Barry Streek A Gauteng informal settlement is to be the site of a R5,6-million study on whether solar water heating of South African homes can be viable in low-income areas. Between 200 and 500 homes in Ivory Park in the Midrand area will be used in the two-and-a-half year project conducted by the Department of […]
David Macfarlane Size does count and that’s official. District councillors around the country have been seduced by the argument that because South Africans “are generally big people”, they are more susceptible to “deep vein thrombosis” if they fly economy class. Shortly before setting off on an investment mission to China in April, about 40 councillors […]
Schools Project Award Finalist: Weston Agricultural College Hilary Fine What started out as a simple geography class exercise for learners at Weston Agricultural College, ended up with the local town council being forced to acknowledge the huge problems caused by a municipal dumping site. The saga started in March this year, when the grade 11 […]
Sponsor’s Message The stage is set. It’s now up to the artists to showcase their talent. Since its inception, the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz circuit has showcased some of the world’s greatest artists, while developing young talent. The Johannesburg Joy of Jazz International Festival 2001 is no exception. This leg of our successful circuit […]
Q&A: Kevin brand Paul Edmunds Widely regarded as one of South Africa’s foremost artists, Kevin Brand is holding his second exhibition in three months. Balm of Banal, at the Bell-Roberts Contemporary in Cape Town in July, was a series of bronzes made from casts of everyday objects. Something Old, Something New is a collection of […]
As international investor confidence in emerging market economies such as our own declines sharply in the face of serious financial difficulties in Argentina and Brazil, we might expect prudence to be the watchword among South Africans. Clearly, however, it is not. The motor industry strike was continuing as we went to press, endangering significant export […]
No action has been taken against party members accused of factionalism Jaspreet Kindra The African National Congress’s Gauteng interim leadership core, which replaced the party’s faction-ridden leadership structures last year, has failed to take action against senior party members allegedly responsible for friction in the province. This claim is detailed in reports drafted since 1999 […]
Glenda Daniels The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is not only planning a national strike next week against the government’s privatisation policies it is proposing alternatives. Privatisation, Cosatu argues, is responsible for escalating job losses, a lack of service delivery, the rising cost of basic services and the further impoverishment of the poor. […]
Schools Project Award Finalist: Legaganeng Primary School Hilary Fine In the schoolyard of Legaganeng Primary School in arid Northern Province is a thin, green strip that stands out as a shining example of how knowledge gained from a small, agricultural project blossomed to benefit both learners and the community at large. Legaganeng began its permaculture […]
CRICKET Peter Robinson A poll conducted by the News24 website recently called for South Africa’s cricket tour to Zimbabwe next month to be cancelled and, what’s more, for a full range of sanctions to be slapped on Big, Bad Bob as quickly as possible. The first point, of course, is that Internet polls are famously […]
Fiona Macleod The future of conservation lies in the hands of communities and individuals like those involved in the Klipkop Conservancy, said the judges when they moved this project from the Natural Resources category to Overall Winner (Emerging) this year. The story of the Klipkop Conservancy started when the Loots family bought a farm about […]
This year’s South African Fashion Week provides an opportunity for designer shopping with a special runway open to the public Zaheda Mohamed The countdown has begun as the South African fashion industry gears up for what is believed to be the biggest fashion event of the year. Publicist Estelle Cooper says audiences at South African […]
‘The environment is us’ is Mentoor’s enviro-mantra Heather Dugmore “What is wrong with you that you want to cut down all these trees?” a 10-year-old girl from Chiawelo township in Soweto demands of a girl the same age. Between them stands a smaller child with her arms raised to resemble the branches of a tree. […]
Hello, and thanks for all the fish Niki Moore The dolphins of Plettenberg Bay are a remarkable group.?They have started a crche, a theatre and a vegetable garden in the local township.?They have trained tour guides, paid school fees and raised funds for ocean research. They’re now working on a restaurant, backpacker’s lodge, fish-packing factory, […]
Investing in the Environment: Individual Award Finalist: Kim Kieser Joy Webber When clothing manufacturer Kim Kieser saw a newspaper report about a murdered woman’s body dumped on a garbage heap a couple of years ago, she was galvanised into action. “The article seemed to be the answer I sought to an unexplained dream I had […]
Investing in the Environment: Corporate Award Finalist: Cathay Pacific Niki Moore Take a group of youngsters from the crowded Philippines or high-rise Hong Kong, dump them in the vast African bush for a few days, and sit back.?Some kind of spiritual awakening is bound to happen.?And it does. “I’m from Manila,” says a bespectacled student.?”I’m […]
Feminist icon Doris Lessing says men are the new “silent victims” in the sex war. Yeah right BODY LANGUAGE Jeanette Winterson Men have found a new champion. Feminist icon and world-class novelist Doris Lessing has told the girls to lay off. She used her Edinburgh festival appearance to lament the cultural divide between men and […]
The rise of Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin puts the small country on the tennis map Eleanor Preston You could be forgiven for thinking that it is more difficult than ever for a single small country to challenge the United States’s hegemony of the grand slam events currently imposed by Venus and Serena Williams, Lindsay […]
Barry Streek About 350 NGOs and community-based organisations (CBOs) are rendering a variety of services and programmes to prisoners. Both the internal and external programmes by NGOs and CBOs are being reviewed and evaluated to determine the extent to which they address the needs of prisoners, including rehabilitation. This was disclosed by Minister of Correctional […]
a second look Hamilton Wende Sipho Seepe’s interesting article about African languages (August 10) reminded me of the moment in November 1996 when I was standing outside the main post office in the town of Bukavu in eastern Congo. Laurent Kabila was the leader of the new uprising against the corrupt Mobutu Sese Seko and […]
Helping them help themselves Niki Moore There’s a famous story about a man whose car breaks down just outside a mental institution.?A passer-by comes to his aid, spots the problem immediately and fixes the engine. Once the car is purring smoothly, the passer-by mentions casually that he is resident in the institution. “But, but,” stammers […]
Water Awareness Award Finalist: Umgeni Water’s Water Education Programme Michelle Nel Umgeni Water has produced a range of water-education resources that have proved so successful with users the United Nations has adopted aspects of its education programme. The UN is using the model in the Six Cities Water for Africa Project, an 18-month pilot project […]
A SECOND LOOK Jaspreet Kindra The South African government last week announced there will be no limits on foreign ownership when the first of its parastatals Telkom goes up for sale. There has not been a whimper of protest from the anti-globalisation movement or those in the government who not so long ago professed to […]
Glenda Daniels An angry and militant mood has gripped the country’s workforce, and now an indefinite strike is on the cards by more than 500?000 public servants. This will happen after the Congress of South African Trade Union’s (Cosatu) anti-privatisation strike next week. Millions of workers are saying enough is enough and are putting the […]
Lisa O’Carroll and Mark Tran The Industry Standard, the magazine that came to symbolise the dot.com boom, has closed after falling victim to the Internet collapse. It will file for bankruptcy unless a last-minute buyer can be found. Its collapse symbolises the dashing of yet another dot.com dream for San Francisco’s digerati, who enjoyed legendary […]
Imperial Ghetto is a photographic diary of people and events encountered by photographer Omar Badsha in Durban’s Grey Street vicinity in the apartheid era. The title of Badsha’s exhibition, Imperial Ghetto, is an ironic play on the fact that the labyrinth of streets was named after leading members of the Victorian imperial establishment. The photographs, […]
Vibraphone, penny whistle and trombone players are some of the specialised soloists at the festival. Here is an alphabetical list of the participants DON ALBERT Cape Town-born Don Albert is a mainstream baritone saxophonist who enjoys playing jazz standards. He is also an international jazz journalist who has written articles for various newspapers and magazines. […]
Mail & Guardian reporter From the early Eighties Fra Fra’s sound has wowed audiences across the world and they arrive in South Africa in September for a tour. This leading Afro-Caribbean band have their roots in the Netherlands, Surinam, the Antilles and Africa and have established themselves as a leading jazz band. The Surinamese phrase […]
Serjeant at the bAR In 1995, 28-year-old Alix Carmichele was viciously attacked in the secluded beauty of Noetzie, a village known to the thousands of people who make their way to Plettenberg Bay and Knysna during the December holiday period. Her attacker was arrested, convicted and sentenced to an effective 12 and a half years. […]
Barry Streek Judgement day for the Democratic Alliance is approaching as tensions within the party largely between former New National Party and the Democratic Party members reach boiling point. Next week advocate Willem Heath will release his report into “streetgate”, the saga surrounding fraudulent votes collected in support of Cape Town mayor Peter Marais’s bid […]
Winner: Treverton School and Wildlife Area Prize: R15 000, sponsored by Nedbank and The Green Trust Judges’ comments: “Treverton was the founder of environmental education in Southern Africa. Over the past 22 years, it has been at the cutting edge of environmental education, changing with the dictates of the times. “Its programmes have grown out […]
The return of prop Cobus Visagie has made all the difference, argues Andy Capostagno Familiarity may have bred a little contempt, but one thing about having only three teams contesting a tournament is that each match materially affects the outcome of the Tri-Nations. Even last week’s 14-14 draw between Australia and South Africa significantly advanced […]