Legislation drafted in January gives authorities the means to crack down on organised crime Judith February A new Bill to combat money laundering, the Financial Intelligence Centre Bill, is a subject of deliberations in the portfolio committees of finance, justice and constitutional development. The Bill seeks to address administrative and procedural defaults in the The […]
Wimbledon’s newest star has South African connections Neal Collins Somewhere beneath the enveloping Henmania of Brit-biased Wimbledon this week, a star was born. And he holds a South African passport. Actually, Roger Federer was born on August 8 1981, but in tennis, stardom takes a while to gestate, especially in that exclusive area of London […]
Congress Mahlangu The ownership of land or property by foreigners comes into the spotlight as the government prepares policy on the issue as part of the land redistribution programme. This follows a meeting between Director General of the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs Dr Gilingwe Mayende and his home affairs counterpart, Billy Masetlha. New […]
The article about Henrietta Mqokomisa and her removal from Alexandra to Diepsloot was one person’s story analysis Chris McGreal The Gauteng Department of Housing spokesperson, Dumisani Zulu, accuses me of “blatant disregard” for good journalism for allegedly putting one side of the story in the account of the destruction of Henrietta Mqokomisa’s home in Alexandra […]
Zambia was host to a crowd of sun worshippers gathered for a celebration of shallow hedonism Joel Pollak As the last slivers of sunlight disappeared behind the dark silhouette of the moon, an ecstatic roar went up from the motley crowd of revellers, more than 7000 strong, who had gathered from around the world on […]
CRICKET Mike Selvey At some time during the last week in August either Steve Waugh or, less likely, Nasser Hussain, will stand on the balcony at the Oval and raise the Ashes urn in measured triumph. The crowd spread out on the grass below will strain to catch a glimpse of one of the most […]
Nawaal Deane Two Mpumalanga farm workers, who were allegedly assaulted by members of a commando unit in 1996, are suing the Minister of Defence, Mosiuoa Lekota, for almost R2-million. One of them was blinded in the alleged assault. Three white farmers belonging to the Wakkerstroom Commando, a civilian army unit, allegedly assaulted the two. The […]
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 […]
THE Zimbabwe government on Tuesday sacked the governing body of the country’s Grain Marketing Board (GMB) in a bid to ensure food security, Lands and Agricultural Minister Joseph Made said on Tuesday. Made said the move was to allow the government to be directly involved in the operations of the parastatal which is responsible for […]
AT least 10_250 workers in the timber industry will lose their jobs if the government goes ahead with its planned compulsory acquisition of forest plantations for its land resettlement programme, the Zimbabwe Standard reported on Tuesday. The Zimbabwe Timber Producers’ Federation (ZTPF), which contributed significantly to Zimbabwe’s industrial output last year, has registered its displeasure […]
THE Nigerian government Tuesday announced the names of 16 prospective bidders for a majority stake in its state-run telecoms company, Nitel, drawing an instant denial from France Telecom. The government privatisation agency, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), in a formal statement given to reporters, named France Telecom and firms from Egypt, Korea, Malaysia and […]
NIGERIAN police on Tuesday shot dead a suspected armed robber, and a mob set ablaze and killed five of his colleagues after they failed in their attempt to rob a bank, Lagos police boss said. The six were a part of a 14-man gang which had attempted to rob a bank at noon in central […]
PRESIDENT Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) arrived in Dar Es Salaam on Tuesday for unprecedented talks with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni, who has troops backing rebels in the DRC. On Wednesday, he is due to have his first meeting as head of state with Museveni. – AFP
PRESIDENT George W. Bush on Tuesday announced he had picked career diplomats Robert Geers Loftis and Michael Malinowski as US ambassadors to Lesotho and Nepal, respectively. Both nominations require US Senate confirmation. Loftis has held the post of deputy chief of mission in Maputo since 1999, while Malinowski has served as Deputy Chief of Mission […]
SWAZILAND sugar tycoon Dumisa Dlamini has filed papers with the Pretoria High Court to sue Absa Bank Limited for over R120-million for the collapse of his hotel empire in South Africa. In court papers filed on June 27, Dlamini claims that Absa debited R12,7-million from his account without authorisation. The bank is also accused of […]
MALAWIS President Bakili Muluzi on Monday ordered the release of 880 prisoners convicted of minor offences. “You are here to be reformed and not to be punished,” Muluzi said when he visited Zomba prison, the biggest in the country, situated about 60 kilometres outside Blantyre. He explained that the gesture was to mark Malawi’s Independence […]
THE Land Claims Commission has moved its offices to Northern Province and Mpumalanga in a bid to speed up the processing of about 11_000 land claims that have been lodged in the region since 1996, African Eye News Service reports. An additional commissioner has also been appointed to help speed up the process. Before, only […]
THE head of the west African regional grouping Ecowas, Lansana Kouyate, is a candidate for the post of Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity, his representative said on Monday. “His candidature for the … top job has been approved by Guinean President Lansana Conte,” said Mohammed Diakite, adding that the OAU secretariat in […]
SEVER flooding has claimed 22 lives and driven about 1,000 people from their homes in the Cameroon coast town of Limbe, local officials said on Monday. Heavy rains have struck a number of west African countries, causing floods in low-lying districts and claiming several dozen lives, according to reports across the region in the past […]
THE White House on Monday announced President George W. Bush’s picks for US ambassadorships in Madagascar, the Central African Republican, Cameroon, and Ecuatorial Guinea. If confirmed by the Senate, Wanda Nesbitt will go to Madagascar, Mattie Sharpless will be off to the Central African Republic and George McDade will represent Washington in Ecuatorial Guinea and […]
A REBEL leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday said more than 100_000 refugees from the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) were in urgent need of help. “More than 100_000 Central Africans” have crossed the Oubangui river into areas in northeast DRC controlled by the Congolese Liberation Front (FLC), said the rebel […]
GERMAN Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and South African Vice President Jacob Zuma met in Berlin on Monday to discuss bilateral relations and developments in the southern Africa. Zuma said he was “very satisfied” by the talks and expressed satisfaction with Germany’s efforts to support the Millennium Africa Recovery Programme (Map) to address the continent’s gravest […]
THE tomb of a priest who served under an Egyptian pharaoh has been found outside the Egyptian capital of Cairo, antiquities officials said on Tuesday. The tomb in Abu Sir, Giza belongs to a priest named “son of Amon” who led the worship of Ptah, a deity of Memphis viewed as creator of the universe […]
SWAZILAND authorities have been urged to shed an age old tribal custom that discriminates against widows. The custom forces widows to wear distinctive black gowns for two years and ostracises them from society. Widows have to sit at the back of public transport buses and churches so as not to cast the ‘shadow of death’ […]
NORTHERN Province’s Elim Hospital, which has earned an international reputation over the past 100 years for its community work and eye treatment, has been revamped at a cost of R14-million. The new hospital complex, called the Centenary Building, was officially opened in Elim outside Louis Trichardt on Tuesday. Until the early 20th Century, Elim Hospital […]