Born in America, at home in Africa. Are Negroes the Wandering Jews of Africa? The question arises because I, for one, am becoming aware of more and more Negroes wandering into South Africa — and often wandering in to stay.
"We used to think the police were brutal but competent. Now we know they were brutal because they are incompetent."
Professor Jonathan Moyo, Information Minister Plenipotentiary in the government of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, is sometimes capable of making a surprisingly lucid statement in the face of rabid questioning from the world’s gutter press.
Do my eyes and ears deceive me? Or is it indeed so? South African communists have been conducting a campaign over the past month to force local banks to give ordinary folk access to, yes, <i>capital</i> – to banking services, particularly loans and the like?
Like everyone who was once a child, I am no stranger to the business of closing my eyes or hiding under my blankets in the hope that, when I next look, a problem will have gone away
Dumisani Makhaye need not worry. He is unlikely ever to be accused of moderation, proportion or good sense
I have never been sure whether it is the first or the last refuge of a scoundrel but, in my experience, patriotism and its tunes attract scoundrels much as the sound of a flushing toilet draws a sewer rat from his hideaway
<b>Contributions from guest writers</b>
That a commission has been appointed to investigate the fall of the rand against other currencies almost defies belief
Gun owners surely have to be the most responsible people in the world
Do you ever get so paranoid you think the car in front of you is trying to follow you?
When it comes to elaborating grand plans, noble sentiments and making pious pronouncements, few political parties can match the African National Congress
Because hope springs eternal in human affairs, societies prefer not to wallow in their past failures or those of their governments
Relations between rulers and intellectuals are often characterised by uneasiness, mistrust and, at times, outright antagonism
Ironically, those at the forefront of challenging the govenment’s misguided policies on HIV/Aids are from white institutions. Why have black academics been silent for so long?
When the state uses violence to suppress personal liberties, it sends the message that it is acceptable to violate the rights of others
Durban is losing its lustre. If there is no smoking gun behind the mysterious decline of our beloved rand, then I’m a Dutchman. While the rich (and especially the very rich) get richer, the poor get more and more baffled about the meaning of life.
A lot of Christians (as well as adherents to other religions and the general mass of non-believers, of course) would envy the ease with which Muslims are allegedly able to terminate marriages that have passed their sell-by date.
So it has finally come to this. A R40 000 bronze bust of Durban poet Douglas Livingstone bolted to its cement pedestal in our beloved Kwasuka Theatre has been stolen and will probably fetch less than R1 000 when melted down as scrap! While it may be easy to see this outrage as yet another […]
Lagos | Wednesday A DELEGATION of the west African regional grouping Ecowas is scheduled to meet in Washington with representatives of the European Union, Bretton Woods institutions and African Development Bank (ADB) on cooperation, a statement said on Tuesday. The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) said in the statement sent from Abuja that […]
Mail & Guardian journalist Khadija Magardie is among four South African finalists in this year’s CNN African Journalist of the Year award. Magardie was last year’s runner-up in the Duma Nokwe Human Rights in Journalism award and a recent recipient of the Ameen Akhalwaya Journalist of the Year award. The M&G’s rugby columnist, Andy Capostagno, […]
Abuja | Thursday THE Nigerian government warned on Wednesday it will prosecute foreign journalists who publish “malicious falsehood” about the country following a report in US news magazine Time linking the government with corruption. Last week’s issue of Time reported that Information Minister Jerry Gana called a meeting with foreign journalists in the capital, Abuja, […]
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 46 496 650 at 12.58 pm on Thursday April 25 A testing time: AngloGold says its research data estimates that 29% of its workforce is HIV-positive. The company estimates this will increase its costs in its South African operations by between $4 (R44) and $6 (R66) an ounce. The company says […]
Donwald Pressly Foreigners have found ways of robbing the state of millions of rands in social welfare grants to which they are not entitled, including old age pensions meant for the poor. This emerges from Auditor General Shauket Fakie’s general report on government spending up to March 31 2001, presented to the public accounts committee. […]
Pretoria | Wednesday RWANDAN-backed Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rebels have warned that government troops now allied with former rebels backed by Uganda were reinforcing front lines, and pleaded for a resumption of talks on the future of the huge central African country. “It’s time for us to sit down and sort out our problems,” […]
As computers become more pervasive, the scenarios of science fiction are not that far-fetched, writes David Shapshak I am typing this article using an innovative new keyboard for my Palm hand-held computer, which has no keys. It is not even of the usual plastic that most keyboards are made from. This ingenious keyboard by Logitech […]
Nairobi | Thursday RESEARCHERS in Kenya Thursday announced the launch of clinical tests of a trial vaccine for malaria, one of Africa’s most deadly diseases. “The trial, launched this month in adult volunteers in western Kenya, ultimately will test whether the vaccine can help children fight the infection before it causes illness,” said a statement […]
The headline “The ANC’s uncompromising street fighter” (March 28) bears reference. Firstly, it is not true that there are disenfranchised MECs in the African National Congress and that they might appear to be vocal Ndaweni Mahlangu supporters. All MECs and premiers are automatically ex-officio members of the provincial executive committee (PEC). Secondly, one of those […]
Monrovia | Thursday FEAR of rebel attack has sent some 7 000 people in northern Liberian scattering for cover in already-crowded shelters near the city of Gbarnga, an official said on Wednesday. Programme Officer of the Liberia Refugee Agency (LRRRC), James Youquoi, said sounds of shooting around the St. Paul River, which separates the northern […]
Reaching out to humanity Matthew Krouse The grooviest album of the week, and at a nice price, is Just My Humanity, a local compilation of tracks from the mythical German !K7 label. This is the first time the label has let out such a range of its finery to an outside agent. In this instance […]
OLIVIER KNOX, Washington | Wednesday US PRESIDENT George Bush welcomed Morocco’s King Mohammed VI to the White House on Tuesday with a pledge that he will seek to bind the two “war on terrorism” allies in a free trade deal. “Today, I’ve informed His Majesty that our government will work to enact a free trade […]
Richard Calland is plainly not an anti-Semite: he is too cultured, and too conscious, to be guilty of such vulgarity. What Mr Calland himself may allow though is that he is prone to a number of other crude and destructive intellectual impulses. In common with all political columnists, he exaggerates, wildly. Nuance, subtlety, qualification and […]
Ntuthuko Maphumulo Two South African clubs, Orlando Pirates and Santos, take part in Confederation of African Football (CAF) competitions this weekend. Orlando Pirates play in the African Champions League, hoping to win the title a second time after they beat Asec Mimosa in the 1995 final. They face TP Mazembe of Congo Kinshasa, also former […]