Staff Reporter

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 […]

Needy pensioners in the Western Cape are being provided with full sets of teeth for free Rob Davies Most of us take having a full set of teeth for granted. We pay no thought to crunching up a packet of crisps, navigating our way through a mealie or pulverising a pizza. Yet there are many […]

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 […]

South African firms must adapt to a new role for their corporate social responsibility programmes Hamann and Paul Kapelus A Mail & Guardian article by Colleen du Toit (“New directions for donors”, October 12) and the news- paper’s supplement on the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development were a treasure trove for those interested in […]

Thabo Mohlala When it started the mission was simple: to drive all bakhalangas a term used to refer to non-South Africans, particularly Zimbabweans from Zandspruit. Although it was the murder of a local resident, allegedly by a Zimbabwean, a month ago that set off the violence, it emerged this week that xenophobia was not the […]

Jubie Matlou If you were thinking of where to erect an informal market to sell fruits and crafts to tourists passing between South Africa and Mozambique you couldn’t find a better place than the N4 highway in the Maputo Development Corridor. Informal markets at Mataffin and Matsulu preceded the multimullion-rand development at Nelspruit. For many […]

Drew Forrest and Jaspreet Kindra Business leaders across the racial spectrum reacted with caution this week to the labour movement’s plans for an economic summit, while a key representative of big business was positively disparaging. There was little indication that organised business believes much can be achieved by its participation on economic matters, but there […]

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 […]

BODY LANGUAGE Nona Cummings Self-delusion is one hell of a mirage. At least with the latter, when you arrive at the point where you thought you saw an oasis, it sinks in. But there are just some times when the evidence is there for all to see, but you still don’t get it. Just ask […]

This indigenous fruit is the source of an income-generating project in the Northern Province, writes Thuli Nhlapo A plan hatched by retrenched union members and their employer in 1998 to promote job creation in Northern Province’s poverty-stricken communities has started to bear fruit. In the past year R340 000 has been spent on buying an […]

What the US Federal Reserve chairperson was going to say analysis Larry Elliot For years codebreakers have been struggling to unravel the secret language of Alan Greenspan. But to no avail. Greenspan scrambles his thoughts in his own personal Enigma machine, from which they emerge as incomprehensible gobbledegook when he surfaces from the depths of […]

The record reveals President Thabo Mbeki ‘s true stance on Aids, writes Drew Forrest “And thus does it happen that others who consider themselves to be our leaders take to the streets carrying their placards, to demand that, because we are germ carriers and human beings of a lower order that cannot subject their passion […]

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 […]

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 […]

Washington | Wednesday THE probability of the US economy tumbling into recession sharply increased in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, but a rebound is likely in 2002, the White House chief economic adviser said this week. The US economy is likely to contract slightly, Glenn Hubbard told reporters, noting that “even a fairly […]

Makurdi, Nigeria | Thursday RAMPAGING soldiers continued reprisal attacks on Wednesday in some parts of Nigeria’s central Benue State, where they have already killed more than 100 people, a leading government official said. The attacks focused on the town of Zaki Biam, from where 19 soldiers were abducted and subsequently slain by militiamen two weeks […]

Pretoria | Wednesday WHILE a situation of total chaos prevailed at the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg on the night 43 people were killed in a stampede, security co-ordinators struggled for almost half an hour to get hold of the public order police (POP), the inquiry into the disaster heard on Wednesday. At 7.30pm on […]

Lagos | Wednesday More than 100 people have been shot dead by rampaging soldiers in central Nigeria in the latest bout of unrest in this crisis-torn African country. The reprisal attacks late on Monday and Tuesday came after 19 soldiers were killed by ethnic militiamen two weeks ago near the border of the south central […]

Harare | Wednesday ZIMBABWE’S government has rejected an ultimatum issued by the European Union to decide whether to allow EU observers in the country during next year’s presidential elections, Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge said on Tuesday. Mudenge said Zimbabwe would have considered an offer for observers, but will not accept “demands” from other countries because […]

MOZAMBICAN President Joaquim Chissano will make a six-day official visit to Cuba next week, at the invitation of his counterpart Fidel Castro, the president’s office announced on Wednesday. The two men will hold talks on boosting bilateral relations between their two friendly states, a statement from Chissano’s office said. Several protocols are expected to be […]

TOGOLESE authorities are still holding a journalist, Komi Nemvame Klu, who was arrested last Saturday for publishing “false information”. Klu, who is the director of the privately-owned weekly Nouvel Echo was arrested by the gendarmerie in Lome. The Panafrican News Agency (Pana) said authorities had demanded that Klu reveal the source of a story on […]

Cape Town | Tuesday HAVING fought publicly and stridently for over a week, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon and his deputy Marthinus van Schalkwyk on Tuesday opted to meet privately in Cape Town in a bid to save their alliance. Even their lieutenants remained tight-lipped, with one telling Sapa: “We don’t want the media camping […]

Abuja | Tuesday NIGERIA will leave no stone unturned to prevent further spread of HIV/Aids in the country, President Olusegun Obasanjo declared in Abuja on Monday as he kicked off a rally and a nationwide walk against the scourge. The HIV/Aids rally was organised by the National Action Committee on Aids. “We have played a […]

Pretoria | Tuesday FORTY-four people were taken to a Pretoria hospital for tests after an anthrax scare at the University of South Africa on Monday, university representative Doreen Gough reported. The first 20 examined all tested negative to the potentially fatal bacteria, as have those exposed to white powder in about a dozen previous scares […]

FOUR people, including a four-year old boy, were killed and six injured in fighting on Sunday between rival minibus taxi operators in eastern South Africa, police said. Captain Mzukisi Fatyela said the four-year-old died when gunmen opened fire on a taxi owner travelling with his family near Umtata in the southeast of the country. The […]

Johannesburg | Tuesday NEARLY 1 000 Zimbabweans are destitute and seeking refuge at a Johannesburg police station following the torching of their homes in a squatter camp, South African police said on Tuesday. “They have about 450 people looking for shelter at the police station and one of their leaders told me they have about […]

THE number of former fighters in Sierra Leone’s civil war who have handed in their weapons has risen to 21 464, said Dandeson Smith, a representative for the National Disarmament Commission. He said that 12 600 of the former fighters, who have responded since the launching of the disarmament process in May, are working on […]