It is 25 years since the Soweto uprising. Jeremy Baskin examines three new books that reflect on that seismic event Where were you on June 16 1976? The question has an iconic status among South Africans of a certain age, the way Americans remember where they were when JF Kennedy was shot. Three new books […]
Roshila Pillay ‘The Ray Ban advert with the vampires,” drools Eloise Hendricks (19) when asked what her favourite advertisement is. A business communications student at Pretoria Technikon, Hendricks cannot afford the Ray Ban sunglasses. However, she says the Ray Ban advert has had a major impact on her choice of sunglasses. Many students agree that […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni South Africans who wish to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the June 16 Soweto uprising but cannot afford to attend the various events will for the first time honour the young heroes through cyberspace. The South African History Online project (Saho) has published a special multimedia, interactive focus on its website […]
Ntuthuko Maphumulo soccer Bafana Bafana and The Democratic Republic of Congo have both already qualified for the African Cup of Nations finals in Mali next year and the match between the sides at King’s Park in Durban on Sunday afternoon is being billed as a “celebration”. But the home team will be playing for more […]
Bottles of Le Vie de Luc mineral water sport the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund logo without permission Stefaans Brummer The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund has found itself in bed with a business linked to Mafia don Vito Palazzolo but the fund protests that it is an unwilling partner and says it has asked for an […]
The reaction by the office of Peter Marais, the Democratic Alliance mayor of Cape Town, to the Mail & Guardian’s expos of fraudulent vote rigging in his campaign to rename two city streets is unsurprising. Marais and his acolytes have claimed that political opponents planted the forged votes with the M&G to discredit him and […]
Khadija Magardie Poor salaries, lack of adequate training and increasing attacks on its members continue to plague the ranks of the South African Police Service (SAPS). These issues, with the threat posed by privatisation to workers in the public service, dominated the agenda of the fourth national congress of the country’s largest police union, the […]
Mail & Guardian reporter Mail & Guardian assistant editor Belinda Beresford has been named overall winner of the United States South Africa Health Reporting Awards. Beresford was selected for her piece on HIV/Aids entitled “None so blind as those who will not see”, one of several submitted. The panel of judges, comprising journalists and US […]
Pule waga Mabe Observers and role players within the youth sector expect the National Youth Commission (NYC) to be addressing issues of youth unemployment, HIV/Aids and apathy. But there is little sign of any direct action at the commission’s plush offices, where more than three directorates deal with policy, communications and finance. Its electro-magnetic doors […]
Barry Streek, Glenda Daniels and David Macfarlane Coleman Andrews offered to resign eight months ago as CEO of South African Airways (SAA), because he was frustrated with government and Transnet interference in the running of the airline but he was persuaded to stay on for longer by former Transet managing director Saki Macozoma. The Mail […]
Deon Potgieter boxing Day two of the New York trial that will shed light on the heavyweight division was completed on Tuesday, with the court scheduled to sit again on Monday. Promoter Cedric Kushner and former heavyweight world champion Lennox Lewis are suing Don King, Hassim Rahman and Rahman’s managers, alleging interference and breach of […]
South Africans’ mad rush towards all that glitters, tingles and titillates will ensure high HIV/Aids rates for the foreseeable future Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala There is a joke making the rounds among pre-teen girls in KwaZulu-Natal that goes like this: “Why is Jennifer Lopez so poor? Answer: Because her love don’t cost a thing.” With reference to […]
There’s nothing sentimental about globalisation and South Africa cannot afford to pass up an opportunity to steal ahead of competitors. With the Asian Tigers fumbling and Latin America headed for trouble, South Africa’s time has arrived. In the wake of the emerging market crisis in 1997/1998 South Africa emerged robust compared with its emerging-market peers. […]
Peter Robinson cricket One of the least fearsome sights of recent weeks has been the United Cricket Board’s (UCB) disciplinary committee girding its loins to take swift and decisive action. Herschelle Gibbs should be able to vouch for that. Gibbs, who has been in so much hot water over the past couple of years that […]
British documentary film-maker Ben Cashdan is on a nationwide crusade to convert people to his own brand of anti-globalisation Alex Sudheim One of the strange facts of life seems to be that aspirant independent film-makers wear black blazers. Whether to symbolise dark, subversive intellect or solemn commitment to the I-mean-business-in-an-anarchic-sort-or-way school of cool, the blazer […]
whipping boy One of my favourite movies is Forrest Gump, the story of a fool who couldn’t lose. And anyone foolish enough to take the advice of this column last week will know the feeling. Having always been aware that boastfulness is evidence of a flawed character, especially in tipsters, I desisted after casually pointing […]
Rumours of drug use surround the top runners for this year’s Comrades marathon Martin Gillingham If you can come to terms with the fact that the winner of Saturday’s Comrades marathon might well be a cheat then you’ve every reason to consider an entire Saturday spent glued to the box watching the 90km slog from […]
The unpredictable French are first up on the menu for the Springboks this year Andy Capostagno It seems a lifetime ago, but it is in fact only eight years and two weeks since France and South Africa last locked horns at Ellis Park. In those far-off days Springbok coach Ian McIntosh’s most frequently expressed concern […]
Moves are under way to address the public transport crisis, especially to get unroadworthy taxis off the roads. Glenda Daniels reports South Africa is on a massive collision course if the overhaul of the taxi industry does not speed up, if more money is not spent on roads and if plans to close sections of […]
Andrew Gilder looks at the background to the launch of a performing arts network last week Some observers argue that human history has a cyclical nature that historical events recur over time. Most commentators use timeframes of centuries, or even millennia, to track this repetition. It is with a sense of ironic dj vu, therefore, […]
Neil Sonnekus review OFTHEWEEK They were seven young men whose heads were filled with ganga and idealism. They wanted to build the new South Africa and their navety cost them their lives. They became the victims of one of the most cynical police operations in the mid-Eighties and they became known as The Guguletu Seven. […]
The idea of a youth parliament was first mooted by the ANCYL last year. This month it is to become a reality Evidence wa ka Ngobeni On June 26 seats often occupied by members of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces will be filled by hundreds of South African youth leaders to […]
David Macfarlane Rhodes University has delivered a further blow to hopes of dealing with the HIV/Aids pandemic in its region by slapping a high court injunction on dismissed academic Dr Robert Shell to return computer equipment, without which Shell’s research will cease. “Any outcome that has the effect of closing down [Shell’s] research and silencing […]
Wilhelm Disbergen In the current curriculum for social work at Unisa, homosexuality is defined as abnormal. In Unisa’s textbook homosexuality falls within a category entitled “Sexual Deviancy”. The description of homosexuality reads: “Most homosexual males pass for normal in society and only a small percentage are explicitly effeminate. Effeminate males feel a strong need to […]
The infighting behind Cape Town’s attempt to host the 2004 Olympics is detailed in a new book Martin Gillingham Former Cape Town Olympic bid boss Raymond Ackerman has stepped up his campaign against Sam Ramsamy by claiming that the South African Olympic chief had told him the only way he could win the race to […]
SOUTH Africa’s Public Enterprises minister on Wednesday confirmed the former chief executive of the national airline was paid a $28-million salary, saying government never approved the amount. Jeff Radebe said the chief of South Africa’s giant public utility Transnet, also did not have the authority to enter into an employment contract with Coleman Andrews, hired […]
MATTHEW BURBIDGE, Johannesburg | Thursday AS the big guns gather in Pretoria to probe alleged corruption in South Africas controversial arms acquisition deal, a small group of people on Thursday huddled in front of a run-down hospital in Johannesburg to protest military spending. Asked how a small group could ever hope to influence the governments […]
Johannesburg | Thursday A PRISONER was killed and a man linked to an Israeli mafia organisation in South Africa was wounded when a gunman attacked a police van taking them to court on Wednesday, a police representative said. Senior Superintendent Chris Wilken said Lior Saadt and four other awaiting trial prisoners were travelling to the […]
DAVID LE PAGE, Johannesburg | Thursday JUDGE Willem Heath’s resignation from the judiciary was accepted by cabinet on Wednesday, but the cabinet decision was communicated to him via the press, rather than directly. The decision leaves him without any pension after 13 years service as a judge. Heath has headed the Special Investigating Unit, which […]
Cape Town | Thursday THE South African cabinet on Wednesday approved a law change that will allow government to monitor cell phone conversations, but seemed set to clash with phone companies over who will cover the cost of tapping. Government communications chief Joel Netshitenze said cabinet approved the tabling of the bill in parliament because […]
A SOUTH African millionaire was in line to follow in the footsteps of US businessman Dennis Tito and become the second paying space tourist, a Cape newspaper has reported. The Argus newspaper quoted the Russian press as saying a South African citizen had passed a medical selection test and had received access to the Gagarin […]
THE 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) is seeking concrete ways to cut off fuel supplies to Angolan rebels, SADC members attending an annual meeting in Kinshasa announced at the weekend. Despite a UN embargo against rebels, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) continues to profit from a lucrative diamond trade […]