movie of the week Movies about movie-making are always interesting for the sidelight they throw on the process, though they do run the risk of self-indulgence. Federico Fellini’s classic 8 1/2 is in part about such self-indulgence, showing us a confused filmmaker swamped by fantasy as much as by the travails of getting a movie […]
By Bruce Whitfield Emerging markets specialist Mark Mobius has about $1-billion invested in South Africa, and he’s looking to increase his exposure. He is the president of the Templeton Emerging Markets Fund, and about 15% of the fund’s total assets are invested in a wide range of South African companies. He is looking to increase […]
Marianne Merten Several copies of unedited recordings made by international broadcasters the night Hard Livings gang lord Rashaad Staggie was killed in 1996 are now before a Cape High Court judge. State witness Mr A on Thursday testified how police seized videotapes on two occasions since November last year, including at least two copies of […]
Former South African president Nelson Mandela has arrived in Sharjah for a visit of several days to the United Arab Emirates.
INCUMBENT Chadian President Idriss Deby is well ahead of the other candidates and will be elected in the first round, his party, the Salvation Patriotic Movement and its allies told a press conference in Ndjamena on Thursday. The party officials told journalists that Deby had reportely won seven of the eight districts of the capital […]
After years of antipathy between Hollywood and Cannes, the Americans are finally proving that big box office movies can be creative and credible Akin Ojumu At the press conference following the Cannes screening of Moulin Rouge, Baz Luhrmann, the film’s Australian director, proudly proclaimed the film’s Antipodean origins. This was a film conceived and executed […]
Paul Kirk Last week Durban’s largest shelter for the homeless ran out of food. This week, a homeless man had to be turned away because there was no space for him. This is because hundreds of Gauteng’s indigent winter at the coast where, thanks to the warm Indian ocean, daytime temperatures seldom drop below 20C. […]
David Macfarlane The future of a charitable organisation that provides therapy for the disabled hangs in the balance firstly because the local council mistakenly sold the land it occupies, and secondly because the buyer, Australian university Monash South Africa, appears unwilling to resolve the matter. The highveld branch of the South African Riding for the […]
Fiona Macleod Douw Grobler, head of the Kruger National Park’s game capture unit, has been fired for the unauthorised sale of animals from the park’s disease-free buffalo breeding project. An internal disciplinary committee found Grobler guilty of nine charges of misconduct, five of which constituted dismissable offences. Grobler, a vet with an international reputation for […]
SA diamond giant De Beers said on Thursday it had suspended all activities in Angola due to a dispute with the Luanda government over its contracts and legal rights in the country. In a statement De Beers said it had “reluctantly” decided to discontinue operations because of a decree by the Angolan government to override […]
Lawrence Booth ‘Corruption report stuns cricket world,” announced one website this week. Remove cricket from that headline, and you might be closer to the truth. Because for those in the game who have followed developments closely since Cronjegate and have greeted each new revelation with less shock and horror than the last there is precious […]
Sizwe samaYende American fast food giant McDonald’s has been dubbed “McGreed” in Mpumalanga after refusing to supply anti-Aids drugs to a staff member who was raped after working a late shift. The transnational corporation refuses to supply transport for staff who knock off between midnight and 2am, and who are regularly ambushed by criminals. A […]
Mail & Guardian reporters Investigators in South Africa’s R50-billion arms deal have expressed serious reservations about the advisability of public hearings into the procurement scandal due to open on Monday. The concerns have divided officials of the three investigating bodies although there are indications that the final format the hearings will take has partly allayed […]
ANGOLAN rebels killed 17 people in two ambushes in the centre and south of the country, the Roman Catholic radio station Ecclesia reported on Wednesday. Ten passengers were shot dead when men said to be members of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) attacked a lorry at Cacuso in the northern […]
Charlene Smith Over one weekend recently 80% of patients admitted to Johannesburg hospital were HIV-positive. Sixty per cent of the hospital’s paediatric admissions are HIV-infected and at least half of all patients are HIV-positive. The hospital is ill-equipped to deal with the crisis, seriously lacking in both medical staff and drugs. In a letter to […]
The Mail &Guardian and the ANC faced each other in court this week over the allegation that a white editor wrote an article and put a black journalist’s name above it, Khadija Magardie reports The Johannesburg High Court looks miles away from a resolution of the dispute between the Mail & Guardian and the country’s […]
Glenda Daniels Almost two years after the promulgation of the Employment Equity Act only 10% of the total workforce has undergone training in accordance with the provisions of the Act. A Department of Labour progress report on equity indicates that 84% of companies have conducted employment equity training. The National Union of Metalworkers of South […]
Glenda Daniels Boiling oil was an everyday feature in the 22 years of loyal service in kitchen worker’s Peter Mudogwa’s life at Wimpy Cresta. But he didn’t know it would one day kill him. Mudogwa, a member of the South African Commercial and Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu), was burnt by boiling oil while […]
Chris McGreal Malcolm Rifkind, leader of the Tories’ Scottish election campaign, chose to run around the old Zulu battlefields. David Frost wants to pursue elephants. Rory Bremner has yet to decide but he is probably one of those who wants to meet Nelson Mandela. The three are among an array of British celebrities, politicians and […]
Fiona Macleod While the world signed a landmark treaty this week outlawing 12 of the most dangerous chemical concoctions, a major South African company continues to trade openly in one of these toxins. Chlordane, a pesticide used mainly on building sites to get rid of termites underground, is one of the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) […]
The Pretoria High Court heard claims of conflicting interests in its review of the Cell C licence award, but the real conflict of interest was not aired at all. Stefaans Brmmer reports Within one week Lebanon’s prime minister visits Saudi Arabia, where his company Saudi Oger is based; South Africa awards its third cellular network […]
TANZANIA?S third modern large-scale gold mine has started commercial production ahead of its official commissioning in mid-July, a company official said on Friday. “Gold is now pouring out at the mine … all is going on well,” said Roy Meada, general manager of Kahama Mining Corporation Limited, owners of the mine in the remote village […]
Anthony Holiday It needs no sage to see that, while the letter of parliamentary democracy in South Africa remains perilously intact, the spirit of that institution is already ailing. The symptoms of the disease are manifest, not only in the frictive partisanship which has infected the functioning of the parliamentary portfolio and oversight committees or […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The Mozambican public prosecuting authorities on Tuesday charged six people for the assassination of Carlos Cardoso, the editor of the independent newssheet, Metical. The six, who include businessman Ayob Abdul Satar and former bank manager Vicente Ramaya, were arrested following a six-month investigation. According to the prosecution Satar and Ramaya, former […]
Jean Redpath crossfire The trial of those accused of Rashaad Staggie’s murder began on Monday. The state was criticised for subpoenaing journalists. The press said the subpoenas were an infringement of press freedom and would have a “chilling effect” on media ability to gather news. But is the issue that clear cut? And who is […]
The Soweto stars clinched their first league title since 1994 Ntuthuko Maphumulo It took Orlando Pirates seven years, five different coaches, 90 minutes and three beautiful goals to clinch the Premier Soccer League (PSL) championship. Gordon Igesund became the second coach to win the championship twice and the first to win it with two different […]
FOSTER Davis worked more than three decades on three continents in journalism, but his effect on his profession was felt not only in his hometown Charlotte, in the United States, but also in Johannesburg. Davis, 61, died on Sunday in Charlotte from cancer. He worked at The Observer from 1976 to 1992 and in that […]
Fred Esbend Despite the fact that Port Elizabeth is on the brink of financial collapse with municipal service arrears standing at a staggering R600-million, the Nelson Mandela metropolitan municipality has upgraded its executive mayor’s flying status from economy to business class. Nceba Faku’s upgrade comes at a time when the metropolitan council, which incorporates Uitenhage […]
No complaints as South Africa’s hopes prepare to take on Brumbies Andy Capostagno There are many factors that have propelled the Sharks to the Super 12 final, but four words are as important as any: “No complaints on tour.” That was the motto Rudolf Straeuli chose at the start of his first season as a […]
Matthew Burbidge food Carlton Food Network (DStv, channel 54) is a strangely compelling place to visit. The studios have a warm tint, a homely feel; it’s inviting, it’s all about sizzling food, lovely smells, tastes but none of it seems real. The portions are huge and steaming, polished. “Here’s one we made earlier,” the chefs […]
The flamboyant cleric has shown he still evokes fierce loyalty among many in the Western Cape Marianne Merten On Tuesday morning Elna Boesak wore a purple suit, a pink turtleneck sweater, pale pink lipstick and a radiant smile. “I feel like a bride today,” she beamed. She had worn only widow’s black while her husband […]
THE United Nations Security Council has commended the efforts of leaders in the volatile Great Lakes region to restore peace in war-wrecked Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A high level 12-man delegation of the council currently touring Africa in a new resolve to end years of conflict in the region gave the […]