STEFAANS BRMMER and JASON BLATT, Johannesburg | Friday THE African National Congress accepted at least $10-million in 1994 from a Taiwanese government slush fund set up to promote the interests of that country against those of mainland China. Revelations about the donation -confirmed by the former Taiwanese ambassador to South Africa – again raise the […]
Unbeaten National Currency enjoys a huge reputation after just two visits to the track and if trainer Michael Azzie’s spontaneous burst of rhyme in the winners’ enclosure after his facile victory in the Storm Bird Stakes is anything to go by, the two-year-old should come home lonely in the R150 000 Grade 2 Protea Stakes […]
Bongani Majola Plans to merge Technikon Natal and ML Sultan Technikon less than two weeks from now have been thrown into disarray by Technikon Natal’s financial woes. Tension between the two institutions emerged this week as ML Sultan staff and students vowed to take legal action to suspend the merger until pressing financial issues are […]
The civil society sector has recently been bogged down by politics. But what are the issues facing it? Glenda Daniels The biggest issue for South Africa, says Lloyd Mdakane, executive head of the civil society process for South Africa, “is the demand for clean, drinkable water. This is emerging over and over again. And even […]
THE captain of a Russian boat which allegedly poached Patagonian toothfish from Australian waters has died in hospital after drinking cleaning fluid mixed with orange juice. The man not named by authorities had been critically ill and in a coma since drinking the lethal cocktail three weeks ago during a binge with two other Russians […]
SERJEANT AT THE BAR When the Labour Relations Act was passed in 1995, a system of specialist labour courts was introduced as part of the new dispensation. It was hoped that these courts, staffed by specialist judges, would create a coherent body of law in keeping with the principles of the Act. The new system […]
Mail & Guardian reporter A psychometric study by a United States university has found that Robert Mugabe suffers from a “bureaucratic-compulsive” syndrome and that he is likely to become increasingly dogmatic, inflexible and paranoid. The unit for the study of personality in politics, in the psychology department of St John’s University in Minnesota, based its […]
Put on those dancin’ shoes Riaan Wolmarans This week’s two recommended CDs are a local and an international offering in the dance genre. German producer, remixer and DJ Paul van Dyk’s double CD The Politics of Dancing (EMI) is an unusual creation. At first glance it seems to be just another mix album but VanDyk […]
MALIAN Prime Minister Mande Sidibe resigned on Monday, less than six weeks before presidential elections, and was immediately replaced by presidential secretary-general Modibo Keita. A communiqu issued by President Alpha Oumar Konare’s office said that Keita would organise the elections keeping in mind that the administration must be neutral. The polls will be held on […]
South African foreign policy was for sale, if reports on a major political scandal in the East are to be believed Stefaans Brmmer and Jason Blatt The African National Congress accepted at least $10-million in 1994 from a Taiwanese government slush fund set up to promote the interests of that country against those of mainland […]
Drew Forrest and Donwald Pressly President Thabo Mbeki has quietly affirmed the “legitimacy” of the Zimbabwean election, after a week’s silence in which he sought to divert world attention from his judgement on the poll by pressing for a coalition government in Zimbabwe. This week’s Cabinet statement said: “President Mbeki has noted and accepted the […]
M&G reporter The Johannesburg World Summit Company (Jowsco) is calling on South Africans to volunteer their skills and services to ensure that the World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002 is a success. Jowsco is inviting volunteers from all walks of life to assist the company on various identified tasks. Volunteers required include professionals, students, skilled […]
Antananarivo | Wednesday MADAGASCAN President Didier Ratsiraka and his self-declared successor Marc Ravalomanana will meet “within the next 24 to 48 hours”, sources in the capital Antananarivo said on Tuesday. The meeting was requested by the island nation’s armed forces which are under the command of the army chief of staff, General Ismail Mounibou, and […]
CRICKET Peter Robinson So that’s what it feels like, then. Just a pity, though, that the last time South Africa beat Australia, back in 1997 at Centurion Park, it was also a dead Test match with the tourists already having won the series. One obvious point to be drawn from this is that South Africa […]
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa Born: March 28 1936, Arequipa, Peru. Education: Leoncio Prado military academy, Lima; San Marco University, Lima; Complutense University Madrid (PhD 1959). Married: Julia Urquidi 1955-64; Patricia Llosa 1965- (two sons, Alvaro and Gonzalo; one daughter, Morgana). Career: 1951- journalist and writer; 1990 presidential candidate Peru; 2001- professor of Ibero-American literature […]
Cassandra Moodie So there you are in the lift in Zone 1 of the World Summit with Mercedes Sayagues, who writes about how to get laid at conferences (“Laying it on the line”, Mail & Guardian, February 22), and you spot “the gypsy” first. You need an opening line. If you want to be boring, […]
THE Israeli army said Tuesday it had completed its withdrawal from self-rule Palestinian territories that it had been occupying, with a pullout from the Bethlehem area of the West Bank and the north of the Gaza Strip. “The Israeli army withdrew during the night from positions it was occupying in the territories situated in zone […]
Isupport the ideas in your latest leader (“A heavy responsibility”, March 15). However, fairytales should be relegated to the innocence of childhood. The “leader” foisted upon South Africa by the African National Congress is not capable of any of the rational proposals you suggest for racial reasons and other less debilitating impediments. It is time […]
Goodbye, Russell Crowe. Step forward, Denzel Washington. In their battle for the Oscars, the Hollywood studios have unveiled their most potent weapon yet the celebrity endorsement, says Joe Neumaier In the weeks leading up to this year’s Oscar ceremony on Sunday, Hollywood’s annual parade of glad-handing and backbiting has reached new levels. The campaign has […]
Michelle Nel By the end of January the Johannesburg World Summit Company (Jowsco the Section 21 company organising the World Summit) had secured R300-million to host the biggest international event in the history of the country. This is more than half its targeted R550-million. The South African government (national, provincial and local levels) pledged R200-million. […]
THEBE MABANGA and DREW FORREST, Johannesburg | Friday THE government’s Growth and Development Summit will be postponed until at least July and possibly until much later, amid signs that big business has grave misgivings about the event. There are also indications that the labour movement and the government see the encounter in a very different […]
SOCCER Ngwako Modjadji Caledonian stadium in Pretoria will be the centre of attention this weekend when two Pretoria giants fight it out in the Premier Soccer League (PSL). In their first-round match Supersport United eclipsed Sundowns 2-1 and the Mamelodi side will be all out to avenge that defeat. The Brazilians have had a patchy […]
John Matshikiza’s acid depiction of Durban sinking into the post-apartheid twilight zone (“The not so Golden Mile”, March 15) preoccupied me as I walked at low tide along its beaches. Many points he makes are right: bumbling and greed are a destructive combination and its consequences are apparent in many places. But not everywhere. My […]
analysis Graham McIntosh MP On March 6 Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Ronnie Kasrils accepted, with much publicity, the Water Globe Award 2002 at Linz in Austria. Three criteria for the award are: equitable access, sustainable development and efficiency. Despite many achievements by the department, there are worrying shortcomings, as well as opportunities lost, […]
Nairobi | Friday A RWANDAN former priest sought for genocide has been arrested in Cameroon on a warrant for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the court announced on Friday in a statement. Hormidas Nsengimana is accused of leading a killer squad of employees of the Christ-Roi church college in Nyanza in attacks on […]
Mail & Guardian reporter Apart from the World Summit, which takes place in Sandton from August 26 to September 4, a Civil Society Global Forum will be held at Nasrec. The Wanderers Cricket Stadium will also host the Ubuntu Village, the cultural, transport and logistics hub. The Johannesburg World Summit Company (Jowsco), which is organising […]
Jaspreet Kindra Moses Mzila, a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)MP for Plumtree North, is a hurt man. Almost two decades ago he left his job as a schoolteacher to become a member of Joshua Nkomo’s Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu) and opened his home to African National Congress freedom fighters in Bulawayo. He was among […]
Khadija Magardie The regulatory body for the country’s advocates, the General Council of the Bar, has announced its contribution towards the government’s “Vuk’uzenzele” voluntarism drive providing acting judges pro bono during court recesses to clear case backlogs. The council said this week that each of its six constituent Bars would offer the services of several […]
A BUS driver has died in a police cell but the police on Wednesday denied an allegation by his family that he was “tortured” to death in detention. Lateef Toriola, arrested last Friday, died the following day of “sudden and natural death in police custody”, said Lagos State police representative Victor Chilaka. Toriola “was not […]
Belinda Beresford The next bout of legal mud wrestling between the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and the government over anti-HIV treatment for pregnant women is expected today in the Pretoria High Court. It is the latest in a series of skirmishes between the two sides that looks set to see the government pile appeal on […]
Rough diamond Llewellyn Herbert is determined to show who’s king of the one-lap hurdles Martin Gillingham Llewellyn Herbert may not have a career waiting for him in the diplomatic service when his hurdling legs give up on him, but in a country that in recent months has exported an entire production line of sporting losers, […]
Amid the gloom of the past months, I rediscovered my sense of purpose upon reading Margaret Legum’s “A painless solution to paying taxes” (March 15). I have long been a proponent of a turnover tax. It is an idea that until now I have discussed with my closest friends only. I have been afraid of […]