AIDS activists in Kenya on Thursday urged MPs to include “life-saving safeguards” when reviewing legislation concerning drug patents. Kenyan legislators are currently reviewing the Industrial Property Bill which, as it stands, conforms with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules on countries’ rights to, in certain circumstances, overcome patent restrictions. Paralllel imports are re-purchased drugs from countries […]
Dale T McKinley A Second Look In the midst of what really amounts to yet another, if more publicised, round of tripartite alliance power politicking, it is all too easy to forget that there are much larger and more important socio-economic issues at stake for the majority of South Africans. Given that the labour movement […]
A decision is expected soon on whether criminal charges will be brought against Matthews Phosa. Justin Arenstein reports Forensic investigators are finalising a secret 13-month fraud probe into former Mpumalanga premier Matthews Phosa. The probe, spearheaded by private sector forensic auditors in the Eastern Cape to prevent leaks and intimidation, is believed to have uncovered […]
Stefaans Brmmer The Office of the President refused this week to comment on a second letter in the media supporting the theories of a conspiracy against President Thabo Mbeki this time from Aids dissident David Rasnick. First, the Sunday Times carried a letter, in the form of a paid advertisement, signed by 11 prominent black […]
UGANDAN-BACKED rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have accused government troops and their Zimbabwean allies of attacking a rebel position in the northwest of the country. The attack took place Tuesday on “our defensive position in Lusombo,” Jean-Pierre Bemba, the leader of the Congo Liberation Front (FLC) said late on Thursday. “Our forces […]
In an attempt to understand his father’s death from asbestosis, Francois Loots returned to his hometown of Prieska to face the sickness and its consequences March 2000. My father complains of a lack of energy and shortness of breath. He is diagnosed with mesothelioma, also called asbestos cancer. Little is known about mesothelioma. It is […]
David Lacey soccer Coventry City_s departure from the premiership must surely send a chill of apprehension through those finishing just above them. If the great survivors can no longer hang on, then what chance will there be next time for others of limited means who suspect even now that they are in for another season […]
Steven Friedman worm’s eye view Right now, this is not an easy neighbourhood for democrats with short memories and long expectations. Events in several of the region’s states have seemed to make optimism about democracy here bizarre and yet we may look back on this period as one in which, for the first time, democrats […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday THE South African Competition Tribunal has approved a multi-billion dollar bid for diamond giant De Beers, the company announced Thursday. “That clears the last regulatory hurdle for the takeover to go ahead,” said a spokesman. Investors were meanwhile positive but careful after an announcement by a major American shareholder that […]
Deon Potgieter boxing There has been an early indicator to which way the Hassim Rahman camp will lean in the debate over whom he should defend his newly won universal heavyweight world title against. The main contenders are a rematch against Lennox Lewis, who has a television contract with HBO, or Mike Tyson, who has […]
Amy Lawrence on the 1971 Gunners_ FACup final hero Charlie George Football supporters will forgive talented players most indiscretions so long as they try. So long as they have pride in the shirt. For Arsenal fans and Charlie George this was a given. He was one of them; he had the skills, he had the […]
Pule waga Mabe ‘Through positive and creative campaigns, you are showing that when you mobilised for militant action against apartheid education, you did not see this as an end itself. When you refused to succumb to apartheid’s jackboot, it is because you knew you had a role not only in eradicating racist education, but also […]
US oil company Chevron on Thursday reported a minor oil spill off the Nigerian coast after reports from local community leaders of a major spillage. Chevron Nigeria Limited said around 140 barrels of low-sulphur crude oil had leaked from an underwater pipeline about six nautical miles off the southern coast in its Delta Oil Field. […]
The recent international documentary film festival in Nyon, Switzerland, showcased five South African works Neil Sonnekus If a recent documentary film festival in Switzerland is anything to go by, South African films are rapidly losing their cringe factor. This is largely due to Cape Town suss and Swiss expertise. The former belongs to director of […]
Nawaal Deane If you have HIV and cannot afford a private clinic for the treatment of opportunistic diseases, where in Gauteng would you go? Peter Foxcrost, an HIV patient, thought the best place would be Johannesburg hospital, but he was shocked to discover that its HIV clinic is closed to all new patients. The clinic, […]
Martin Gillingham athletics The preparations of more than 30 South African athletes for this year_s world championships have been plunged into crisis following allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement against senior Athletics South Africa (ASA) officials, which prompted the postponement of the team announcement. The announcement, which was to have included the launch of the […]
A SOUTH African magistrate ordered an art restorer to pay out R20_000 on Thursday after an oil painting of a tavern scene by 17th century Dutch master Adriaen Van Ostade was returned to its owner with a beard added to a face. The painting had also gained a traditional South African touch – a black […]
Mail & Guardian Reporter The Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) has released a publication focusing on South Africa’s inability to stimulate economic growth and job creation. The publication is an edited summary of a round-table discussion of private sector economists, business leaders, government officials and the president’s economic adviser, Wiseman Nkuhlu. CDE executive director […]
Letters to the best man Chez Uhuru 228 Musgrave Road iThekwini To: Dr Essop Pahad The Presidency Union Buildings Tshwane Dear Dr Pahad, I was shocked on Sunday night to view, in the security of my own home, a television news report that Tokyo Sexwale has now been appointed as an Honorary Colonel in the […]
Michele Pickover and Verne Harris Brought into operation on March 9 this year, the Promotion of Access to Information Act is intended to be the legislative cornerstone of freedom of information in South Africa. Technically it is sound, drawing on the experiences of drafters and implementers of such legislation in a number of other countries. […]
Forty-four people, including two policemen, were arrested for possession and dealing in stolen gold in Welkom on Wednesday, the Diamond and Gold Unit said on Thursday. Superintendent Ernie van Rensburg said the unit had launched a covert operation six months ago targeting two mines in the Welkom and Virginia areas in the Free State. Van […]
Ntuthuko Maphumulo badminton For the first time in South Africa or Africa a badminton tournament of world importance will be staged on the continent. South Africa will be hosting the sixth world junior championships in November next year. About 30 countries will participate in the tournament, which will determine the world rankings. African Badminton Federation […]
About 30 employees have already completed an adult literacy programme at Hilton College and another 32 are attending classes Jubie Matlou Gladys Dlamini (34) is a mother of two and works as a cleaner at Hilton College for Boys, the famous and exclusive private school outside Pietermaritzburg. Her working day starts at 7am and continues […]
Khadija Magardie Victims of violent crime in South Africa may in future receive financial restitution for their pain and suffering. This is if a recent discussion document, released for public comment and submitted to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Penuell Maduna this week, is favourably received. The South African Law Commission has mooted […]
ELEVEN people were killed when two ferries sank in Benin’s Lake Nokoue early on Wednesday, state radio reported. It said four people were rescued and were hospitalised, but it gave no indication of how many people were on board the ferries. The radio attributed the accidents to heavy rains that had lashed the region since […]
Paul Kerton Body Language Your partner’s body will change but it doesn’t mean that you should give up sex. As her tummy develops, it can become quite a beautiful erogenous zone in itself. And I don’t know of any man alive who has ever complained when his partner’s breasts increased by a size or two. […]
Belinda Anderson Inthebag, the Woolworths/ Wooltru joint-venture online shopping portal, aims to be profitable by January 2003 and, according to chief executive officer Jessica Knight, is burning less cash than it had expected to in the first year. By June R66-million will have been spent, about R22-million less than the R88-million it had projected. Wooltru […]
Khadija Magardie The Eastern Cape MEC for health this week admitted his department kept a lid on information that peanut butter being fed to indigent children on its school feeding scheme was toxic. Bevan Goqwana said this was because the department lacked evidence that certain suppliers were passing on contaminated peanut butter, and because they […]
Charlotte Mathews The South African Red Cross, the largest humanitarian organisation in the country, is struggling with a financial crisis that it hopes can be resolved within the next few weeks. If not, a wide range of aid projects will be jeopardised. Mandisa Kalako-Williams, vice-president of the Red Cross, said the organisation’s fixed assets were […]
David Beresford Another Country I’ve made an application to Grenoble, France, for the brain operation to deal with my Parkinson’s. Whether I will be accepted, despite being a known admirer of that scourge of Napoleonic France, Lord “‘Oratio” Hornblower, is another matter. I must also confess to a certain anxiety as to whether my schoolboy […]
For the third time in six weeks a Cape Town court has wrapped up a rape and attempted murder case with tough sentences Marianne Merten Karriema Viljoen* was not in court this week when the men who raped, stabbed, slit her throat and left her for dead were sentenced to long periods of imprisonment. The […]
A cellphone service provider has spent R15-million on upgrading Alexandra police station and magistrate’s court Ntuthuko Maphumulo It is a typical busy scene as you drive into Wynberg towards the Alexandra police station and magistrate’s court. There are many people going to the taxi rank, and around the rank are the makeshift stalls of hawkers […]