Staff Reporter

MOST retail shop shelves that are normally stocked with washing soap and cooking oil are empty, heralding what looks set to become a serious shortage of basic commodities in Harare. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries warned early this month that there would be food shortages in Zimbabwe following the gazetting of price control regulations on […]

SUSPECTED war veterans and the police are impounding maize from travelers from rural areas, and ordering them to sell it to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB). Passengers and bus conductors yesterday complained of police harassment, saying the maize they carried was in small quantities and had been given to them by their relatives in the […]

There is no way of knowing who is responsible for threats against Congress of South African Trade Unions president Willie Madisha. But given the mounting conflict between the union movement and the government, and perceptions in some African National Congress circles that Madisha is a dangerous radical, it is possible that state agents or members […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni It’s an ordinary Monday morning at Kaditswene in the Northern Province, where villagers are wearing construction helmets and sun hats not to avoid the scorching African sun but to fight off the thick dust and rocks propelled by blasting operations at the nearby red-granite mines. At this village near Potgietersrus two […]

Naas Botha speaks to Julia Beffon about life a decade after his last Currie Cup final Ten years ago Naas Botha played in his last Currie Cup final, leading his Northern Transvaal team to victory over Transvaal. That 1991 victory was his seventh, with two more shared titles, in a remarkable 16-year career that saw […]

Paul Kirk A controversial companythathas a major stake in the R60-billion arms deal has reneged on an agreement to donate money to a Durban charity set up toeducate the poor. More than two years after promising to fork out about R1-million to kick-start the Archbishop Denis Hurley Educational Fund, Nkobi Holdings, which is headed by […]

INVESTIGATIONS into thousands of criminal cases at Windhoek’s main police stations have ground to a standstill, while others are moving at snail’s pace, because only three vehicles are operational in an area with more than 200 000 inhabitants. One of the excuses given by the National Police Headquarters for the long-running transport problem is that […]

Gail Jennings Florence Libago, manager of Ramaano Teacher Training Centre outside Giyani, was waiting for us at the top of the red-dust road, cellphone in hand in case we were lost. In a daze from the Venda heat, we had nevertheless proceeded, but still weren’t sure we were on the right road. As new visitors […]

Is the United States serious about bringing terrorists to justice? Assuming that the evidence against Osama bin Laden is credible, why not try him in a court that is composed of judges from all nations, including Islamic jurists? Bush appears to assume that the next step would be trial in a US court. In effect, […]

CRICKET Peter Robinson So this is how the weekend went: on Friday news broke that Mfuneko Ngam had suffered yet another stress fracture, this time of his right tibia; on Saturday Allan Donald pulled up with a stomach-muscle strain; on Monday Nantie Hayward announced his return to international cricket with a fair bit of pace […]

Barry Streek The controversial National Convential Arms Control Bill was resubmitted to Parliament this week but like last year, encountered heavy flak over its secrecy provisions and failure to deal with small arms. The Bill, intended to regulate arms production and trade, was withdrawn last September after it was attacked by NGOs, among others, who […]

THE Swedish government signed a cooperation accord with Mozambique on Monday worth 132 million euros ($118-million) in aid, the government said on Monday. The deal, which covers the years 2002 to 2004, aims to support “positive growth in Mozambique (in order to contribute) to stability in southern Africa,” the Swedish Immigration and Humanitarian Aid Minister […]

Two lucky Friday readers can each win two tickets to the Monsters of Rock concert at the Standard Bank Arena on November 2 and 3, featuring Motorhead,Dio and Jerusalem. They will also each receive a Best of Motorhead CD and a Monsters of Rock poster. Simply call Tel:(011)646 6441 onFridayOctober 26 between 3pm and 3.30pm. […]

Cheryl Goodenough The scene is a reminder of the television advert where all the babies are doing adult-like tasks. These children are not so young, but they are dressed in “grown-up” clothes, carry briefcases and are busy with tasks such as filling in deposit slips, withdrawing money or assisting customers who want to open bank […]

Bongani Majola Three senior white officers have been suspended by Metrorail in Krugersdorp, pending investigations into allegations of racism and abuse. The latest incidents include a white senior protection officer who allegedly spat water on the face of a black female security officer, Siziwe Njwambe, telling her “it’s summertime”. The black officer reported the matter […]

Bongani Majola Vodacom has chosen unlikely beneficiaries for its corporate social investment programme prisoners. Together with the Readucate Trust, a Section 18a educational and literacy non-profit organisation, the Vodacom Foundation has ploughed R250 000 into a basic literacy training programme that is envisaged to benefit at least 600 young prisoners in Gauteng. The donation by […]

Jaspreet Kindra African National Congress secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe said this week that the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) had launched an offensive on ultra-leftists allegedly dividing the tripartite alliance because “we want to show we are not weaklings”. Motlanthe said ANC branches were aware of the ultra-leftist “tendency” singled out in a leaked NEC […]

Johannesburg | Wednesday FOLLOWING reports that government distanced itself from the controversy-dogged plan to form the South African Federated Chamber of Commerce (Safcoc), Sacob chief executive Kevin Wakeford insisted on Tuesday that merger talks between his organisation and Nafcoc would continue “with renewed vigour”. According to a South African-Israel Chamber of Commerce news release, Wakeford […]

a second look Henry Spencer Legality and morality are two concepts that many South Africans seem to have difficulty distinguishing between. At a recent conference on corruption, hosted jointly by the South African NGO Coalition and Transparency SA, the question of the world’s socio-economic imbalances whereby 80% of the world’s wealth is owned by 20% […]

channel vision Robert Kirby Eager readers and Vivid decoder owners will by now have realised that, with their usual dogged enthusiasm, Sentech and the SABC have now entered the next stage of their disastrous satellite television broadcasting life cycle the one where they turn fully into a worm. As usual they are handling their newest […]

Marianne Merten A senior Western Cape government official has been suspended after a forensic audit found sacked Cape metro mayor Peter Marais’s son is unlawfully occupying a low-cost government house in Cape Town. Grant Marais is one of 135 tenants unlawfully living in housing built for poor whites in Parow Park, northern Cape Town, in […]

As he gets the upper hand in his party’s internal war, Tony Leon is turning the screws on his deputy Howard Barrell and Marianne Merten Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon is demanding the complete dissolution of the New National Party, and his senior colleagues are insisting that NNP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk faces disciplinary action. […]

Rob Davies For the majority of South Africa’s rural communities change is a slow process sometimes so slow that catching up becomes almost impossible. Old Mutual’s rural economic development initiative (REDI) aims to address this problem through the development of rural communities in partnership with the communities themselves and the Small Business Project a Section […]

Bamako | Thursday A NEW African airline with the backing of African banks is readying for takeoff in a few weeks, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade announced on Wednesday. The airline is being launched in the light of the troubles which have hit pan-African airline Air Afrique, Wade said on the sidelines of a development forum […]

David Macfarlane As many teachers dying every year of HIV/Aids as qualify to teach; school districts exhausting their annual budgets within two months on transporting deceased teachers to their homes; widespread closure of schools because HIV/Aids has stripped them of their teachers … These nightmare scenarios afflict Zambia, Malawi and the Central African Republic respectively […]

Marianne Merten How do you make mathematics and science relevant to youngsters? At the MTN ScienCentre that’s easy: through interactive displays, maths sleep-overs and workshops where children can build their own electronic burglar alarm or explore polymer chemistry by making slime, rubber balls and foam. The MTN ScienCentre hopes to demystify science by encouraging innovation […]

Barry Streek Analysts are expecting lower economic growth projections and continued caution over public spending when Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel presents his medium-term budget policy statement next week. The statement, an assessment of government spending during the current financial year and a three-year spending projection, will be presented on Tuesday. Former senior Department of […]

* There are 14 training centres offering the programme, run by the national and provincial education departments. Centres are in the Eastern Cape (Bisho), Free State (Sasolburg), Gauteng (Soshanguve, Soweto, Alexandra, Atteridgeville), KwaZulu-Natal (Nqutu, Bergvile), Mpumalanga (Lekazi), North West (Mmabatho, Rustenburg), Northern Cape (Kimberley) and Northern Province (Giyani, Hoxani). ENDS

Cape Town’s cup specialists have a good record against the top sides Ntuthuko Maphumulo Ajax Cape Town play the “diamond system” favoured by their mother side, Ajax Amsterdam, and are trying to bring the Dutch brand of total football to their home at Newlands stadium. But the side often confound their supporters. They produce sparkling […]

HOWARD BARRELL, MARIANNE MERTEN, Johannesburg, Cape Town | Friday DEMOCRATIC Alliance leader Tony Leon is demanding the complete dissolution of the New National Party, and his senior colleagues are insisting that NNP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk faces disciplinary action. Senior party sources also told the Mail & Guardian this week that if the Cape High […]

Shock estimates of HIV infection on campuses have spurred the authorities into action David Macfarlane One in five university undergraduates is estimated to be HIV-positive; by 2005 the rate of infection could be as high as one in three. Now university vice-chancellors are mounting an urgent intervention on the pandemic and its threat to the […]

The MEC for Transport in KwaZulu- Natal and Chair of the African National Congress in that province, S’bu Ndebele, is not under investigation for alleged criminal activities. In the Mail & Guardian of October 12 we quoted Scorpions’ spokesperson Sipho Ngwema as naming Ndebele as one of a number of individual politicians under criminal investigation […]