No image available
/ 1 June 2008

Daring to be a Daniel

POINT: In April 2001, 22 months after Thabo Mbeki became president, the Mail & Guardian ran a full-length front-cover photograph of him alongside the question: ”Is this man fit to rule?” Letters to the paper the following week convey the intensity of the reaction. ”Who are these racists masquerading as newspapermen?”

No image available
/ 21 May 2008

Mpofu lawyer: SABC board statement is misleading

A statement by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board that it would challenge a court ruling against the suspension of CEO Dali Mpofu was ”misleading”, Mpofu’s lawyers said on Wednesday. ”The judgement … has not yet been signed by the judge and is therefore not yet available to either of the parties,” Mpofu’s lawyer, Sandile July, said.

No image available
/ 20 May 2008

SABC to appeal Mpofu court ruling

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board will appeal a high court ruling setting aside the suspension of chief executive Dali Mpofu, board chairperson Khanyi Mkhonza said on Tuesday. ”After careful study of the judgement, the board has identified areas of concerns that we believe can only be clarified through the legal process,” she said.

No image available
/ 19 May 2008

Alec Erwin to quit

Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin would retire after the elections next year, a media report said on Monday. ”The minister would like to confirm that he would not be serving another term. His decision was taken long before the change in African National Congress leadership,” said his spokesperson Vimla Maistry.

No image available
/ 16 May 2008

Mpofu’s suspension unlawful, court told

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board did not comply with its own rules when it suspended chief executive Dali Mpofu, the Johannesburg High Court heard on Friday. ”The SABC board acted before it complied with its own internal rules … the suspension cannot stand,” said Mpofu’s lawyer, advocate Vincent Maleka SC.

No image available
/ 15 May 2008

SABC: Suspension was last straw

South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) chief executive Dali Mpofu’s move to suspend his news chief Snuki Zikalala was the last straw that prompted his own suspension, according to court papers on Thursday. Mpofu has launched an urgent application with the Johannesburg High Court, to challenge his suspension last Wednesday.

No image available
/ 9 May 2008

Media challenges Divorce Act

The Constitutional Court has reserved judgement on a ban prohibiting journalists from reporting on divorce cases, a media report said on Friday. Earlier this year, the Cape High Court ruled that section 12 of the Divorce Act was unconstitutional after media group Johncom brought an application challenging it.

No image available
/ 7 May 2008

Ramos joins SABMiller board

SABMiller announced on Wednesday that Transnet head Maria Ramos has joined their board as an independent non-executive director. "During her career, Ms Ramos has won a multitude of accolades, including being named as South Africa’s Businesswoman of the Year in 2001, and <i>Sunday Times</i> Business Leader of the Year 2005," said SABMiller.

No image available
/ 5 May 2008

Mpofu rejects Cabinet plot against him

South African Broadcasting Corporation CEO Dali Mpofu on Sunday rejected the ”insinuations” that there was a Cabinet plot against him. This followed newspaper reports that he accused Thabo Mbeki’s Cabinet of plotting to oust him. Mpofu told Parliament he had received information that someone ”from high up” had given instructions that he be fired.

No image available
/ 1 May 2008

We are all Brazilian

In the samba spirit that the South African Football Association seems to have been seized by, and to welcome Joel Santana, the Brazilian coach, South Africans now have an opportunity to convert their names to Brazilian ones. After all, one Brazilian turn deserves another.

No image available
/ 29 April 2008

Media tribunal ‘unconstitutional’

A statutory media tribunal would not only be unconstitutional but it would not solve the plethora of problems in the industry, a discussion group concluded on Tuesday. Jane Duncan from the Freedom of Expression Institute said the proposed body would obviously be unconstitutional, and would not fly.

No image available
/ 26 April 2008

Winehouse spends night in custody

Singer Amy Winehouse spent the night in custody after being arrested on suspicion of assault, police said on Saturday. The 24-year-old handed herself in at a police station in central London on Friday to face questioning by detectives. It was not clear when she will be questioned.

No image available
/ 20 April 2008

Coach Parreira to quit South Africa

Brazilian World Cup-winner Carlos Alberto Parreira will announce his resignation as coach of South Africa on Monday, soccer officials said on Sunday. Parreira will meet with the South African Football Association’s executive committee to explain he is being forced to end his tenure after just 16 months because of the poor health of his wife.

No image available
/ 20 April 2008

Report: Motlanthe to join Cabinet

President Thabo Mbeki is set to appoint African National Congress deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe to his Cabinet next month after being ordered to do so by his party, the Sunday Times reported. Motlanthe is likely to be sworn in as a member of Parliament when it opens in the first week in May.

No image available
/ 17 April 2008

Confusion over complaints against Bullard

The South African Human Rights Commission is conducting an internal investigation into an incorrect media statement that said it would not pursue a complaint of racism against columnist David Bullard. ”The official position of the commission has never been that we are not taking up the matter,” said CEO Tseliso Thipanyane.