Staff Reporter

A degree in engineering provides graduates with numerous career opportunities Nicole Chidrawi Mention the word engineer and the picture of a person in a hard hat, building a bridge or surveying a piece of land, comes to mind. This image is sometimes far from the truth as engineers are involved in myriad projects: while some […]

Barry Streek The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has confirmed the firing of senior parliamentary official Nomsa Somdaka for using the services of five caretakers to paint her house and paying them overtime with parliamentary funds. Somdaka was the head of institutional support in Parliament. “Taken as a whole Somdaka had been guilty […]

Mail & Guardian reporter When you reach into the fridge for a bottle of iced tea, does the sight of cloudy liquid swirling around in a chilled bottle of iced tea make you think that its gone off or do you prefer it to the clear sterility of the different brand next to it. The […]

The US and its coalition against terrorism is moving into position near Afghanistan Mail & Guardian reporters By air and sea, the United States and Britain were building up their military presence on Thursday in the Gulf and hundreds of thousands of Afghans rushed to their borders to find they had been almost completely sealed […]

A tense lull settled over the world this week as the United States deliberated its response to the terror attacks on New York and Washington. Military retaliation seemed inevitable the only questions were how, when and where. The US reaction could critically shape the lives of everyone on the planet. As influential voices have warned, […]

Ngwako Modjadji Ever wondered how the thousands of parts needed to assemble a car become available at the right time and at the right place? It’s a matter of logistics. If this kind of puzzle appeals to you and you haven’t yet decided what you want to do after school the University of Stellenbosch could […]

RUGBY Andy Capostagno It is safe to assume that Butch James will never forget the 2001 rugby season. As the fulcrum of a rejuvenated Sharks team he got to play in the Super 12 final. A month later he played his first Test match and 10 days after that outing against France he received his […]

Comment Charlotte Raven Most people in the world had more than one response to what happened to the United States last week. I think it is safe to say that apart from three or four Palestinians, everyone is sad to see so many of their fellow humans killed in such horrendous circumstances. That goes for […]

A common purpose has brought the three main union federations to talks of a merger Glenda Daniels Mounting opposition to privatisation has drawn the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the National Council of Trade Unions closer together, and unity will be on the agenda in talks between two largest labour federations this week. […]

Jaspreet Kindra South African Communist Party members suspect a political motive in the theft of confidential documents dealing with the tripartite alliance and Inkatha Freedom Party from the party’s Durban offices at the weekend. Cash and computers were also stolen in the break-in, which coincided with an SACP central committee meeting at which the party’s […]

Marianne Merten The Lesotho high commission is intervening to protect one of its citizens on Robben Island after two staffers found guilty of sexually harassing her were not dismissed. An internal disciplinary hearing verdict yet to be ratified by Robben Island management was “suspended dismissal” for the driver and guide on condition they are not […]

Barry Streek The terror attacks in the United States have strengthened the case for controversial provisions in draft e-commerce legislation approved by the South African Cabinet this week. The Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill contains “Big Brother” provisions empowering the authorities to open cybermail messages and place controls over the use of encrypted services. The […]

JULIETTE HOLLIER-LAROUSSE, Nairobi | Thursday THE Eritrean government has finally taken tough action against its loudest critics by jailing seven former top officials who have expressed dissent since May and by suspending private media. “It’s a spectacular clamp-down,” said a western source in Asmara, noting that the action was taken while the world was busy […]

THIRTY Mpumalanga primary school children are pushing a go-cart for a gruelling 2 000 km from Komatipoort to Cape Town as part of an crime awareness campaign. The 18-day race started at 7am on Monday and the children were headed for Middelburg on Wednesday. The children hope to reach the mother city on October 6. […]

Harare | Thursday A ZIMBABWEAN white farmer and 30 of his labourers have been formally charged in court with murder after violence when his land was invaded at the weekend, the government press reported on Thursday. John Bibby (70) had initially been accused of inciting violence and being an accessory to murder before the murder […]

A NORTHERN Province man who allegedly stabbed his estranged common-law wife just moments after appearing in court for violating a protection order against him, was remanded in custody on Wednesday. Lazarus Sirovheli (36) of Madzhatsha village in Dzanani, near Thohoyandou, was not asked to plead on an attempted murder charge in the Dzanani Magistrate’s Court. […]

Kabul | Thursday THOUSANDS of terrified Afghans have begun to flood into Pakistan, fleeing the twin spectres of famine and war haunting their homeland. Despite Pakistan’s attempts to close its long border with Afghanistan, at least 15 000 refugees have made it into Pakistan in the last week alone. Tens of thousands more are desperately […]

Johannesburg | Thursday THE government will not be able to hold back the Medical Research Council’s report on Aids mortality in South Africa for much longer due to pressure for the paper to be released, the MRC said on Thursday. MRC representative Merle May said: “They can’t sustain the pressure. The people want the report.” […]

MPUMALANGA and Northern Province will select their best female farmers over the next two days, who will then vie for the national Female Farmer of the Year awards later this year. Mpumalanga’s female farmer of the year will be announced on Thursday, while Northern Province’s will be announced on Friday. Winners in the provincial competitions […]

ZAMBIAN President Frederick Chiluba next week will launch his party’s campaign and officially introduce his successor to the electorates. “We will have a mammoth rally on September 29 in the Copperbelt,” said George Chulumanda, a member of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) campaign team. The fast-growing Zambian opposition, the Forum for Democracy and […]

EIGHTEEN Northern Province hospital workers appeared in the Ramokgopa magistrate’s court on Wednesday in connection with stealing medicine and hospital supplies. The seven nurses, five assistant pharmacists, five general workers and an ambulance driver from Botlokwa Hospital in Soekmekaar, 50 km north of Pietersburg, were not asked to plead on charges of possession of stolen […]

SOUTH Africa is designing a “very comprehensive security strategy” for the Earth Summit in Johannesburg next year, an organiser said on Tuesday. The environmental summit is expected to attract more than 50 000 delegates, including close to more than 100 heads of state and government. Johannesburg World Summit Company head Moss Mashishi told a parliamentary […]

A 17-year-old Egyptian was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in prison for “debauchery with men” in connection with the trial of 52 people on gay sex charges, a judicial source said. Mahmud Abdel Fatah, whose sentencing was based on confessions made during interrogation, will also serve three years probation, the sources said. The trial […]

THE bodies of a Chinese businessman and his wife were pulled from an abandoned Northern Province mine on Tuesday afternoon. The couple are thought to have been hijacked and murdered last week before being dumped in the 30-metre-deep mine at Burgersdorp near Tzaneen. The couple may have been hijacked on the road between Hoedspruit and […]

Johannesburg | Tuesday A South African Hindu woman who lives in New York has started wearing a crucifix around her neck for fear of victimisation in the aftermath of last week’s attacks on the United States, a newspaper reported Monday. Kamshana Singh (26) who works as an au pair in the city, told the Johannesburg-based […]

THE cultivation of qat (a mildly narcotic shrub, Catha edulis) is said to be expanding at an alarming rate in the northern Tigray State. Plots previously used for the cultivation of cereals and horticultural produce were now being used to grow qat, the pro-government Walta Information Centre reported on 14 September. Walta quoted a local […]

Cape Town | Wednesday ARSONISTS attacked the offices of a Cape Town-based Muslim organisation early on Wednesday, possibly as a result of the attacks on the United States, an organisation representative said. Muslim Judicial Council secretary general Achmat Sedick said petrol was poured on the double front doors of the building and set alight at […]

Harare | Wednesday JOURNALISTS Mduduu Muthutuu and Collin Chiwanza, photojournalist Urgurnia Mauluka and their driver, all staff of the independent Daily News newspaper in Zimbabwe, were attacked by so-called war veterans on September 17, 2001. According to reports from the Daily News, the journalists — in the company of collegues from other Harare newspapers — […]

A TOTAL of 1 101 South African prisoners died of HIV/Aids in the first seven months of this year, an increase of 328% over the same period last year, Correctional Services Minister Ben Skosana said on Tuesday. Documentation provided by Skosana during a briefing of journalists and diplomats at Parliament showed that the number of […]

ABOUT 250 pigs have died from a mysterious disease that has hit parts of the Southern Province of Zambia, a veterinary officer said. The disease broke out three weeks ago a veterinary officer, Panel Nyimba told state radio. People in the affected areas have been advised to stop eating pork since veterinary officers do not […]

Washington | Wednesday THE United States has reached out to Cuba and Sudan, two countries it deems “state sponsors of terrorism,” as it moves to build a global anti-terror coalition after last week’s strikes, the State Department said on Tuesday. Secretary of State Colin Powell called Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail on Monday to discuss […]

ZIMBABWE’S top politicians have endorsed a land deal brokered in Nigeria which aims to end the country’s land crisis, the state-owned Herald reported on Tuesday. The politburo of the ruling Zanu-PF party met on Monday, endorsed the agreement signed in Abuja, Nigeria, earlier this month and called for its speedy implementation, the newspaper said. Under […]