Staff Reporter

EGYPTIAN police have arrested the son of a poet and playwright who posted his father’s unpublished and allegedly obscene magnum opus on the web, his lawyer said on Sunday. Shohdy Naguib was arrested Thursday night on charges of “distributing immoral materials” for having published his father’s poem on a server outside of Egypt. The prosecutor […]

OLA AWONIYI, Abuja | Tuesday NIGERIA’S privatisation agency scrambled on Monday to rescue a $1,3-billion dollar sale of a controlling stake in the state-run telecoms agency after last minute hitches stopped the deal. On Thursday, Vice President Atiku Abubakar was scheduled to preside over the signing of documents between the government and an international consortium, […]

CLAIRE KEETON, Pretoria | Tuesday THE anti-AIDS drug Nevirapine could save the lives of thousands of newborn babies every year in South Africa if the government made it freely available, a leading anti-Aids group said on Monday in a landmark legal case against the government. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is trying to force the […]

SPECIALIST banking group Investec has acquired Merrill Lynch South Africa’s private client operation in Cape Town. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Said CEO Stephen Koseff on Tuesday: “Investec has sought to offer its clients the best in products and services, including advice, structured lending, stock […]

Harare, London | Sunday IN Zimbabwe this weekend: police detained a manager of a mobile phone company after he refused to hand over data on opposition party subscribers and a government spokesman fingered British and South African reporters for ‘aiding terrorism’. The private Daily News said Jimmy Shindi, customer service manager with the Econet Wireless […]

Johannesburg | Monday AS the Treatment Action Campaign drags the government to court for refusing to supply anti-retrovirals to HIV-positive pregnant women, the state suggested on Friday it may introduce pilot projects to supply the drugs to public-sector patients infected with the virus. The drug helps prevents transmission of the virus from HIV-positive women to […]

FOREX dealer Master Currency has launched a new medical emergency product in conjunction with healthcare provider Netcare, offering tourists and travellers to Southern Africa 24-hour medical assistance. The product, NetTravel911, can be purchased over the counter at Master Currency’s branches at Johannesburg and Cape Town International Airports. Ari Jacobson managing director of Master Currency said: […]

CLAIRE KEETON, Hermanus | Saturday THE high number of whales close to the South African shoreline is attracting a growing number of tourists, with whale-watching threatening to overtake game-watching as a holiday activity. “We have counted 182 calves this season (roughly July to November),” said Peter Best, head of the World Wildlife Fund’s whale project […]

SOUTH African gold mining giant AngloGold announced on Monday a formal challenge to US-based Newmont Mining Corp’s rival bid for Normandy Mining Ltd. AngloGold alleges Newmont has been misleading in its offer for Australia’s top gold mining company. “We consider that the comparative analysis which Newmont has presented in selling its offer and its characterisation […]

NIGERIA and South Africa are expected to sign a military training pact, A Nigerian defence representative said on Wednesday. Ganiyu Adewale said the date and scope of the military training were still being worked out. Nigerian defence chief Ibrahim Ogohi said Nigeria will soon start the exchange of naval cadets with South Africa. The countries […]

PAUL KIRK, Durban | Friday CHIPPY Shaik, the suspended Department of Defence procurement chief, was allowed to make significant changes to the September 2000 arms report the auditor general submitted to Parliament. One alteration – relating to the contract to supply corvette components – clearly served the interests of a contractor in which Shaik’s brother […]

A MALAWIAN minister said on Wednesday the Danish ambassador to Malawi was recalled to his country in October because he was “rude” to President Bakili Muluzi. Finance minister Mathews Chikaonda said that Danish ambassador Orla Bakdal was recalled to Copenhagen for “mannerisms against the head of state.” “It had nothing to do with development aid,” […]

South Africa is to ban the use of plastic bags in a bid to rid the country of litter, the country’s government announced on Wednesday. The ban on the flimsy bags, handed out free to shoppers at all major stores, will be phased-in over the coming months after the South African Cabinet agreed in principle […]

HEALTH experts from seven central African countries held talks on Tuesday in Bangui aimed at relaunching a regional campaign against African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness. At the talks in the Central African capital, the experts condemned the slack efforts to combat the illness, transmitted by the tse-tse fly, in the region over the past ten […]

LIBYAN leader Muammer Gaddafi proposed on Wednesday repatriating the hold-out Arab fighters for the Taliban in the northern Afghanistan city of Kunduz, in order to avert a massacre. If they were sent home, the Arab fighters, mostly Islamic militants, would “be judged and treated like other prisoners of war under UN supervision,” Gaddaffi was quoted […]

replies … On behalf of the President we thank you for your letter of 19 March 2001. Your concern for the poorest of the poor is noted and appreciated. You are quite correct when you state that Foot and Mouth disease does not pose a human threat. However, I have done some research and was […]

Dear Mr Buthelezi, I would like to thank you for getting rid of the Nigerians at the bottom of my street. For the past seven months my wife, Brenda, has been nagging at me to go down and tell them to stop selling drugs … Anyway, last Tuesday the police came around and sent the […]

Chairman: Theatre Managements of SA Dear Mr Lindberg, … Since you are now a man of the arts, I was hoping you would be interested in producing my latest one-act play. The curtain goes up to reveal a young man sitting on a chair. He is naked apart from a long, black coat and military […]

The Treatment Action Campaign is seeking an order that nevirapine must be made available to all state hospitals and clinics Nawaal Deane “We see our wards full … of wasted little infants, struggling to breathe despite oxygen, refusing to feed as swallowing is too painful because of extensive candidiasis, with itchy, uncomfortable skin rashes. These […]

Barry Streek Telkom’s decision to implement an average 5,5% tariff hike for services without the approval of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) has raised questions about the ability of “regulators” to effectively police parastatals as they are privatised. Apart from ensuring that state monopolies do not abuse their position, regulatory bodies are government’s […]

FIGHTING Deon Potgieter Fight fans who were fortunate enough to witness the classic confrontation between Phillip Ndou and Cassius Baloyi at Carnival City earlier this month may have thought they were watching Xtreme fighting. While those two warriors gave their all in combat, they were however limited by the Marquis of Queensbury’s rules and regulations. […]

An inconsistent match referee highlights the need for common sense in cricket rules Peter Robinson Cricket likes to refer to the rules and regulations that govern the game as “The Laws of Cricket”. It’s a harmless enough conceit, but the events of the past few days do make you wonder whether it wouldn’t be a […]

Walid Hijazi and Jubie Matlou Two research study results were presented at this year’s NGO Week detailing the profile and socio-economic role of non-profit organisations in South Africa. The one study by the Graduate School of Public and Development Management (University of Witwatersrand), which forms part of the Comparative Non-profit Sector Project coordinated by the […]

Ntuthuko Maphumulo Sundowns are just two games away from their dream of being crowned the champions of Africa. Victory would be a just reward for a team that has given so much to South African football by being crowned premier soccer league champions three times in a row. But Egyptian heavyweights Al Ahly, who have […]

Zakes Hlatswayo grew up in Bergville, KwaZulu-Natal. His working background includes fieldwork for the South African Council of Churches’ youth training programmes and coordinator for the Association for Community and Rural Advancement. He is currently director for the National Land Committee an NGO that advocates land reform and restitution. Other newly elected officials are: First […]

CRICKET Peter Robinson South Africa and India will risk the wrath of the International Cricket Council (ICC) by dispensing with the services of controversial match referee Mike Denness for the third match starting at SuperSport Park on Friday. United Cricket Board (UCB) chief executive Gerald Majola said the South African and Indian boards had agreed […]

The west stereotypes Asian men as weak, subservient, effeminate. No wonder they’re fighting back BODY LANGUAGE Tania Branigan ‘Hitler has only got one ball, Goering has two but very small. Himmler is very sim’lar, and Goebbels has no balls at all.” When World War II troops sang that ditty, the words were tongue- in-cheek. Sixty […]

obituary: kim mcdonald South Africa’s queen of the roads Elana Meyer is among those mourning the loss of one of track and field’s most influential figures. Agent-turned-International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) presidential adviser Kim McDonald (45) died two weeks ago while on holiday in Australia. McDonald, a dour Yorkshireman, started off his athletics career […]

Jaspreet Kindra State-owned aircraft were used for 2314 unscheduled flights in KwaZulu-Natal in the past financial year, the province’s Director General, Richard Sizani, has revealed. At the same time, the province’s Auditor General, Barry Wheeler, has reprimanded Premier Lionel Mtshali, King Goodwill Zwelithini and members of the provincial cabinet for unscheduled and unplanned flights over […]

Drew Forrest A newly released study on a powerful Lebowa chief’s land grab before the 1994 election sheds a harsh light on the abuses and conflicts that could follow the large-scale transfer of communal land to traditional “communities”. The study, by Aninka Claassens, analyses events in the Northern Province area of Rakgwadi, near Marble Hall, […]

Launches, feuds, withdrawals, hi-tech gadgets and future predictions were just some of the highlights David Shapshak A week may be a long time in politics and it can also be a very busy time for the information technology industry. Last week as Africa’s telecommunications came under the spotlight at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecoms […]

NGOs want to reassert their roles in shaping public policy and becoming a delivery partner in the alleviation of poverty, health issues, joblessness and homelessness. Jubie Matlou spoke to Zakes Hlatswayo, newly elected president of the South African National NGO Coalition, following the NGO Week held in Rustenberg The NGO Week has been observed in […]