DAVID LE PAGE, Johannesburg | Sunday ACCORDING to Independent Online, Willem Heath has wound up a week of hearings into the Cape Town street renaming scandal, in which council members are alleged to have manipulated so-called public petitions in support of the proposal. The proposal was a favourite of Democratic Alliance mayor Pieter Marais, who […]
Pretoria | Sunday PROSECUTORS said Saturday they would not appeal a High Court decision which overturned an order issued to foreign journalists to hand over video material of the killing of druglord Rashaad Staggie. The National Directorate of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), said in a statement they would not further delay the trial of the men […]
DAVID MACFARLANE, Johannesburg | Friday ABOUT 75% of schools expel girls who fall pregnant, but only 25% of schools also expel the father of the child. “There’s not a school in the country that doesn’t have to face the problem of pregnancy among learners,” says Ken Alston, acting rector of the Teachers’ Centre in East […]
A FRENCH tourist was attacked and killed by an angry elepant he was filming in southern Kenya’s Tsavo East national park, officials said on Friday. The Kenya Tourist Federation said in a statement that Jacques Boxberger (52) was trampled to death by the elephant at a picnic site in Tsavo where he had gone with […]
Brazzaville | Sunday IVORY COAST Transport Minister Kabran Appia on Saturday urged his counterparts from the 11 countries that own Air Afrique to find “definitive options” to save the troubled company. “We must save Air Afrique,” he said. “We must find definitive options … the heads of state summit must decide on a definitive solution,” […]
AT least 91 people died and 146 were injured when a train struck a landmine east of the Angolan capital Luanda, the Portuguese news agency Lusa reported on Saturday. The train, consisting of four passenger cars, two freight cars and two oil containers, was derailed by the explosion. Some 500 passengers were reported aboard. Angola, […]
Ngwako Modjaji Henrietta Mqokomiso, who was evicted from her house in Alexandra township in June when bulldozers demolished her home of 12 years, is being given a new house by the Gauteng Department of Housing. The Mail & Guardian reported last month that the Legal Resources Centre was preparing a legal battle on behalf of […]
A farm worker claims he was beaten by vigilantes on an executive’s hunting farm Fiona Macleod Police are investigating an alleged sjambok beating carried out by vigilante group Mapogo-A-Mathamaga on a Northern Province hunting farm owned by one of Bill Gates’s right-hand men at Microsoft. A former employee at the farm of senior Microsoft executive […]
protests Marianne Merten Students from the Cape Peninsula joined their colleagues in Soweto in protest against Afrikaans as a medium of instruction and police brutality 25 years ago. August 11 marks the 25th anniversary of the protests by pupils from Langa and Guguletu townships, which spread across the Cape Flats and prompted solidarity demonstrations by […]
MAIL & GUARDIAN chief photographer Ruth Motau has been honoured for her work at an awards ceremony sponsored by the South African Broadcasting Corporation. This is the second year the SABC acknowledged women who have made a difference in the media and 28 women were honoured last Friday. Motau received the same award last year. […]
Possible manipulation of votes on the renaming of two streets is under scrutiny in Cape Town Marianne Merten It was an inauspicious start to the public hearings to get to the bottom of whether and how submissions on the renaming of Cape Town’s two oldest streets might have been manipulated. Inquiry chairman advocate Willem Heath […]
BODY LANGUAGE Julie Burchill If there’s one type of broad I can’t stand, it’s what I call You’re-Not-Going-Out-Dressed-Like-That feminists: older women, past the first bloom of youthful beauty perhaps, who instead of concentrating their fury on patriarchy and its evils make a second career out of attacking younger women, usually stunners or starlets of some […]
RUGBY Andy Colquhoun in Fremantle In 1850 building work began on a new detention centre to house 75 convicts, the first wave of felons despatched to Fremantle to begin a new life as far away as possible from the delicate sensibilities of British society. Today the building is the Esplanade hotel and houses the Springbok […]
ITALY has donated two billion lire (about one million dollars) to help rebuild health services in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations children’s fund Unicef said on Thursday. This brings to eight million dollars contributions so far received towards Unicef’s appeal for DRC for this year, which totals $15-million. Unicef executive director Carol […]
Bongani Majola The word “battle” features prominently when South African graffiti artists talk about their work. This was evident at a recent graffiti competition in Johannesburg. The winning work, which took a R500 prize, was of a man menacingly clutching a little teddy bear in his hand. This is, according to Wealz, the sole judge […]
Alec Hogg Failure to keep losses in check forced South African-owned technology group Ixchange to issue a profit warning on Tuesday morning. But chief executive Derek Kreunen says although the bottom line number for the six months to June 30 came in $3,3-million worse than had been projected, there is enough in the results for […]
It should be noted that, after the government, no organisation in this country is doing more to handle the appalling results of the Aids pandemic, using both local and foreign funding, than the Catholic Church, led by its bishops. These men are fully aware of what is going on. They see and know all about […]
EVIDENCE WA KA NGOBENI, Johannesburg | Friday THE Special Investigative Unit (SIU), the state’s premier investigation authority, is to shut down a string of long-standing probes into alleged fraudulent activities involving government officials and private individuals as part of a plan to overhaul its operations. The unit, which has been struggling to cope with its […]
Documents suggest that Chippy Shaik did not withdraw from key arms decisions involving his brother’s interests Paul Kirk Intelligence agencies and the state attorney this week sought to stop the Mail & Guardian from publishing information about documents that expose serious irregularities in the R50-billion arms deal. Shortly after the M&G asked Minister of Trade […]
Q&A musa manzini Thebe Mabanga Musa Manzini, a graduate of the University of Cape Town (UCT) school of music, is one the latest, noticeable arrivals on the jazz scene. With class and elegance he effortlessly alternates between the electric guitar and the double bass. His self-produced, self-titled debut, New Reflections (BMG), earned him a South […]
Khadija Magardie When it comes to political chutzpah, even the most cynical would concede: Benazir Bhutto oozes it. In South Africa this week to attend Women’s Day celebrations, she made no secret of her primary raison d’tre to lobby for international support for her return to Pakistan, where she was once prime minister. Despite imprisonment, […]
SIERRA LEONE on Thursday released 41 rebels from prison including Paolo Bangura, a former foreign minister, a government statement said. It said the detainees were freed in the afternoon from Freetown’s high-security Pademba Road prison. All were members of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group and had been held under a sweeping emergency law. […]
As the exciting KwaZulu-Natal season recedes into the past, attention swings to the mud of Kenilworth in Cape Town, which offers this weekend’s only graded feature race, the R80000 weight-for-age Champagne Stakes for fillies and mares over 1200m. The race has attracted a few useful older sprinters but the winner could be an improving member […]
The company’s chief financial officer says the downturn was a necessary evil to shake out unsound businesses Belinda Anderson The management of Idion Technologies is more confident than ever about the strength of the business. But, on release of its half-year numbers, the market knocked another 20% off the share price taking it down to […]
Khadija Magardie The Office of the Public Protector has confirmed that it is investigating the CEO of the Commission on Gender Equality (CGE), Zith Mahaye. A representative for Public Protector Selby Baqwa’s office this week said it is in the process of investigating a complaint against Mahaye, but has not yet made any findings. The […]
THE Namibian man who had his hands and feet chopped off by his sister died in the intensive care unit at the Oshakati State Hospital on Tuesday. David Moses Halwoodi (33) survived for a week after Ndapandula Jafet hacked off his hands and feet with a panga. According to hospital sources, Halwoodi’s died as a […]
EGYPT’S attorney general will examine demands for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to be investigated with a view to trying him for involvement in the alleged killing of Egyptian prisoners during two Arab-Israeli wars, legal officials said Thursday. The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) has filed a complaint with attorney general Maher Abdel Wahed […]
David Macfarlane About 75% of schools expel girls who fall pregnant, but only 25% of schools also expel the father of the child. “There’s not a school in the country that doesn’t have to face the problem of pregnancy among learners,” says Ken Alston, acting rector of the Teachers’ Centre in East London. He bases […]
BOXING Deon Potgieter History could be made in October if the proposed clash between Cassius “The Hitman” Baloyi and Phillip “The Timebomb” Ndou goes ahead. It would be the first time two current South African world champions face off against each other and that with neither title at stake. Baloyi, undefeated after 25 fights with […]
Ntuthuko Maphumulo Bafana Bafana have played a number of games against non-African opposition but have managed to win only once. They beat Sweden 1-0 in 1999 with a goal scored in the dying minutes of the second half by the former African Wanderers and Kaizer Chiefs striker Siyabonga Nomvete. Nomvete, who now plies his trade […]
THE United States has donated crime-fighting equipment worth $150 000 to the Nigerian police, officials said this week. The equipment, including vehicles, computers, generators, fax machines, fire-proof safes and VHF radios, was presented to a special fraud unit on Wednesday. Also included in the package is special training for investigators of international fraud and financial […]
DAVID LE PAGE, Johannesburg | Friday FOR two weeks the Internet has been the spawning ground for widespread, distorted rumours about the government’s alleged plan to institute Internet “censorship” measures, “similar to those introduced in China”. The Interception and Monitoring Bill about to be introduced to Parliament contains no recipe for Internet censorship, though provisions […]