A TEAM sent by the United Nations said on Thursday it had begun looking into whether Liberia was respecting UN demands to cut off support for Sierra Leonean rebels. The United Nations imposed sanctions on the West African country in May after deciding Liberia had not done enough to implement a UN resolution demanding an […]
FOUR Tunisian prison warders have each received four-year jail sentences for torturing a prisoner so severely he eventually had to have both legs amputated as a result of injuries, court sources said on Saturday. Former boxer Ali Mansouri, in jail for a criminal offence, was beaten and chained up in his cell in March to […]
A MAN in the northern Nigerian state of Sokoto has had his hand amputed after being convicted of stealing a goat, court officials said on Saturday. The amputation of 30-year-old Umaru Aliyu’s right hand was carried out at Sokoto specialist hospital on Friday, following the approval of the sentence on Wednesday by the state government, […]
SOUTH African president Thabo Mbeki and Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade met on Saturday to finalise plans for the presentation of a combined African development plan, an Mbeki spokesman said. The “African Initiative”, as it is known, is a merger of the Millennium African Recovery Programme (MAP) led by Mbeki and the Omega Plan spearheaded Wade, […]
THE former campaign manager of Zambian President Frederick Chiluba, who switched to the opposition in a bid to unseat his old boss, was murdered at his home on Friday in a crime the opposition blames on the state. Paul Tembo (41) was murdered execution-style in front of his horrified wife, his lawyers said. The killers […]
THE cash-strapped Mpumalanga Parks Board is gearing for greater commercialisation as part of its restructuring process. The organisation unveiled its new senior management organogram on Wednesday, which, for the first time, included a commercialisation component. Executive manager of the MPB, Leonard Smit, said on Thursday that the commercial division was much-needed and would be instituted […]
WEARING traditional cloth and carrying a Nigerian flag, flamboyant British tycoon Richard Branson flew into Nigeria on Thursday to publicise the launching of Virgin Atlantic services on the lucrative Lagos-London route. Arriving aboard one of his own Boeing 747s, the Virgin boss dropped in first on the Nigerian capital, Abuja, and met President Olusegun Obasanjo, […]
Cape Town | Monday A CAPE Town church that declared last week that only white Afrikaans worshipers were welcome did not object to a visit by mixed-race officials of South Africa’s ruling party on Sunday, a party official said. Charmaine Manuel, her 13-year-old son Nigel and his grandmother were asked to leave the church by […]
PAUL KIRK, Durban | Friday SEVEN hundred and fifty thousand rand in taxpayers money has been misspent to maintain a private home of Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the Minister of Home Affairs and Inkatha Freedom Party leader. The money was spent by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Works on gardening and maintenance at Buthelezis plush kwaPhindangena residence outside […]
THE Namibian cabinet has, in principle, banned the sale of Kaalgat, an adulterated cheap wine currently on sale in bars, shebeens and other drinking holes in most parts of the country. Health and Social Services Deputy Minister Richard Kamwi told The Namibian that forensic research conducted by the Ministry found that the liquor contained methanol, […]
THE cash-strapped Mpumalanga Parks Board is gearing for greater commercialisation as part of its restructuring process. The organisation unveiled its new senior management organogram on Wednesday, which, for the first time, included a commercialisation component. Executive manager of the MPB, Leonard Smit, said on Thursday that the commercial division was much-needed and would be instituted […]
ZIMBABWES government admitted on Thursday for the first time that the country faces food shortages later this year and may need international aid. That there will be shortages in national production is confirmed. The uncertainty is the magnitude,” Finance Minister Simba Makoni told journalists on Thursday. Previously government officials have adamantly denied reports — some […]
ARMED soldiers and policemen are said to have severely beaten up people in Harares Warren Park, Kuwadzana and Dzivaresekwa suburbs on Thursday, accusing them of taking part in the two-day stayaway this week. At around 3am yesterday, the soldiers and policemen entered homes and bars in Dzivaresekwa and attacked occupants for allegedly barricading roads. In […]
THE State-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) stands to lose $68-million in advertising revenue if the Minister of State for Information Jonathan Moyo goes ahead with his plans to ban financial institutions from sponsoring programmes at the debt-ridden public broad-caster. Former ZBC chief executive Luke Munyawarara, shocked by the move, in mid-June wrote a letter to […]
FOUR Tunisian prison warders have each received four-year jail sentences for torturing a prisoner so severely he eventually had to have both legs amputated as a result of injuries, court sources said on Saturday. Former boxer Ali Mansouri, in jail for a criminal offence, was beaten and chained up in his cell in March to […]
Before Night Falls celebrates a rebel Cuban writer. Gaby Wood looks at the man behind the film In 1970, two novelists shared a literary prize. Gabriel Garca Mrquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude and Hallucinations by Reinaldo Arenas won joint first prize for best foreign novel published in France. The first of these people, a […]
Khadija Magardie The Department of Health has acknowledged that schoolchildren in at least four provinces have been exposed to potentially lethal peanut butter by the government’s school feeding scheme, and some suppliers have been prosecuted. These admissions come nearly two months after the Mail & Guardian revealed that the Eastern Cape Department of Health was […]
whipping boy The merit-rating system has thrown handicaps like the Durban July wide open and any pundit who expresses confidence about the outcome of this year’s premier event is talking through his hat. So closely is the field handicapped that just about every runner has some sort of chance. Ability over the 2 200m distance, […]
Fiona Macleod The Kruger National Park had an operating profit of more than R10-million last year and is performing better than ever before, says its director, David Mabunda. Mabunda released the financial results of the country’s premier game reserve over the past five years to the Mail & Guardian this week to counter hysteria about […]
Stephen Gray Malagasy writer Michle Rakotoson visited South Africa for the Time of the Writer Festival in Durban. She has written plays for her own theatre troupe, a novel and Dadab et Autres Nouvelles (1984), a collection of autobiographical and erotic pieces. You were representing Malagasy literature at the festival in Durban. Yes, and I […]
Belinda Anderson Coronation fund manager Walter Aylett was one of the lucky or wise investors to reduce his holding of Dimension Data (DiData) shares in the first few months of this year. As Liberty Asset Management’s Imtiaz Ahmed said on Tuesday: “Anybody that’s got one share in DiData has got one share too many.” And […]
The president should concentrate less on what the media has to say, writes Anthony Holiday In the ancient Greek myth the beautiful youth, Narcissus, stares fascinated at his image reflected in a deep pool of water, until he tumbles in and drowns. It would, perhaps, be an exaggeration to allege that President Thabo Mbeki is […]
South African and African nine-ball champion Dino Nair “Dino-mite” to his friends will compete against 127 of the world’s best pool players for $300 000 in Cardiff later this month at the world nine-ball championships, writes Ntuthuko Maphumulo. Nair said: “I intend to win in Wales as it will be my first nine-ball international tournament […]
Fiona Macleod’s article entitled “Zulus take up spears for wildlife” (June 22 to 28) is a welcome look at some of the issues surrounding the growing involvement of rural people in wildlife conservation and tourism. The article contains a basic flaw, along with omissions and inaccuracies that need to be noted. It argues that the […]
Agnes Phiri (24) dreams of becoming an Olympic champion in showjumping, writes Ntuthuko Maphumulo. She has made the leap into the professional ranks of the elite sport thanks to a sponsorship that will allow her to focus full-time on riding. Phiri’s love for horses began after she moved from Alexandra township to live with her […]
channel vision Robert Kirby With the Wimbledon finals upon us it is interesting to reflect on what might be called the hidden statistics of professional tennis. Two Dutch academics from Tilburg University have been doing this, basing their results on the analysis of some phenomenal number of points played at Wimbledon 88 883, to be […]
A challenge for the medical profession over Mhlongo’s stance on Aids crossfire Janet Giddy Professor Sam Mhlongo, Aids dissident, is surprised that he is the only doctor among 30 000 South African doctors who questions the belief that HIV causes Aids or that Aids exists. His explanation is that he had the benefit of a […]
As more recipients of luxury cars from arms contractors are being exposed, a corruption-busting ANC MP writes about his experience on Parliament’s public accounts committee comment Andrew Feinstein In late 1998 the South African government concluded the procurement of armaments from a variety of European arms manufacturers to the value of just more than R30-billion. […]
Shirley Kemp Traditionally the retail sector has reacted strongly to changes in the interest rate. Driven by a combination of factors, in the past when interest rates went up, retail shares fell and when interest rates came down, retail came back into favour. The declines in the prime interest rate after its high of 25,5% […]
CD of the week Herbert:Bodily Functions Matthew Krouse Matthew Herbert’s genius is of a low key. As a bunch of love songs, Bodily Functions (Studio K7) talks for everyone. It says all the things one would want to say to one’s crush, the things one is too shy to articulate. Beneath its quiet and melodic […]
Harry Viljoen and his henchmen need to do a thorough rethink of South African rugby comment Neil Sonnekus Back in the Sixties a rand could buy you a pound and a player like flyhalf Keith Oxlee was a legend. He was part of the Springbok rugby team, whose two main characteristics were that they had […]
Worm’s Eye view Steven Friedman Is it possible that our representative democracy will one day allow people to be represented? The possibility was raised by an unexpected remark from President Thabo Mbeki in Parliament a few weeks ago. In response to a question, he suggested that the current system for choosing MPs and provincial legislators […]