England match</a><br>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=11002&t=1">Zimbabwe decision ducked</a><br>

So it seems like al-Qaeda muffed it again. It is extraordinary that the president of the US should be inclined to spend so much time, money and energy on trying to snuff out an outfit with the organisational capacity of Laurel and Hardy.

Zimbabwe, as I allowed myself to imagine in the final days before I went there, would be rowdy and in the terrifying grip of a barbaric militia, brandishing long knives. In my imagination there were images of thousands of frail Zimbabweans thronging the city streets and villages.

Buthelezi’s defiance of apartheid is what eventually caused the demise of the system, writes MP and national IFP spokesman Musa Zondi.

The widespread availability of small-arms among Angolan civilians could give rise to an increase in crime and banditry, analysts said on Friday.

King Mswati III delivered a much anticipated speech on Friday when he opened the Houses of Parliament, but his briefest State of the Kingdom address ever avoided mentioning the on-going political crises, and offered only one new initiative to combat Aids, poverty and the current food crisis.

Deputy President Jacob Zuma rejects outright allegations that he attempted to secure a bribe from an arms procurement contractor, his office said on Monday.

Shock: About 375 670 South Africans are expected to die from HIV/Aids this year, an increase of more than 30% from the estimated 219 660 Aids-related deaths in 2000, according to projections by the Human Sciences Research Council.

It must be the new presidential jet that’s doing it. As he started travelling around the globe in his Boeing, Thabo Mbeki was going through another metamorphosis. He has now emerged from his chrysalis as one of the world’s collossi.

They became an international pastime that was universally understood – "Bushisms", the statements and behavioural oddities of the man who was bidding to become president of the United States. E-mail queues around the world were clogged with George W Bush jokes.

Kenyan women’s rights groups have expressed outrage at recent incidents in which policemen have been accused of rape, and urged the authorities to take appropriate action to instil discipline within the force in order to stamp out such crimes.

Investigators for the Special Court for Sierra Leone may complete their work by June, the Court said this week. Depending on the information the investigators collect, the Court may thereafter indict and eventually try suspects.

Members of the South African Maritime Authority board are divided over an investigation into CEO Sipho Msikinya, amid allegations that chairpersonis protecting him. The allegations of money squandering and mismanagement were disclosed by the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>.

The was a big question mark over whether Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri is overstepping her powers by determining a new process in selecting the 51% stakeholder in the second national operator, says official opposition MP Dene Smuts.

The negative impact that a stronger rand will have on export performance as well as industries competing against imported products is expected to lead to a slower growth rate of 2,3% during the current year.

About 700 homeless people are being housed in social halls in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, as the City Council decides how to reintegrate them back into society.

When Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was convicted of fraud and theft last week, it was decency and high ideals that she was guilty of betraying.

One morning, towards the end of a long and turbulent parliamentary season, the speaker of the South African National Assembly glanced across the African National Congress benches, brimming as usual with enthusiastic democratic faces.

Port terminals – the interface between the ship and the shore, or where trans-shipment takes place between ship and ship – are critical to the conduct of seaborne trade worldwide.

The first ever African Union summit, which opened on Monday, comes at a critical time. While African leaders try to resolve key sticking points hampering the six-month old organisation, crises rage in countries such as Ivory Coast, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

With five days to go before the official opening of the Cricket World Cup, South African Tourism has finalised preparations to ensure that the country’s reputation as a year-round, preferred tourist destination is reinforced and carried home by both fans and players visiting the country.

The South African government will continue working in partnership with the mining industry and other stakeholders to ensure that the principles and values of the new mining legislation are upheld, Minister of Minerals and Energy, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said in a statement.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has urged African leaders to resist attempts by the international community to interfere in the continent’s domestic politics.