Staff Reporter

The violence at Zandspruit is a reflection of more than the country’s racial xenophobic tendencies with South Africans objecting to black, but not white, immigrants Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The violence that erupted at the Zandspruit informal settlement near Honeydew this week not only unearthed the xenophobic tendencies that continue to haunt South Africa but […]

Willie Madisha has been under surveillance and has received death threats Glenda Daniels Private security guards will be hired for the president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), Willy Madisha. He collapsed from nervous exhaustion this week after a string of death threats. Madisha has been singled out by the ruling party’s […]

After years on Mount Baldy, a Buddhist retreat, Leonard Cohen has finally found peace. He talks to Nick Paton Walsh about drink, drugs and women Leonard Cohen is the high priest of pathos. His voice exudes misery. A suicidal Kurt Cobain, when describing the most melancholic place imaginable, in his dirge Penny Royal Tea, sang […]

David Macfarlane Tension escalated on Unisa’s strife-torn campus this week as staff widened their campaign against the university’s controversy-ridden council. Eleven academics eight of them black are circulating an open letter expressing no confidence in Unisa’s council and calling for the council to be dissolved. The letter, addressed to the council and Minister of Education […]

The stable of trainer Terry Lowe has shown fair form since his return to regular racing some months ago and a nice prize could go his way on Saturday in the R200000 grade 2 Elevation Stakes over 2000m at Gosforth Park. Lowe sends out five-year-old Polo Classic, who was runner-up in both the South African […]

Despite a revolutionary new proposal, there are still several stumbling blocks in the labour legislation Glenda Daniels Amendments to the Labour Relations Act recently hailed as a major breakthrough between labour, business and the government remain bedevilled by controversial sticking points and may not see the light of day this year. Hitches remain over the […]

The Buffeljagsbaai Sustainable Livelihood Project has brought pride and renewed hope to an isolated coastal community Robert Davies ‘For as long as the oldest people in our community can remember, we have been dependent on the sea for our existence,” says Marco Boshoff. Boshoff is one of about 110 people living in the village of […]

Tusi Fokane There are just days to go before the 30-day Arts Alive Television (ATV) broadcasting licence expires, with-out any part of the promised Johannesburg spring cultural festival being broadcast. Instead, the programmes packaged for the festival may find a slot on Lesotho Television. ATV cites a number of reasons for this failure, ranging from […]

Marianne Merten Tens of thousands of documents accumulated by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) since 1995 are making their way from Cape Town to the national archives in Pretoria. If all document files were lined up, the paper trail would stretch 3km. Among the files are accounts of apartheid-era atrocities, records of investigations conducted […]

It must be a long time since the Mail & Guardian published an article as pedantic as the one by Sipho Seepe (“Language, truth and logic”, October 5). He makes all kinds of outrageous epistemological claims in a pompous response to Evidence wa ka Ngobeni’s simple suggestion that Seepe’s conclusion that there is no difference […]

Sarah Bullen In May 1996 the rand was sitting at R4,40 to the dollar. On Monday it touched R9,59. Why is a country whose economic and political fundamentals are sound finding itself in a position where its currency is facing demise? Financial guru Suze Orman has an answer. “Why should anyone invest in your country […]

Mail & Guardian reporter Sugar is not dubbed KwaZulu-Natal’s white gold for nothing it employs thousands of that province’s people, but also ploughs back in kind to deserving groups and communities. The sugar industry employs about 85000 people and an additional 400000 largely small-scale farmers and cane growers depend on the industry for an income. […]

Mail & Guardian reporters “South Africa’s success stories of tomorrow are not yet in business today,” says Hugh Herman, chairperson of the Investec Group. “If meaningful empowerment comes with the creation of sustainable employment, then we all have a role to play in helping small business take root.” Investec feels strongly about stimulating a vibrant […]

Mail & Guardian reporter The importance of conserving water and treating it with respect is vital to Rand Water’s corporate social responsibility programme, involving educational, hands-on projects that are fun and informative while turning children into “water-wise warriors” who share the message with communities. Other important initiatives in the organisation’s corporate social responsibility programme include […]

Corporate social investment has evolved over the years, although there is still much that can be done Jubie Matlou A great deal of resources continues to flow into communities and to individuals as a form of empowerment and support be it the imparting of skills, the provision of bursaries and amenities, or even donations. These […]

Bongani Majola Africa has the most restrictive laws relating to trade unionism, according to this year’s online survey by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). While South Africa and Ghana have arguably First World labour relations, the overall picture for the African continent is increasingly grim. Africa has the third-highest rate of trade […]

David Macfarlane The South African Universities Vice-Chancellors’ Association (Sauvca) announced this week that it has secured the support of all universities for a code of conduct to regulate partnerships between public and private providers of higher education. New Sauvca chairperson Professor Njabulo Ndebele says Sauvca wants to build good relationships with the private sector. “There […]

Niki Moore It took a series of natural disasters before the Zululand Chamber of Business Foundation (ZCBF) was established. In 1985 a cyclone swept away rural dwellings in Zululand and left thousands homeless. Local businesses jumped in to help, led by Richard’s Bay Coal Terminal CEO Mike Dunn. They raised R200000 in relief and founded […]

Ntuthuko Maphumulo No South African team has yet managed to win the African Cup Winners’ Cup, which is also known as the Mandela Cup. This weekend Kaizer Chiefs trek to Tunisia to meet Club Africain in the semifinal second leg of this continental competition. Chiefs won the first leg 2-0 a few weeks ago through […]

Mayor Giuliani shares a Yankee victory that leads on to Arizona Rob Steen The Big Apple just got bigger. Willed on by a nation as well as a city, and in a manner that bordered on the pre- ordained, the New York Yankees displayed consummate professionalism in brushing aside the Seattle Mariners, sweeping into what […]

analysis Jeremy Rifkin For the first 10 days we worried about commercial aeroplanes being hijacked and used as missiles. Now the American people are worried about a new, even more deadly threat: bacteria and viruses being released in populated areas, infecting and killing millions of people. Policymakers are scurrying to catch up, by allocating funds […]

Paul Kirk The total cost of providing bodyguards to politicians may amount to more than R250-million a year. This week the office of police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi confirmed that a total of 2 740 bodyguards are placed at the disposal of politicians. Mail & Guardian sources estimate that their salaries amount to about R200-million, […]

Townships are being uplifted through the efforts of Food and Trees for Africa Thabo Mohlala Martha Boshomane grew up liking trees, so when Food and Trees for Africa donated trees to the people of the newly developed Tsutsumani All Africa Games housing project she was naturally over the moon. Martha is one of the beneficiaries […]

HIV/Aids and the war against terrorism vie for space in the South Africa media these days and it was good see that the tragic case of Sibongele and Baby Tinashe was your cover story last week. President Thabo Mbeki and his compliant associates (not least the minister of health, who should have been booted out […]

Stefaans Brmmer ponders the mysteries of this sad and enigmatic land “Asia is a living body, and Afghanistan its heart. In the ruin of the heart lies the ruin of the body. So long as the heart is free, the body remains free. If not, it becomes a straw adrift in the wind.” Mohammed Iqbal […]

Experts also warn that south-eastern Zimbabwe is sitting on a foot-and-mouth time bomb Jenny Sharman In the excitement about the formation of the Gaza-Kruger-Gonarezhou trans-frontier park, a looming problem has been overlooked: land invasions in the Zimbabwe section of the park. The planned “peace park” includes Zimbabwe’s second-largest game park, the Gonarezhou National Park and […]

The Movement for Multiparty Democracy is unpopular, but it is still likely to win in the upcoming elections Gregory Mthembu-Salter As Zambia prepares to go to the polls in landmark presidential and parliamentary elections, President Frederick Chiluba marked the country’s 37th independence anniversary on Wednesday with a strong warning to the international community not to […]

REVIEW David Shapshak All Africa Internet Guide by Libby Young (M&G Books) Despite being a part of the so-called Third World, all 54 countries in Africa have a Web presence and you can access the Internet from them. But finding out about websites and navigating the Internet is as difficult as doing it physically. Thankfully […]

About 90 children who have been affected by HIV/Aids recently had a chance to tell their stories Barry Streek “Please can I have a doll and a dummy for my doll, because then I can play with my doll in my mother’s room and near her grave. The doll will be my friend because I […]

Jaspreet Kindra African National Congress secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe is to step into the row between the party’s head of religious affairs, Cedric Mayson, and Anglican Church leaders over Mayson’s accusation that they are politicising the HIV/Aids issue. In a letter this week to the Anglican bishops, Mayson says he “regrets” that Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu […]

There were more surprises in store for competitors in the recent Brait Grace to Grace 42km mountain bike challenge in the Magaliesberg than just the treacherous inclines and rocky and sandy terrain, writes Ntuthuko Maphumulo. They also had to contend with a redoubtable mother-and-son team who pedalled off with the top prizes. Jean Paul Pearton […]

Jaspreet Kindra Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa is facing unexpected competition for the post of African National Congress chairperson in the province, to be filled at the Gauteng ANC conference next weekend. The conference will elect office-bearers to replace the “interim” ANC leadership installed after the national ANC disbanded the Gauteng executive committee 17 months ago […]