Marianne Merten For the women of Silvertree Rugby Football Club in Mitchells Plain on the Cape Flats playing rugby is nothing new they have been at the game since 1954. Since the club’s inception in the historic District Six almost 50 years ago, women have played rugby at fundraising games. Today the mother of one […]
Richard Jago “Cry for help when there’s no here-Rafter …” wailed the Melbourne Age when the Australian’s rickety shoulder was apparently falling to bits. That sentiment is being even more keenly felt now as Pat Rafter, arguably the most popular man on the tennis tour, plays what may be his final grand slam. All year […]
The benefits of negotiation worm’s eye view Steven Friedman There is an “obvious” explanation of the stand on privatisation taken by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). It is agreed by the president and leader of the opposition, commentators, stockbrokers and business people. First, it is said or implied that Cosatu has no […]
crossfire Will Hutton Slavery is America’s incubus. It made racist hypocrites of the founding fathers who drafted a Constitution and Bill of Rights that proclaimed individual liberties for all as long as they were white, knowing exactly what they were doing. It disfigured American society for 250 years while it was practised, and for another […]
POLICE in Tanzania’s northern region of Arusha this week burnt 120 tonnes of marijuana impounded recently, a senior official said on Thursday. “The exercise took place at a forest on the slopes of Mount Meru and it took three days to destroy all 120 tonnes,” said Placid Chaka, the Arusha regional police commander. Police also […]
Charlene Smith Keith Bennett has a mild manner and a pleasant face many would call him charming. Yet last Wednesday a Roodepoort magistrate sentenced him to 18 years in jail. For more than 20 years he had beaten, raped, shot, stabbed and terrorised his former wife. On each of the many occasions he had been […]
Thebe Mabanga The 10th Arts Alive International Festival kicks off this weekend in Johannesburg to induce a frenzy that will leave Gauteng citizens reeling with a month long hangover. At the festival press launch in mid-July two of the many events unveiled as being aligned to the festival were the Joy of Jazz Festival this […]
David Shapshak It took 20 years for the computer processor to break the one-gigahertz barrier, but only a year to double that speed. This week Intel, the world’s largest manufacturer of the silicon-based processor that powers a major chunk of the planet’s computers, announced its latest chip: the Pentium 4 running at two gigahertz. But […]
Barry Streek The suspension of one of Parliament’s most senior officials, Lulu Matyolo, the Secretary of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), was lifted this week but her return to office has resulted in a written complaint to the Public Protector, Selby Baqwa. The complaint to Baqwa not only contains the allegations that relate to […]
When racism goes underground analysis Mark Heywood In the last turbulent years before the advent of democracy in South Africa, many lives were lost in urban areas of what was then the Transvaal and Natal. Supporters of the Inkatha Freedom Party, armed by white racists of the ilk of Eugene de Kock, launched merciless attacks […]
We watch reality TV shows to see a narrative emerge from the daily flux One of the hallmarks of our post-modern age is its ability to recycle anything and everything. Heart of Darkness was a key modernist text about barbarism in colonial Africa; now it is the title of a computer game. And Big Brother […]
Cell on steroids gets even better David Shapshak While the tech world has been clamouring to produce the ultimate convergent device blending a cellphone and personal digital assistant (PDA), Nokia has been doing it for years. The 9000 series phones have distinctively featured a flip-open screen and miniature keyboard, and have gone from strength to […]
SWIMMING Frank Keating One of sport’s most intense and antique challenges is reaching its high-season fulfilment. It is an international sporting contest famed throughout the world and a more ancient one than any organised by soccer. It is older than cricket’s Ashes (established 1884) or tennis’s Wimbledon (1877). It remains unimpeachably amateur and has been […]
Jaspreet Kindra The stage has been set for a comrade-versus-comrade battle at least till the alliance summit, scheduled for late September. For the first time in years the African National Congress publicly hammered its alliance partners, particularly the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). The ANC believes Cosatu has been infiltrated by ultra left-wing […]
Mamotloga Ramohlale The auditor general is investigating possible fraud and corruption in the Eastern Cape government after tens of thousands of rands earmarked for bursaries for needy students did not reach the recipients. According to MEC for Finance Enoch Gondongwana’s office, the bursaries were awarded to between 650 to 700 students a year. About R7-million […]
South Africa need to sort out the basics when they begin a busy Test season next week Peter Robinson Next Friday Shaun Pollock’s South Africans start their first Test match of the summer in Harare against Zimbabwe. Come April 9 next year, South Africa will have played in 11 Test matches and comfortably more than […]
The race card has been so abused that the word has been denuded of much of its meaning, says James Myburgh South Africa’s hosting of the World Conference on Racism is seen by most as a fitting reward for this country’s peaceful transition from apartheid. The government of President Thabo Mbeki has, according to one […]
Carol Dundas A new programme to educate potential first-time homeowners with a practical understanding of homeownership and finance is to be launched in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga next week. This is an initiative of the Home Loan Guarantee Company (HLGC) to assist low income earners who are either in the process of acquiring a home […]
This past week has held a message for the men and women at the top of the African National Congress. It has been delivered by two apparently unrelated events. That warning is this: that the people of this country will resist, and publicly shame, the ANC leadership’s attempts to curtail debate. There are a number […]
I note remarks by Tito Mboweni that events in Zimbabwe and observations by the Pan Africanist Congress’s secretary general are weakening the rand. I was shocked that he joins in the crude analysis that has entered our political economy. He says the “fundamentals” are in place, yet explains the weakening rand in marginal factors that […]
Two young Kiwis have taken a year off from their studies to share their rugby knowledge with a Mitchells Plain club. Marianne Merten reports Two young New Zealand rugby players have introduced their take on the game to a Cape Flats team as part of an exchange programme with the Auckland Rugby Football Club. Afa […]
Ufrieda Ho Up to 45% of drug cases are being tossed out of court a staggering statistic that indicates rot in the law enforcement system. This finding is drawn from statistics in six provinces, excluding the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape. It reveals a system dogged by a lack of integrity and competence by police […]
Next month nine countries will be screening versions of Big Brother simultaneously About 2 500 entry forms were received for the South African series Two people are nominated for eviction every two weeks after which the public has a week to vote for the one who should leave, with the first eviction on Sunday September […]
A Second look Bishop David Russell It is with sadness that I have to share with you my disappointment and even alarm at certain trends in the body politic. Yes, we have a wonderful Constitution, a wonderful Bill of Rights and this government has put through some good and necessary legislation in seeking to right […]
A new project has the huge task of changing perceptions that history is a dead-end subject Nawaal Deane “In one major Free State town, only three out of 24 schools continue to offer history up to matriculation level,” said Minister of Education Kader Asmal at the launch of the South African History Project this week. […]
obituary: Ken Tyrell The world of Formula One is mourning the death of Ken Tyrrell, the one-time timber merchant who became one of the sport’s major team owners. Tyrrell, who has died of cancer at his home in Surrey, was 77. With Bernie Ecclestone, the late Lotus founder Colin Chapman and Frank Williams, Tyrrell was […]
All women think about is good sex and bad hair, suggests a new survey. BODY LANGUAGE Kate Taylor Asking your lover, “What are you thinking about?” has always been a one-stop route to getting dumped. That’s because you’re only ever prompted to ask it at inopportune moments, like when they’ve just watched you being sick, […]
A new book, Islam’s Black Slaves, details how black Africans were bought and sold by adherents of the Muslim faith comment Khadija Magardie For some time now the Islamic world has been a silent member of the fraternity of the historically sinless a world in which one points fingers, despite similarly bloodied hands. The run-up […]
Ntuthuko Maphumulo Two of the top teams in the Premier Soccer League will face each other in a “best of the best” BP Top 8 final on Saturday at FNB stadium for the R1-million prize money. Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs are no strangers to million-rand prize money competitions; Kaizer Chiefs won the Rothmans Cup twice […]
analysis Glenda Daniels Even the most orthodox economists accept that there are instances where state ownership of utilities is appropriate. The business of government should be give and take, with the broad view of creating a better quality of life for all, specifically the upliftment of the poor. Unfortunately, the present situation is all take […]
Forestry has an important role to play in the SA economy Ronnie Kasrils Every year we celebrate Arbour Week during the first week of September. This week-long focus on trees and forests is much more than an opportunity to celebrate the arrival of spring. It is a time to reflect on how forestry can contribute […]
Grant Shimmin in Wellington For the neutral, the Tri-Nations could scarcely be finishing on a more exciting note, with a winner-take-all clash at the scene of one of the great encounters in modern Test rugby. Last year Sydney’s Stadium Australia was preparing to host the Olympic Games when the All Blacks and Wallabies opened their […]