Staff Reporter

RUGBY Andy Capostagno When the Falcons Rugby Union decided earlier this year to relocate from Brakpan to Kempton Park the headline writers did not stir, even though the final match at the Bosman stadium unfolded in surreal circumstances. Quarter of the way through the Vodacom Cup match between the Falcons and the Lions one floodlight […]

Preying on public sentiment is the new line of virus attack Sarah Left It took just two weeks for the inevitable to occur: someone has written an e-mail virus that exploits the World Trade Centre tragedy, disguising itself as a call for peace. Security experts say that distribution of the virus is limited at this […]

Jaspreet Kindra Moses Mayekiso is vague when asked whether he has the blessing of many African National Congress leaders for the launch of a civic association in opposition to the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco). Rumour has it that key members of the ANC’s national executive committee, angered by Sanco’s support for the union […]

The article by Belinda Beresford (R2,7-billion needed to fight Aids”, September 21) missed the point of the government’s pathetic HIV/Aids policy. At the root of the President’s attempts to block the use of anti-retroviral drugs for the poor are his desperate attempts to privatise the public health services. Reports that contradict his view are suppressed, […]

channel vision Robert Kirby I’ve spent a rather pleasant week being escapist, reading stories about a fascinating young fellow called Harry Potter. I don’t know why I’ve waited this long to have a peep at what’s earned JK Rowling such obscene amounts of money, at the same time wondering like every other writer why I’ve […]

I entirely agree with Robert Mattes (September 17) that there is no logic to blaming the United States for the terrorist attack on itself. It is contrived (by long-standing axe-grinders) and disingenuous to do so. The litany of sins usually brought against the US stem from, among others, real and perceived abuses during the Cold […]

Barry Streek South African Airways (SAA) has indicated to the government that it will approach it for assistance to cover the increased insurance costs of its aircraft following the terror attacks in the United States. A government spokesperson on Thursday said the plea would be sympathetically considered. Business Day reported this week that SAA stood […]

Kenya boasts a phenomenon that every lover of Africa and its wildlife should get to see, writes Angus Begg It is a story that has been told, filmed and read on numerous occasions: of the million-plus wildebeest that every year make the trek north from Tanzania’s Serengeti to Kenya’s Masai Mara. More than a million […]

Sean O’Toole “I am married to the idea of the symbolism of this place,” explains Reverend Deon Snyman. Yet it is not merely the symbolic that connects this mild-mannered Afrikaner, a minister with the Unifying Reformed Church, to the Emakhosini Valley in northern Zululand. “In a certain sense it feels as if I am coming […]

Analysis Ian Urbina The United States is about to run into a minefield that could have catastrophic ramifications across the globe. Escalating military threats are increasing regional instability as many populations are growing resentful of US ultimatums. Terrorists have vowed to widen their attacks beyond US territories if a war ensues. It may be time […]

First it was Virodene, now it’s “oxihumate-K” the University of Pretoria is at the centre of a new saga about another state-backed Aids treatment Nawaal Deane, David Macfarlane and Mungo Soggot The South African government’s oil agency, the Central Energy Fund, has pumped at least R80-million into an unproven, coal-based HIV/Aids treatment that is being […]

Nicolette Sampson remembers a time when abstinence wasn’t a big deal, simply the right thing to do BODY LANGUAGE It’s time for some 50-something wisdom. High time. Too late maybe. I suddenly know I’m a woman with a past and that I’m proud of it. So listen up and learn because you don’t see much […]

Jaspreet Kindra Eskom is battling under a mound of more than R1-billion in unpaid electricity bills, with Soweto alone accounting for R670-million of this. Municipalities, which also supply electricity to ratepayers, are also facing a financial crunch because of non-payment. The total debt owed to municipalities across the country is believed to be R500-million. The […]

PRIMEDIA on Friday announced that group EBITDA had declined by 12% to R244,8-million for the year to June 30, and that turnover had increased by 2% to R1 745 million. Primedia CEO William Kirsh said the integrated media group’s results were once again characterised by the resilience of the advertising businesses, but overall, were heavily […]

Americans are a great people, but do they have the vision to lead the world? asks Drew Forrest “The tempest bursting from the waste of time On the world’s fairest hope linked to man’s foulest crime” The lines, by American writer Herman Melville, capture the complex nature of the United States far more accurately than […]

An Aids care facility performs “miracles” by keeping patients on a regimen of vitamins and fresh food Niki Moore Lana Oatway is quite smug about the fact that she can work miracles. “People arrive here on the back of a bakkie, showing all the symptoms of full-blown Aids, more than half dead,” says Oatway, manager […]

France, a country that does things differently, is worth paying attention to contretemps Richard Calland It’s 2.10pm September 11. The TGV Paris-Bordeaux Express leaves the Gare de Montparnesse on time. No surprise there. Nor that the carriage is so clean; the engine so smooth and quiet; and its motion so rapid. You can, I believe, […]

Barry Streek Thousands of pensioners and other grant recipients will receive payments totalling at least R1-billion after the government accepted a court order invalidating a 1998 regulation that limited back pay to three months. The government decision to limit back pay made in March 1998 by the then minister of welfare, Geraldine Fraser-Moloketi was challenged […]

Minister of Land Affairs Thoko Didiza is a charming person and no fool. But even she must concede the deeply worrying shortcomings of the government’s land reform programme. South Africa is not Zimbabwe and there is no real possibility of violent, large-scale, land-related upheavals in this country. But the Bredell invasion and sporadic illegal land […]

Barry Streek The heavily indebted Road Accident Fund (RAF) paid more than R68,5-million including nearly R6-million in attorney’s fees to a legal firm in which its deputy chairperson George Maluleke is a partner. In addition, a secret R3,2-million audit report, leaked to the Mail & Guardian, has found “systematic fraud” against the fund. According to […]

Jubie Matlou The creation of a technology-free regulatory regime for information and communication technologies is what occupies the mind of Victor Moche most of the time. “The law is still technology specific. There is a need to move towards the licensing of services as opposed to the licensing of technologies,” he says. For Moche, flexibility […]

Glenda Daniels and Jaspreet Kindra The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is to put the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) back on the table at its 10-a-side “tripartite alliance” meeting with the African National Congress, now set for November. The RDP has been a flashpoint between Cosatu and the government, with the unions […]

Marianne Merten The banner at the New National Party’s final Western Cape provincial congress proclaimed: “NNP + DP = DA”. The elderly Cape Flats woman in the observer seats who enthusiastically waved her NNP scarf may not see things the same way. Coloured resentment of the NNP’s partner in the Democratic Alliance, the Democratic Party, […]

Telkom aims to provide enterprises with a e-business platform for the 21st centurty Mail & Guardian reporter Here is a way of doing business that goes under many names: “i-commerce”, “e-business”, “e-commerce” and “e-tailing”, to name but a few. It conjures up images of purchasing flowers for Mother’s Day with a few clicks and keystrokes […]

Martin Gillingham With United States golfers apparently too scared to step on to a transatlantic jet and the world seemingly on the brink of war, what we’d give for a global superstar who could not only go under par at the Belfry but also, between times, broker peace in the Middle East. Step forward Wilson, […]

Mail & Guardian reporter Liberty Life Learning Channel the television programme popular among the country’s matric pupils and teachers is expanding its reach to thousands of its audiences by using multimedia platforms such as the Internet, video and print media materials. The educational channel is also reaching out to niche audiences, such as adult basic […]

South Africa would be unwise to underestimate the Indian tourists Peter Robinson Even before South Africa started to trample their way around Zimbabwe, there was a generally held view that Zimbabwe constituted a warm-up for Sourav Ganguly’s Indians who, in turn, were designed to act as sparring partners ahead of the real business against Australia. […]

Jubie Matlou From simple beginnings as a telephone services division within the South African Post Office, Telkom’s 10 years of operation as a public utility in the information and communication technology industry is comparable to a growing lion cub that has to fend for itself. Telkom was corporatised on October 1 1991 and in 10 […]

Mboniso Sigonyela The rand’s weakness against the United States dollar is well documented, but the South African currency is also failing to hold its ground against other African currencies. The rand has recorded new lows against the pound and the dollar since the terror attacks on the US on September 11. On Thursday the currency […]

Thebe Mabanga The East Rand town of Benoni could lose the annual World of Music and Dance (Womad) festival if it fails to attract a large crowd. This weekend Benoni will host Womad for the third year, and the event has been plagued with criticisms on issues like audience demographics, timing and choice of venue. […]

Pick ‘n Pay proves a point by coming late to the Internet party David Shapshak There are many advantages to coming late to the Internet party, as late-comers to the Internet boom were fond of pointing out. This line of argument was popular at the height of the dotcom mania often to boost shareholder confidence […]

China, managed by a Serb, are favourites to qualify for the World Cup finals from Asia’s preliminary groups Amy Lawrence in Doha, Qatar The Arabian gulf: a scrum of Chinese photographers make the room flash like a disco, capturing the moment a Serb, who has been speaking Spanish because his wife lives in Mexico, and […]