Staff Reporter

A recent report on Afrikaans in higher education has important implications for other indigenous languages, argues Gerrit Brand The draft recommendations of the Gerwel Advisory Committee on Afrikaans in Higher Education have evoked a lot of reaction, both positive and negative, in the Afrikaans community. Yet the other language communities in South Africa do not […]

AMERICANS who don’t support calls for war have started a petition which appears on the web here. The petition calls for the US to use moderation in its response to the terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon, to respect international institutions in makings its response, and to judge carefully the level of accountability […]

One can only commiserate with the United States for the massive terrorist outrage visited upon it and more particularly the injured and families of the dead. All life is precious. As for George W Bush facing his moment of truth, I would rather say that it is not even the US but all of humanity […]

Suzan Chala Lack of managerial expertise is often cited as one reason for government failure to deliver. But the Free State provincial government is targeting this area of vulnerability: it’s sending its most senior officials back to the classroom. The Premier, Winkie Direko, senior politicians and heads of provincial departments in the provincial government have […]

It has been a busy, and sad, time for the Internet since the attacks on the United States David Shapshak As befits its status as the world’s communication medium, the Internet has been abuzz these past two weeks with the shock of the World Trade Centre bombings. For many, especially on that fateful Tuesday, it […]

Jaspreet Kindra Only three of the nine provinces are likely to elect provincial African National Congress office-bearers this year, amid a chaotic scenario where branches are being dissolved and reestablished in line with new municipal boundaries. ANC spokesperson Nomfanelo Mayosi-Kota says the Western Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng are the only provinces likely to stage […]

Thuli Nhlapo While most ordinary men shy away from discussing girls’ issues in public, the King of the Zulu nation, Goodwill Zwelithini, and his loyal subjects still believe in the tradition of the annual reed dance where he proclaims girls’ graduation to womanhood. Traditionally, the king was expected to choose a wife from among the […]

If the US co-operates with an African dictatorship, it is guilty of propping up an African tyrant; if it opposes the dictatorship, it is guilty of imposing American ideas of democracy on Africa; if it does nothing at all, it is guilty of “marginalising” the country. If the US acts, it is wrong; if it […]

Colloquium Wella Msimanga More than 30% of adults have never studied mathematics at school, 50% have never studied biological sciences and 55% have never studied physical and chemical science. This emerges from an article in a recent issue of the South African Journal of Science. The level of public understanding of science in South Africa […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

A US federal court in Los Angeles on Monday postponed for the second time the sentencing of an Algerian convicted of terrorism in a plot to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport during 2000 millennium celebrations. “The sentencing has been continued until February 14th at (9:00 am) because the defence requested more time,” court representative […]