I had the misfortune to share part of last week in Sweden with our great and good President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, who was in Stockholm visiting with all his centre-left cronies. I say misfortune, because, despite the fact that I had initially felt proud that our president was hobnobbing with the likes of Lionel Jospin, […]
Orphaned Zimbabwean elephants will be trained to give tourists rides Fiona Macleod A row has erupted over the importation into South Africa of young, free-ranging elephants captured and trained for tourist joyrides. The 12 elephants, destined for a private game reserve in Limpopo province, were orphaned during culling operations or drought in the early 1990s […]
On November 30 the Telecommunications Amendment Act was promulgated. Chris Yelland explores some of the issues with Icasa’s Wojtek Skowronski and Siyabonga Madyibi What’s the Act provision on number portability and carrier pre-selection? What will change and when? Number portability refers to the ability of consumers to retain their numbers if they switch from one […]
When I read the front page headline “Big Brother Gatsha, he’s gonna watch ya” I became very angry. I then wondered whether the M&G would sufficiently appreciate the reasons for my anger or could even fully understand them. My anger may seem to come from personal sensitivity and yet, for those who know the history […]
South Africa’s favourite boxer, Jacob Matlala, has his final professional fight this weekend Gavin Evans For 22 years Jacob Matlala has been a feature of the professional boxing world and for the past decade an institution in South African public life, but now, at last, the fighting side is drawing to an end. The world’s […]
Moji Mokone reflects on the work of Dumile Feni, one of a group of artists from the Sixties whose work eloquently ‘hollered from the mountain tops’ Njabulo Ndebele, writing in co@rtnews, observed how Desmond Tutu at the close of the first day of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings referred to the testimonies of victims […]
analysis Roger Bate South Africa and other arid countries are running out of water. The result will be wars and the poor will suffer most. For the past decade these concerns have been shouted from the world’s largest newspapers, reporting alarming forecasts periodically issued by groups ranging from the World Watch Institute to the United […]
Last week the Mail & Guardian printed a photograph on page 11 showing a young woman holding an AK-47. The caption suggested the woman was either an Umkhonto weSizwe or Azanian People’s Liberation Army operative. In fact, the picture used was a publicity shot for the 1995 film Flame, starring Zimbabwean actress Marian Kunonga. The […]
When the UK government started selling off its shares in BT they were over-subscribed three to one. This contradicts some of the theories in South Africa that competition will harm Telkom’s IPO Gary Shepherd Liberalisation of the United Kingdom’s telecommunications industry has been used as a benchmark or referred to as “Best International Practice” by […]
Belinda Beresford In an acrobatic and aerial manoeuvre, the KwaZulu-Natal government has deserted the Department of Health in its fight against the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)over curbing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Instead Premier Lionel Mtshali says KwaZulu-Natal will obey the “moral imperative” and supply nevirapine to all pregnant women who wish to take it. The […]
Interactive television looks set to change the life of sports fans forever David Shapshak For the vast majority of sports fans television is the main medium by which they practise their fervent devotion to their team. It may be debatable how much of that dedication is left after watching our national cricket team sink to […]
Last week the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) held hearings on the proposed terms and conditions for a 15-year licence to be issued to Sentech by May 7. Jubie Matlou reviews some of the submissions relating to what is considered to be a unique licence. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 as amended provides, […]
Scopa member Vincent Smith has been described as a “master filibusterer” Marianne Merten For someone who admits to an initial reluctance to serve on Parliament’s public accounts committee (Scopa), African National Congress MP Vincent Smith has proved a key player in the committee’s unravelling. Smith rejects claims he politicised the committee to prevent it overseeing […]
Delegates will bring many conflicting agendas to the World Summit, write Drew Forrest and Fiona Macleod ‘The trouble with the World Summit on Sustainable Development is that sustainable development means whatever you want it to mean,” comments a South African-based diplomat. With the summit six months away, and a ministerial “prepcom” (preparatory committee) meeting due […]
Mail & Guardian reporter Public and private forces in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry have come together to support the first independent, multiple-funded ICT policy and research programme. The programme was initiated last year by a pledge from the director general of the Department of Communications and a call to other industry players […]
CRICKET Peter Robinson Nearly half-a-century ago the then South African Cricket Union grappled with the idea of cancelling a tour to Australia on the grounds that they didn’t think their team was good enough. In the end Jack Cheetham and his side were given the go-ahead and shocked everyone by drawing a five Test series […]
In a letter attempting to discredit Fort Hare and Rhodes universities (February 22 2002), Bambihlelo Hlwattika declares that “during the 1960s and later” the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Rhodes was responsible for “some of the most racist research”. He refers particularly to research in urban communities in East London in the […]
Another Inkatha Freedom Party MP is likely to replace Gavin Woods, who this week resigned as chairperson of Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), writes Marianne Merten. Indications are that the IFP is the party of first choice for the post, but it would mean Woods is out in the cold despite his stated […]
SOCCER Thebe Mabanga Quinton Fortune will have returned to club duty feeling an uneasy three-way split: excited about being a newly wed, dejected at his indifferent performance at the African Cup of Nations and not sure what to make of manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to stay on until 2005. For let no one be […]
Can Montoya and Schumacher create a legendary rivalry to quicken F1’s pulse? Richard Williams As the only 22 men in the world entitled to call themselves grand prix drivers start up their shiny new cars in Australia this week, those of us who call ourselves grand prix fans could be forgiven for feeling that it […]
Various literary and book- related events are lined up for readers and book-lovers around the country over the coming months. Durban’s Time of the Writer festival, now South Africa’s leading literary festival, has a new satellite event in Johannesburg. The festival runs at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre on the University of Natal campus from March […]
Marianne Merten Just 109 votes gave the African National Congress victory over the Democratic Alliance this week in the first Western Cape by-election since the ANC-New National Party provincial government took power. The narrow win has led the DA to claim it has kept its support in the NNP rural stronghold of Grabouw. The NNP […]
Fights are not unexpected as the government tries to balance state involvement in the sector with the pressure to privatise Jubie Matlou The furore surrounding telecommunications policy and law is far from over a series of constitutional challenges may be in the pipeline as the country prepares complementary legislation on digital technology. An ominous sign […]
Bongani Majola Gauteng’s economic growth plan, Blue IQ, will pour R100-million into investments in the provincial eco-nomy over 10 years and aims to generate 100 000 jobs, finance and economic MEC Jabu Moleketi said in his budget speech this week. The R22,5-billion budget sets aside R744-million for the plan, that focuses on 10 key projects. […]
Jaspreet Kindra Days after Deputy President Jacob Zuma called for “restraint” in tense relations between the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party, the two parties waged a ding-dong battle over Aids drugs and other issues in the legislature. Zuma flew into Ulundi to try to defuse tensions last weekend. Lauding KwaZulu-Natal’s coalition government […]
Kevin Scott The Durban consulate general of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has tried to censor a Truth About Tibet photographic exhibition that opened this week. The consul, Zemin Yu, went beyond a formal complaint against the gallery by appealing to the provincial government to stop the exhibition. The chairperson of the Natal Society […]
THE price of petrol is to increase by six cents per litre from next Wednesday, the Department of Minerals and Energy announced on Friday morning. However, the price of diesel with a three percent sulphur content will go down by nine cents per litre and diesel with a five percent sulphur content will be decreased […]
The Cats centre with the good handling skills is a breath of fresh air in South African rugby Andy Capostagno The finest Springbok centre of them all probably didn’t see it, but just down the road from the hospital where Danie Gerber is recovering from heart surgery, Gcobani Bobo went to the front of the […]
Mail & Guardian reporter On February 22 the Mail & Guardian ran a story about the tribulations of professional artists who had not been paid for their participation in the operetta Die Fledermaus that ran at Johannesburg’s Civic Theatre over the festive season in 2001. The story noted that the production was the work of […]
Deon Potgieter For the first time a feast of five world title fights will be held in a local arena, as a fitting farewell tribute to the man featured in the main event, Baby Jake Matlala. While fans may wish to see South African fighters wrapping up the night five for five, it’s not going […]
BELINDA BERESFORD, Johannesburg | Friday IN an acrobatic and aerial manoeuvre, the KwaZulu-Natal government has deserted the Department of Health in its fight against the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)over curbing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Instead Premier Lionel Mtshali says KwaZulu-Natal will obey the “moral imperative” and supply nevirapine to all pregnant women who wish to […]
Mobile networks appear to be the most appropriate for the continent with faster roll-outs than fixed-lines and at a lower cost David Shapshak For years the statistic used to illustrate the low telephone penetration into Africa was to equate it with the number of phones in Manhattan. All 54 countries on an entire continent had […]