Staff Reporter

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The Eastern Cape legislature this week reacted with shock at a damning report showing horrific details of sexual abuse, rape and exploitation of teenage pupils at provincial schools. The report, which was compiled by the legislature’s standing committee on education, revealed how teachers at a number of provincial schools used their […]

Telkom plans to provide South Africa with direct telecommunication links to the rest of Africa in the near future Jubie Matlou Apartheid South Africa’s isolation was not confined to political, economic and cultural areas alone, but also extended to telecommunications links with the rest of the world. Before 1994 direct telecommunications links between South Africa […]

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 […]

The disgraced former cricket captain went to court to try to overturn his life ban from the game Khadija Magardie Given all the claims of impecuniosity from the gabled manors of Fancourt beforehand it should come as no surprise that when his day in court finally arrived this week, Hansie Cronje’s chief objective was to […]

Story and photographs by Fanie Jason The trigger for this photo essay was a news story. In December 2000 I covered a story about a family of three in Khayelitsha a young mother, father and their three-year-old daughter who died of Aids-related illnesses within 24 hours. At that stage, I was becoming aware of the […]

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, […]

Shady, quiet streets featuring bougainvillea, backgammon, coffee and persecuted felines still exist on the Greek islands, writes Angus Begg It’s late May 1987. The time is somewhere around 8am down at the harbourside in Piraeus, Athens, and hundreds of backpackers and students are milling about, smoking, sitting on pavements, hassling for cheaper tickets … waiting. […]

Two professionals working in corporate social investments are clear about what it takes to make it effective. Jackie Mondi spoke to them You have to have the CEO or company chairperson committed to Corporate Social Investments (CSI) for it to be effective, say Lulu Letlape of Telkom Foundation and Mercia Maserumule of Murray & Roberts. […]

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 […]

Mail & Guardian reporter After the success of its 2000 academic bridging programme, Gensec Bank has extended the programme and is now investing a further R817500 in upgrading the skills of promising formerly disadvantaged students. A year ago 20 young people who matriculated in 1999 were given the opportunity to improve their matric results to […]

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 […]

The Buccaneers have been sailing stormy waters, dogged by on- and off-the-field problems mostly of their own making Ntuthuko Maphumulo “Once a pirate always a pirate” is a slogan that has finally caught up with reigning Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions Orlando Pirates. The Buccaneers have been dogged by controversy since the 2001/2002 season began. […]

My name is Phumzile Dlamini. I am a postgraduate student of Museum and Heritage Studies living on Robben Island. I am writing to respond to “Lesotho steps intto Robben Island ray” (September 21) The article used a fictitious name for a survivor of sexual harassment on the island that resembles my own. The names Phumla […]

SOCCER Ntuthuko Maphumulo As the row over the omission of Kaizer Chiefs chair Kaizer Motaung from the three Premier Soccer League (PSL) representatives to the South African Football Association (Safa) executive simmers, further tensions have come to light in the national body. There have been allegations that president Molefi Oliphant and his deputy, Irvin Khoza, […]

Mail &Guardian reporter Telkom has co- engineered the SAP/ Commerce One Platform, unique in South Africa and one of just six in the world. The system allows com- panies to set up and run online trading. Telkom is a Cisco Gold Partner and has also achieved the Cisco powered network status for virtual private data […]

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 […]

The country offers an experience unsullied by commercial overtones and blessed by an absence of tourist coaches, writes Angus Begg Today Africa’s wildlife destination of choice, there was a time, only a few decades ago, when Zambia was best known for not much more than abundant copper deposits, Kenneth Kaunda and, by Southern African standards, […]

Mungo Soggot and Stefaans Brmmer Telkom has stepped up its purge of its security network, cancelling its contract with Royal Security, the company at the centre of a long-running investigation, and axing two more managers. The investigation initially targeted the parastatal’s former deputy chief operating officer, Bheki Langa, who resigned in July ahead of a […]

Existing laws could be used against people who fail to disclose their HIV-positive status while having unprotected sex Belinda Beresford The South African Law Commission has advised against laws to prosecute people who intentionally expose others to the HI virus, saying such legislation would be impossible to police or implement. Rather, the state should concentrate […]

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 […]

Thabo Mohlala Not so long ago, it was a rare sight to see a black person, let alone a woman, driving a train. This was because certain categories of jobs, including train drivers, were reserved for white people. However, as political change gains momentum, some black people have broken job barriers, but the beneficiaries are […]

analysis Richard Tomlinson When it comes to housing, the worst off are the worst served. Housing international best practice is based on delivery to a family, and so too is South Africa’s housing policy. In both, the conception of the family is that of a Western nuclear family. The consequences are to bar access to […]

Glenda Daniels More than 50 000 delegates from around the world are expected at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa next year making it a bigger event than the recent United Nations conference on racism. South Africans have begun to formulate their positions and representation for the summit, due to be staged […]

UGANDAN President Yoweri Museveni has warned the United States against “arrogance and behaving as a bully” in its fight against terrorism and encouraged Washington to instead work towards solving the Palestinian question and attaining democracy for the whole world. “The US should not be tempted into using dirty methods at all that cause unnecessary tension […]

THE USA authorities have requested South African missions in New York and Washington to secure DNA samples from family members of South Africans presumed missing following the recent terrorist attacks in the USA. At the moment there are six South Africans reported missing in the USA. The US authorities have requested the following from family […]

MAX HAMATA, Windhoek | Wednesday THE Namibian government on Tuesday unveiled a new Defence Bill which includes draconian measures that attempt to restrict the media’s reporting on military activities. Defence Minister Erkki Nghimtina said in the National Assembly that it would be an offence to publish “information calculated or likely to endanger national security or […]

THE Kruger National Park has appealed to anyone with information about the cause of the devastating fire that killed 23 people three weeks ago to contact investigators. A commission of inquiry into the tragedy will soon be established, said Kruger director David Mabunda, on Tuesday. Those with information could then make submissions to the commission, […]