The Mercury (South Africa) back issues from March 2008:
At odds over the past.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... With reference to Devi's Diary (The Mercury, February 25): The writer's memory is very selective. She omits in her list of places that the Group Areas Act and the Immorality Act sent her and her family to - namely the tricameral parliament in Cape Town where her husband occupied ...
Concerns persist over municipal valuations; Municipal property valuations do not fit with figures that show property prices are not increasing.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Lyse comins Kwazulu-Natal estate agents are bracing for a surge in requests for property valuations from anxious home owners who believe their homes have been overvalued by local municipalities. Several estate agents who spoke to The Mercury yesterday said ...
Lawyers not needed for rates objections.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: MERCURY REPORTER ETHEKWINI Municipality officials have advised property owners not to waste money by engaging lawyers to reduce their property values. Many people are concerned that new municipal values are too high, and some attorneys are apparently ...
Pmb residents furious about 'overvaluations'.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: SHARIKA REGCHAND FURIOUS residents of the northern suburbs of Pietermaritzburg converged at the Northdale Civic Centre last week to ascertain what could be done about the "overvaluation" of their properties. Some of their modest properties - in suburbs that ...
Australian PM's Apology Goes Long Way To Heal Wounds.(News)(Correction notice)
Mar 03, 2008 ... Little is known outside of Australia of the plight of its Aborigines. Unlike the holocaust, apartheid and the genocides in Rwanda and Kosovo, the victimisation of the Aborigines has been, until recently, a dark secret of a shameful past of the nation, largely ignored by the ...
Breathing in captivity.(Life)
Mar 03, 2008 ... AS MORE more and more South Africans are infected with ever more incurable forms of drug-resistant tuberculosis, government programmes that once could be counted on to bring TB under control are no longer adequate. So what can be done to keep South Africans safe? Or is the ...
Comin' at ya - loud and clear!(Life)
Mar 03, 2008 ... SOME people just won't stop believing in the romance of rock. Hip-hop and dance pop are more innovative; country has a more loyal audience; Josh Groban makes way more money. But being a rock fan is just like getting seduced. You have to believe your partner is the most potent lover out ...
Back in the spotlight.(Life)
Mar 03, 2008 ... David Mamet' s fascinating Oleanna - a taut and electrifying study of the complexities of a relationship between a professor and a student - sees a return to the Durban theatre stage of velvet-voiced Tim Wells. Oleanna, which runs at DHS's Seabrooke's Theatre from Sunday until ...
Pushy cats.(Life)
Mar 03, 2008 ... Ever wondered why cats make a B-line for people who don't like them? I remember when I was very little, my mom took me to visit an eccentric relative who lived alone with about 32 moggies in an old house, slap-bang in middle of the poshest neighbourhood in town. ...
A clean sweep.(Life)
Mar 03, 2008 ... I'm finding it difficult to believe that people sometimes not only live like pigs, but have the nerve to flaunt it on international television. I refuse to invite people up to my flat, even if it's remotely untidy, which it rarely is, for fear I will be judged. So to say that ...
Saving capitalism from self-destruction; We salute members of regulatory committees who stand for what is right despite interference by those with vested interests.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... While many people may spend a lot of time debating what type of economic "-ism" is better for our country, most South Africans are comfortable that the capitalist system we have in this country does work. It is also a fact that, despite the serious economic challenges that flow ...
KZN firm 'was warned over danger'.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: TONY CARNIE SENIOR managers at one of South Africa's biggest manganese factories were warned repeatedly, for more than a decade, about the risk of workers getting sick because of unacceptably high levels of toxic manganese dust. This was the evidence from ...
Follow the cycle tracks of the pros, ride the Belgotex.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... A few weeks ago cycling enthusiasts from KwaZulu-Natal were wowed by some of the world's top cyclists who showed their speed and skill in the World's View Challenge in and around Pietermaritzburg. In the Belgotex Carpets Classic, in association with The Mercury, later this month, ...
Relief as Ladysmith high court gives serial killer and rapist life terms.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: BOB FREAN The Ladysmith High Court rang with gleeful applause and women ululated when a serial killer and rapist was given life terms plus 53 years jail. Released on parole 30 months before completing his jail sentence for burglary, Vusumuzi Khumalo went on a ...
Commissioner warns on competition laws.(Business Report)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Ann Crotty Cape Town While it was necessary to ensure that top-level corporate executives took responsibility for anti-competitive activity within their companies, Shan Ramburuth, the competition commissioner, cautioned against criminalising existing competition ...
Property valuation complaints pouring in.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: MATTHEW SAVIDES NOTWITHSTANDING wood-and-iron houses valued at more than R1 million, virtually identical homes with vastly differing values and "a few hundred objections", the eThekwini Municipality is still defending its R200 million property revaluation process, ...
MEC praises whistle-blowers.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: SIBUSISO MBOTO ALTHOUGH the social development department continued to be prone to corruption, the response from whistle-blowers, whose information exposed fraud, was encouraging. This is according to social development MEC Meshack Radebe, who was speaking ...
Is the South African political miracle beginning to unravel?(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Kiru Naidoo Diplomats make great friends. They are charming and affable ambassadors for their countries and wonderful hosts too. If there ever had to be a pecking order of the foreign missions in South Africa, it must come down to the pedigree of the whisky and the ...
Chippy Shaik vows to fight plagiarism finding.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: LATOYA NEWMAN A CLASH between Shamim "Chippy" Shaik and the University of KwaZulu-Natal is expected soon over his PhD in mechanical engineering, which has been revoked. Yesterday Shaik's attorney and brother, Yunus Shaik, said they would challenge the ...
De Beers has never mined diamonds in Sierra Leone.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... Johann Hari is right to remind readers of the atrocities that Charles Taylor is charged with - "The diamond heist that's mass murder" (The Mercury, February 28). As he points out, the people of Sierra Leone were denied the opportunity to see Sankoh tried for his crimes, but we ...
The waiting game.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... Recently this column had some piffle about how to pass the time while standing in a queue. A colleague suggests that a logical sequel would be things to do while waiting at traffic lights, and tells me of an Australian who has become something of an authority on the subject. ...
Win with your Mercury.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... Get a head start with The Mercury and stand to win an autographed Sharks Super 14 jersey. There are also 13 double tickets to be won to the Sharks vs the ...
Digging into my family's past.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... I am researching my maternal ancestry. My great uncle, John Duncan, emigrated to South Africa in the 1880s and died in Durban on October 14 1930 aged 65. His parents were James and Elizabeth Duncan who had farmed at Belhelvie near ...
Tribute To Annan.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... We pay tribute to former UN leader Kofi Annan, who stepped in to mediate in one of the world's most intractable disputes. Last week, he managed to secure a deal between the rival leaders of Kenya. Annan's is a huge achievement, coming after 38 days of mediation. Credit also goes ...
Serial killer victims laid to rest.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Sinegugu Ndlovu & LATOYA NEWMAN THE families of four women murdered by the Umzinto serial killer are slowly beginning to piece their lives together after finally burying their loved ones yesterday. At a moving mass funeral held for the women at Currie's ...
Sarkozy's Visit.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... French President Nicolas Sarkozy's announcement of a shift in his country's policy towards Africa underlines the importance Paris attaches to a partnership with South Africa. Addressing parliament in Cape Town last week, Sarkozy was explicit in his praise: at the end of a brutal ...
IFP, DA seek to contest Scopa appointment.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: SIBUSISO MBOTO THE IFP and DA, which have rallied behind sacked standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) chairwoman Jo-Anne Downs, are seeking legal advice on the appointment of Nadeco leader Hawu Mbatha to replace her. They say that Mbatha, who chaired ...
Six jump to escape blaze.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: MATTHEW SAVIDES SIX people were injured when they jumped from the third storey of a block of flats in Durban's Point area as a fire broke out in the stairwell yesterday. Although the fire did not cause much damage to the building, situated on the corner of ...
Pilger for festival.(News)(Theater review)
Mar 03, 2008 ... Eighteen writers from 10 countries, including Australian investigative journalist and film-maker John Pilger, are to take part in the 11th annual Time of the Writer International Writers' Festival Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre in ...
Come from behind win for Murless.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Sports Reporter The final round of the Mount Edgecombe Trophy, sponsored by Investec Private Bank, was a little more work than he expected, but the result was the one Mark Murless had been dreaming of all or summer. After so many near-misses, he finally left ...
Super bench does the trick.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: MIKE GREENAWAY Older Sharks fans will recall that unfortunate Sharks' tendency a few years ago to fade as the second half progressed after having dominated the first half, but that trend has well and truly been bucked by Dick Muir's super bench. At Loftus ...
Bizarre-looking creature comes to light.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: JO-ANNE SMETHERHAM CAPE TOWN: A University of Cape Town scientist is part of an international team playing detective in the case of one of the most bizarre-looking creatures ever known, with 1 000 narrow teeth giving it a mouth like a hairbrush. The ...
Residents concerned over remains of slaughtered bull.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: LATOYA NEWMAN PEOPLE who frequent the Msinsi Nature Reserve at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Francois Road property in Durban are concerned about a bull's remains that were apparently left there after a traditional ceremony last week. One resident said ...
SAPS computer glitch.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... CAPE TOWN: A computer system crash at the weekend left police across the country unable to check serial numbers for suspected stolen goods, including firearms and vehicles. A Western Cape ...
World Cup triumph light years away as SA rugby battles to adapt to new rules.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... Can South African rugby fool itself over a weekend of such comprehensive defeats and humiliations in the Super 14? Only if it wishes. Can it deny the reality of defeats for the Stormers, the Cheetahs, the Bulls and the Lions? Can it excuse these setbacks as mere appendages in ...
Cheetahs squad beefed upfor gruelling tour of Australasia.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... JOHANNESBURG: World Cup Springbok prop C J van der Linde has been included in the Cheetahs squad of 26 who left for Australasia yesterday. Van der Linde, who has been rested to recover from a calf injury, and fellow-Springbok Barend Pieterse, who has recovered from a chest ...
New law to crack down on illicit spying.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Angela Quintal The cabinet is poised to approve a draft law this week that will crack down on illicit spooking - information peddling and unauthorised intelligence gathering - deemed to threaten state security. The Promotion of Information Bill, piloted by the ...
SACP yet to decide on Madisha.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Boyd Webb The South African Communist Party has not yet decided whether to axe SA Democratic Teachers' Union president Willie Madisha from its ranks, and has called on the police to investigate him for perjury. Madisha, who was also Cosatu president until his ...
Ajax stay in title hunt.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Nkareng Matshe They say the measure of a champion is the ability to get results even in poor form, and in drawing a match they should have lost at the weekend, Ajax Cape Town showed that they were serious title contenders. The Urban Warriors not only burgled a ...
Researchers look into wave energy.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: JO-ANNE SMETHERHAM CAPE TOWN: Waves along the southern coast could produce between 8 000MW and 10 000MW of power - one-quarter of Eskom's maximum output at any time - researchers say. The energy would be obtained from Cape Point to St Helena Bay in the west ...
University considers closing residence after racial incident.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: A'EYSHA KASSIEM THE University of the Free State is considering several options for the future of its notorious Reitz residence, including closing it down. The options arise after four white students - two of whom are no longer at the university - from the ...
Wife murder accused gets bail.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Bob Frean Howick resident Hilton Shaw, 57, accused of the murder of his wife, Susan, was granted bail of R100 000 on Friday. He spent six months in custody after a magistrate turned down three applications for bail. Judge Anton van Zyl said it was ...
Dolphins let a sure victory slip.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: PATRICK COMPTON Pietermaritzburg: Trust the Dolphins to toss away a winning position. Yesterday, in front of a decent crowd at the picturesque Oval, they conspired to lose a match to the Warriors that they should palpably have won. The result of ...
Blind father reunited with his daughter.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: ZELDA VENTER PRETORIA: A blind father has finally been reunited with his nine-month-old daughter after a legal battle, but lawyers now want the court to look into the Childcare Act to prevent social workers taking children away from their biological parents on flimsy ...
Generations star takes away R1m.(News)
Mar 03, 2008 ... JOHANNESBURG: Generations actor Menzi Ngubane proved to be the best of the best at the inaugural Stars of Mzansi Awards. He was voted the overall winner and walked away with the R1 million prize. ...
Rain and run rate see U19 cricketers bow out.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Karien Jonckheere Kuala Lumpur: South Africa suffered another cruel exit from a cricket world cup in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Thanks to some torrential Malaysian rain and that irksome Duckworth-Lewis method, the SA Under 19s lost out to India by just 12 runs in the final ...
Churchman found dead.(News)(Obituary)
Mar 03, 2008 ... CAPE TOWN: The SA Council of Churches and the council of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa have expressed their shock and sadness at the sudden death of the church's former moderator James Buys of Wynberg. Buys, hailed as instrumental in bringing the traditionally ...
Argentina offer.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... Saru president Oregan Hoskins has confirmed that an invitation has gone out to Argentina to play in the 2009 Currie Cup as part of the on-going commitment to give the Pumas more rugby exposure. Because many of their players are contracted in Europe, Argentina's side will be made up only of ...
Reds field key players.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Sapa-AFP Rafa Benitez insisted that Liverpool's season had not been damaged by his continual rotation of key players as he watched his full-strength side win 3-1 at Bolton yesterday. Benitez has opted to rest the likes of Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and ...
'Steyn headed for greatness'.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: IQBAL KHAN DALE Steyn was in a zone of his own while Makhaya Ntini found what was missing from his armoury to fire South Africa into a strong position to win the final Test against Bangladesh at the Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium here yesterday. Steyn ...
200 Test wickets the next target for rising star.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: IQBAL KHAN CHITTAGONG: Dale Steyn has had a phenomenal Test career and continues to torment opposing batsmen with his sheer pace, grit and aggression on any given surface around the world. Though he has yet to play in England and Australia, 20-year-old Steyn, ...
Tendulkar leads India to 1-0 lead.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... SYDNEY: Star batsman Sachin Tendulkar scored his 42nd limited-overs century to lead India to a comfortable six-wicket win over Australia in the first tri-series final yesterday. Man-of-the-match Tendulkar's unbeaten 117 was his first one-day hundred in 39 matches in Australia. ...
Gomarsall given the boot.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... LONDON: Andy Gomarsall has accused England head coach Brian Ashton of making him a scapegoat for his country's poor start to their Six Nations campaign. Gomarsall, 33, was dropped for the France match by Brian Ashton after England spluttered to a 23-19 victory over Italy in ...
Two Bulls face disciplinary hearings.(Sports)
Mar 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: VATA NGOBENI Pretoria: The Bulls could go through another week with a shortage of personnel after centre J P Nel and prop Jaco Engels were cited after the Bulls loss to the Sharks on Saturday. Both players will hear their fate later today when they come before ...
SA needs to implement excellence.(News)
Mar 04, 2008 ... I share the following personal insight not out of a sense of pride but rather in a hope to highlight our absurd and at times precarious state. There are many reasons why Africa, including South Africa, is bound to fail as a continent if it continues on its present perilous path ....
Education needs much more money; Managing the largest government department in KZN is no easy task for Cassius Lubisi, writes Sibusiso Mboto.(News)
Mar 04, 2008 ... WHEN Cassius Lubisi took over the helm of the provincial education department two years ago, he likened the challenges that faced him to a Russian babushka doll, which upon opening revealed layer after layer of dolls. Talking to the media at the time, the then newly appointed ...
City toilets in a disgusting state.(News)
Mar 04, 2008 ... The toilets at the corner of West and Gardiner streets in the Durban city centre are in a disgraceful state and I might add that they have been so for the past few months. Frequent complaints have not received any attention. ...
Search for missing Scottish tourist will resume.(News)
Mar 04, 2008 ... BYLINE: COLLEEN DARDAGAN THE body of a Scottish tourist who disappeared while hiking in the Drakensberg last month may be trapped under a boulder in the strongly flowing Umlambonjwa River near Cathedral Peak. Mountain Rescue Club spokesman Gavin Raubenheimer said a ...
Our nation's priorities are disturbingly wrong.(News)
Mar 04, 2008 ... People, where are our priorities? For the past few days, the main topic of discussion on radio, television and in the press has been that of the "Free State University four". I do not condone what has happened at the university. I am merely trying to make ...
Antagonism Is Worrying.(News)
Mar 04, 2008 ... Regarding the statement that white people must apologise to the black people for apartheid as the Australian government has apologised to the Aborigines, I feel compelled to comment. It must be noted that the Australian government has apologised and not the white people of ...
Perhaps it is time to reintroduce Rag.(News)
Mar 04, 2008 ... I think I have perhaps found an outlet for the surplus energy that seems to afflict our university students. Perhaps it is time to re-introduce "Rag", which to those unfamiliar with its history was a dedicated fundraising series of events aimed to help a number of various ...
Uncertainty over rates unnecessary.(News)
Mar 04, 2008 ... Most households have now received their new municipal valuations and I assume one would only appeal against this value if it were unrealisable in today's market. Once the window of opportunity to appeal has passed the assumption is that we are all happy with our lot. ...
Teachers angry over salary deductions.(News)
Mar 04, 2008 ... BYLINE: LATOYA NEWMAN ANGER over the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education's decision to deduct teachers' salaries this month is beginning to boil over. The South African Democratic Teachers' Union has reported at least three "mini-uprisings" among its KZN members ...
Freeconcerton campus.(Life)
Mar 04, 2008 ... THE UKZN School of Music on the Durban campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal will present Remembering Kenya, a tribute to the displaced people and victims of violence in Kenya, at a free lunch-hour concert on Monday. The concert will feature staff and students of the UKZN ...
Pain relief - it's your choice.(Life)
Mar 04, 2008 ... BYLINE: OMESHNIE NAIDOO WHEN anaesthesia - in the form of ether - was first used to alleviate labour pains more than 160 years ago, there was violent opposition, as many people felt birth pains were the sins of women which they were obliged to bear. It was only when ...