If you don’t know Richard Leakey, you may remember the man who persuaded Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi to burn about $3-million worth of ivory in 1988, writes Fiona Macleod. The burning pyre of elephant tusks was a highly publicised statement against the international trade in ivory. Many conservationists in South Africa have not forgiven […]
ATHLETICS Martin Gillingham Bruce Fordyce, South Africa’s most celebrated athlete, has thrown his weight behind the growing number of officials and athletes who are calling for answers to accusations that the sport’s top officials in this country are corrupt. It was claimed three months ago that more than R9-million had gone missing from Athletics South […]
Sad and pathetic! The idea in the article “A marriage made in heaven” (August 17) that liberals in the Democratic Alliance are not “good” liberals because they dare to criticise the African National Congress is such a betrayal of liberal principles it makes my head spin! Liberalism is based on a belief in individual rights, […]
VISITING Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday invited African countries to share the cost of the launch and use of his country’s third satellite in 2004 to boost South-South cooperation and to promote the continent’s image worldwide. Speaking at the end of the four-day Global 2001 Smart Partnership International Dialogue in Kampala, Mahathir said […]
A new approach linking racism to power and self-interest is needed NO blows BARRED Sipho Seepe Many analyses of racism proceed from an assumption that the eradication of racism and other forms of discrimination is in the interests of all. Yet despite a universal condemnation of discrimination, racism persists. Even the most successful persons of […]
Using nature’s gifts to fill their needs Hilary Fine Dreams of a healthier planet and a self-sufficient community prompted educators at Bathurst Primary, near Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape, to infuse an environmental ethos into everything they do. “Our aim is to develop a sanctuary of learning where respect for the world we live […]
Investing in the Environment: Corporate Award Finalist: Conservation Corporation Africa Niki Moore The Phinda private game reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal used to be a 17?000ha stretch of degraded farmland. Now it is a world-famous “big five” tourist destination as well as a conduit for international foreign aid. Phinda, which means “the return”, is an apt […]
analysis Robert D Bullard Environmental racism affects individuals, groups or communities differentially, based on race or colour. It combines with public policies and industry practices to provide benefits for corporations, while shifting the costs to people of colour. It influences local land use, the enforcement of environmental regulations, the siting of industry and the areas […]
Barry Streek Donald Woods was a bit of a chancer, but with his enormous talents, his charm, his ability to talk himself out of virtually any situation and some luck, he made an unforgettable mark on South African journalism. Few, if any, editors of a small daily newspaper in Africa have ever written an editorial […]
Kampala | Thursday AFRICAN political and business leaders plan to publicise positive aspects of the continent’s investment environment in order to attract investors, they said on Wednesday. Nine African presidents and captains of industry who met for four days at an international investment conference that ended here on Tuesday called for “more attention to techniques […]
Barry Streek Despite spending R119,4-million on private security firms, last year Metrorail lost between R150-million and R170-million in fare evasion and a further R62,1-million in theft and vandalism. Minister of Transport Dullah Omar said R21,97-million was spent on repairs caused by theft and vandalism on trains and a further R40,3-million in theft and vandalism to […]
Congress Mahlangu The government, through the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the South African National Parks (SANP), will host the World Park Congress at the International Convention Centre in Durban on September 18 and 19 2003. The theme of the congress is “Benefits beyond boundaries” and it will review the global status of […]
The emblem of this year’s Green Trust Awards is a South African species of seahorse, called the Knysna seahorse (Hippocampus capensis). It is the world’s most threatened seahorse and occurs only in the Knysna and Swartvlei estuaries. The Knysna seahorse was chosen as the emblem because it is so vulnerable and in recognition of ground-breaking […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The Congress of South African Students (Cosas) in the Northern Province has threatened to disrupt the already troubled provincial education system if the province’s education head does not resign by the end of this week. Cosas says it will embark on a “militant and radical” action if Northern Province education superintendent […]
Mail & Guardian reporter The Mail & Guardian’s status as South Africa’s fastest-growing quality newspaper was confirmed this week with the release of the latest All Media Product Survey (Amps).The M&G now boasts 230 000 readers, according to Amps 2001A. This represents a 16,1% growth in readership over the previous survey. The M&G has shown […]
DAVID MACFARLANE, Johannesburg | Friday 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 […]
Schumacher joins Ascari in Ferrari book of greats, writes Richard Williams Tradition was not the first thing on Michael Schumacher’s mind when he signed his contract with the Scuderia Ferrari back in 1996. In fact it was not on his mind at all. He professed to know little and seemed to care less about the […]
Barry Streek Nearly 4 000 movements of the Earth, scientifically labelled as “seismic events”, have happened in South Africa over the past six years, 630 of them last year. But the majority of them are small and insignificant. Although one of these events recently caused a house to collapse in Welkom, in the Free State, […]
Michelle Nel “Dire Straits. Coming soon to Cape Town,” proclaims an eye-catching poster. Beneath the words is a picture of cracked mud. Does it mean the internationally acclaimed band Dire Straits is coming to South Africa, perhaps to play at a dried-out waterhole? A second look reveals the tag line: “Save water. Save the Cape.” […]
The Arab and the Jew may never solve their problems, not because the problem is insoluble, but because they seem both to be terminally disabled by the disease of ideology, both religious and nationalist in character. Ideology makes impossible any objective debate. This is Laura Stovel’s point (“A debate long overdue”, August 17). Frog-marching these […]
Ntuthuko Maphumulo The under-23 South African squad will be taking part in a four- nations tournament in Angola from August 25 to 28. The squad will be coached by Shakes Mashaba, who did well with the previous Amaglug-glug squad that went to the Olympics last year. Mashaba now has many of the previous national under-20 […]
DIAMOND giant De Beers said on Thursday that sales of rough diamonds through its Diamond Trading Company slumped 255% in the first half of 2001 to $2,62-billion. The group blamed the slowdown in the global economy for sluggish demand for polished diamonds, particularly in the United States, which had a knock-on impact on rough diamond […]
Community Projects Award Finalist: Built Environment Support Group’s Msunduzi Project Niki Moore The “little boxes” springing up in their thousands as part of the government’s low-cost housing masterplan are often a major headache for municipalities.?Services and maintenance are expensive and very often the residents can’t, or won’t, pay. When services break down, the rows of […]
Urban Renewal Award Finalist: Hout Bay River Development Michelle Nel Cape Town’s Hout Bay river is the last remaining river system linking Table Mountain to the sea that’s worth conserving as a resource of international significance. With this in mind, and against the backdrop of much abuse to both river and valley over the past […]
The Green Trust Award’s judges Mail & Guardian reporter The Green Trust Awards 2001 were judged by an independent panel of environmentalists. We would like to thank them for volunteering their time and expertise. Arend Hoogervorst runs his own environmental consultancy, Eagle Environmental, and specialises in assisting industry with environmental impact assessments and environmental management […]
Isn’t it strange… (1) When any African National Congress officials/parliamentarians/Cabinet ministers are accused of corruption, inaccurate or downright false statements, the inevitable response is that the complaint is unjustified and racist regardless of who makes the accusation? (2) We have the most advanced Constitution in the world, we are told, which makes us the envy […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota this week backtracked on his decision to appoint Seth Phalatse as the new chairperson of the Armscor, the state arms procurement company, and withdrew the appointment. His turnabout followed the Mail & Guardian report last week revealing how Phalatse had admitted to taking a $20?000 (about […]
DUMISANE LUBISI, Pietersburg | Friday NORTHERN Province has selected 23 impoverished youths who leave for Cuba on Monday to train as doctors for the next six years. The youths, who come from poor rural families, responded to a provincial health department advert in March that sought matriculants who wanted to study medicine. Over 1 000 […]
Amanda Lane replies to Matthew Krouse’s accusation that the line-up of Another One Night Stand is too white It is with a heavy heart that I write this, for it is my belief that one’s actions speak one’s truth. However, in my capacity as creative director of Another One Night Stand, I have a duty […]
Congress Mahlangu A team of consultants will undertake a number of conservation and socio-economic assessments for the Greater Addo Elephant National Park to expand the park for its growing elephant population and to realise its conservation and development objectives. The survey results are intended to attract World Bank development funding. The project, divided into four […]
Alan Henry Giancarlo Fisichella will replace his compatriot Jarno Trulli in the Jordan-Honda team next season in a three-year deal designed to provide the British team with the continuity they require to improve competitiveness and establish themselves as a possible winning force. The 28-year-old Italian, who currently drives for the Benetton-Renault squad, decided to make […]
Mungo Soggot The government has reached the end of the road in a marathon legal effort to block a group of doctors in the Northern Province from opening a private hospital in Tzaneen. The judgement sets a precedent for what is likely to be a battle between the medical profession and the government. One of […]