The Sunday Independent (South Africa) back issues from May 2009:
'Crisis is critical period for competition regulators'.(Business Report Weekend)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Ann Crotty Outgoing competition tribunal chairman David Lewis believes the crisis has brought an abrupt end to a honeymoon period for competition authorities globally. During the past 15 years of rampant free market activity, competition regulators have generally enjoyed ...
Bowing out after the Wall Street shake-out.(Business Report Weekend)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Mark Clothier and John Helyar This was not the same trip he had made for the 14 years he worked for three Wall Street firms. This was a commute to nowhere. Roberts, 61, was bound for an outplacement centre on New York's East 37th Street, where he pursued job ...
Rio de Janeiro plans walled cities to break drug dealers' territorial hold.(Business Report Weekend)
May 03, 2009 ... Now a decision to build walls around the city's poorest, most dangerous areas might finally help the government secure control over them and restore the tarnished image of Brazil's top tourist destination. The strategy is built on the observation that in Rio, cocaine is sold in ...
Power constraints pull plug on R6bn worth of projects.(Business Report Weekend)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Wiseman Khuzwayo Projects with an estimated construction value of between R4 billion and R6 billion were postponed or cancelled up to last September as a result of electricity constraints, the Cement and Concrete Institute (C&CI) says in its industry review for last ...
zz quote of the day.(Business Report Weekend)(Quotation)
May 03, 2009 ... The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time ...
UK bankers can move to a cosier oasis of finance.(Business Report Weekend)
May 03, 2009 ... Tough new rules on pay are being proposed. And now? The top rate of income tax has just been increased to 50 percent from 40 percent. The phrase "last straw" doesn't even begin to capture how many of London's bankers, private equity partners and hedge fund managers will be ...
Fresh flesh runs screaming as zombie banks drool.(Business Report Weekend)
May 03, 2009 ... The zombie banks are demanding to be let back into the financial mall so they can pillage the global markets anew. The notion that any US bank that took financial support from the government should be allowed to discharge part of its obligation to the nation and shake off the ...
Mboweni provides a dose of reality.(Business Report Weekend)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Wiseman Khuzwayo After data during the week brought hope that the country's economy might not be in recession, spirits were dampened by Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni who, in cutting the repo rate by a 100 basis points to 8.5 percent, said domestic economic growth ...
New government needs space to tackle economy.(Business Report Weekend)
May 03, 2009 ... The report's scorecard looks at five broad areas: governance and the economy; the labour market; education and skills developments; and poverty and inequality. Except for inflation, the governance and the economy scorecard show positive development over the years in areas such ...
Phoenix, forget the rap, you sure can act; Two Lovers is a modest, distinctive film.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... Speculation is rife that Joaquin Phoenix is undergoing a psychological crisis - or taking the media for a ride, which seems more probable. In his latest film, he plays a man with bipolar disorder, but I wouldn't look to Two Lovers for any clues as to his mental state. ...
Hi-tech gadgets defy crunch; Korean developers at LG put their faith in South Africa's resilience, writes Edwin Naidu.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... Credit crunch, what credit crunch? Scarlet 2, the high-definition television set is on its way. So is a new watch phone. The fashionista favourite Prada cellphone is coming. A funky range of new portable DVD players is here. So is a price-buster netbook offering easier connectivity and a ...
Fresh episode of Miley's indentured servitude.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... Hannah Montana: The Movie review: Wesley Morris director: Peter Chelsom It's an unenviable position. Hannah Montana is the most famous underage pop star in America. But the girl pretending to be her - Miley Cyrus as Miley Stewart - is living a lie. ...
The heroes that/walk among us; Every one of us is capable of great kindness every day. In the current helter-skelter world of global recession, /job losses and seemingly little hope, it's time to embrace the spirit of charity. By Astrid Stark.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... Volunteering in South Africa is so pervasive that it may be observed daily in almost every aspect of life - from plucking victims out of our turbulent seas and fighting mountain fires to raising a litter of abandoned pups. Canada and parts of the United States celebrated ...
Mosaic of talent adds creative touch to Blue Note's 70th anniversary.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... If you are a fan and collector of the straight-ahead be-bop era recordings, then Mosaic, recorded by The Blue Note 7, will have you bopping your socks off. When Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers started at the Blue Note in the mid-1950s, the hard bop era was in its infancy. ...
Arriving in Zurich with a boom; The spring festival was suddenly sprung upon us, writes Cara Mia Di Massa.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... We knew something was afoot in Zurich when our lazy walk through the streets of the old city turned into a fully-fledged history lesson. My husband, 8-month-old daughter and I had flown into the city just a couple of hours before, and as we wandered along the Limmat River we ...
See two great plays in the UK.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... Win TICKETS to see Collaboration/|Taking Sides at the Duchess Theatre in London. Collaboration and Taking Sides, two critically acclaimed plays written by award-winning playwright Ronald Harwood, explore the fine line between collaboration and betrayal during World War 2. ...
Heroes indicate older people still have a lot to offer.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Abigail Trafford "The president believes it's always the young who lead," said David Axelrod, a top adviser to President Barack Obama, during the president's recent trip to Europe. One of the goals of the trip was to encourage leadership among young people on ...
A startling insight into contemporary SA.(Dispatches)
May 03, 2009 ... From her base at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, over the last 10 years or so Sarah Nuttall has developed a reputation for a notably sparky, innovative approach to the reading of contemporary South Africa. Wide-ranging and often startling, her new book bears this out. ...
The dark side of Jane Austen's moon hits the bestseller list on Amazon.(Dispatches)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: William Wier Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a surprise best-seller that has hovered near the top of Amazon's sales list in April. Seth Grahame-Smith, the author, has struck gold by placing the menace of zombies in Austen's idyllic English countryside. ...
Is Big Brother watching you? Yes, but these days he's called Google - and the company is storing too much information for comfort, writes Steve Boggan.(Dispatches)
May 03, 2009 ... When you visit the shiny headquarters of Google UK, the receptionist asks you to log in on a computer with a touch screen. How else would you sign in? This is one of the centres of the cyber universe. Before you can be issued a pass, the computer asks you to enter ...
Hats off to a book we didn't know we needed.(Dispatches)
May 03, 2009 ... "Why another book?" asks Simon Louvish, at the beginning of this dense tome. It's more than 30 years since Charles Chaplin died, there's no anniversary in the offing, and there are lots of books about him, as the bibliography at the back of this one confirms. Louvish's sources are mainly ...
Candidate wins - then exposes rigged election, to Kremlin's shock.(Dispatches)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Philip Pan In a country where complaints of vote-rigging are common - and commonly ignored - a man like Anton Chumachenko stands out: the authorities say he won an election, but he insists he lost. A first-time candidate for office and a member of Vladimir ...
Islamabad fearful as Taliban expands; Militia threat leaves the city's residents anxious about the future, writes Pamela Constable.(Dispatches)
May 03, 2009 ... Every spring, the Margalla Hills overlooking Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, burst into life. Evening thunderstorms send torrents of water down the slopes, scenic paths attract hikers and picnickers and bands of monkeys scramble down from the trees to watch the weekend visitors. ...
Pakistanis flee fundamentalist terror in Swat Valley.(Dispatches)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Mark Magnier The ragtag group of men rises out of a small gorge wedged between a petrol station, a mosque and a community centre, the sort of place you'd easily miss unless you ventured over a small garbage mound and part way down a dirt path obscured by trees. ...
Demanding ascent of Mountain of God.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... Oldoinyo Lengai (2 886m) in northern Tanzania is part of the Great Rift Valley system of volcanoes. Oldoinyo Lengai means "Mountain of God" in the language of the Maasai, who climb it to pray. Tourists are permitted to climb Lengai, but the ascent is demanding and shouldn't be ...
A not-so-super superhero movie.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... Following in the current trend of establishing the origins of comic book heroes comes X-Men Origins. The movie starts in 1845 in Canada, where a teenage Wolverine exhibits the first example of his signature berserker rage and iconic blades. This forces both Wolverine (Hugh ...
Mother lode of misery mined for home truths; Mda's play shows that even with a new order, nothing has changed for the poor.(Life)(Theater review)
May 03, 2009 ... Satire, history, and politics commingle in a heady mix overflowing with irony, whose power is the grounding and captivating force a talented playwright uses to remind us that in spite of a new democratic order, poverty, squalor and degradation remain the standard fare of many. ...
Interpretation of play not glorious.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... A production of Glorious! by English playwright Peter Quilter is now on. Unfortunately this particular iteration of the play isn't all that, well, glorious. Not yet, anyway. Perhaps it will get closer before the end of its run on May 23. Annabel Linder stars as Florence Foster ...
Learning crucial life lessons from the heroes among us.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... "The farms can be become recycling centres. Organic waste becomes compost, which is returned to the community." Although self-sustainable, the Foster Farm can exist as a part of the society around it if the community becomes involved by volunteering its time and skills. ...
How to help.(Life)
May 03, 2009 ... Become a volunteer with the National Sea Rescue Institute: www.nsri.org.za: National Head Office: 021 434 4011 (Please note this is not the emergency response number.) Visit Andre's website, www.hopeforthechildren. co.za, or call him on 078 518 4765, if you want to visit the ...
'Al-Bashir will set the south on fire to stop the referendum'.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Stephanie McCrummen The nascent government of southern Sudan is threatened by severe problems, including cash shortages and growing tensions spawned by a national ruling party determined to see the south fail, southern officials say. The future of Sudan as a ...
SA marches to the tick of its own clock; This is an edited version of the essay Midnight by Imraan Coovadia from the recently published book Load Shedding.(Dispatches)
May 03, 2009 ... The title of Salman Rushdie's 1981 novel was also Rushdie's premise: that characters born on the midnight of Indian independence should exemplify the post-colonial histories of the new state. For India, history began again in 1947. But midnight has two faces and, more often than ...
Is it possible to truly forgive andforget the past?(News)
May 03, 2009 ... 'Is it not folly, therefore, that in these circumstances anybody should seek to revive the wounds and grievances of the past? The wrongs of the past must now stand forgiven and forgotten. If we ever look to the past, let us do so for the lessons that the past has taught us ..." (Prime ...
Piracy helping to refocus Obama's attention on Africa.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Francis Kornegay The confirmation of ambassador Johnnie Carson as US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa comes as Somali pirates are forcing Africa off Washington's foreign-policy backburner to a higher level of urgency. The piracy threat off the Gulf of ...
In the shadow of the jacarandas.(Dispatches)
May 03, 2009 ... Alex and Kevin Thorne, the protagonists of Choke Chain, Jason Donald's debut novel, are two brothers growing up in the Pretoria of the 1980s. Theirs is like any other boyhood of bicycling, collecting GI Joes, trading Marvel super-hero cards, watching Chuck Norris films and ...
Zuma haters must say sorry to the president.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... Since last week's elections, I am sure everyone has realised and felt the sadness and sense of mourning in the tone of the South African media. All of them have been quick to headline and editorial their sorry excuses of news with references to now being time for work for the incoming ANC ...
Duped by his own propaganda.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... Farouk Araie's letter of April 26 is a clear case of patronage in action that sacrifices principle and truth for political expediency. There are simply none so blind as those who will not see or who are duped by their own propaganda. The decision by the National Prosecuting ...
Let's translate Zuma's speech into the truth.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... Zuma's victory speech translated into simple honest English: "Please forgive and forget - above all, forget my and the ANC's indiscretions and failures of the past. I entreat the intelligentsia of the DA and Cope to please fix all that has gone awry in the previous 15 years and give me and ...
A dream becomes a vivid reality; Love of nature and an inspired idea leads to a magnificent destination for visitors.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... It started with a simple camping trip to the Cape's Gansbaai region, back in 1991. Heiner Lutzeyer and his son, Michael, just wanted a few simple days resting and relaxing close to nature. Eighteen years later, a most extraordinary project, not to mention countless associated ...
What my vote was really about, Mr Rajbansi.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... There is much criticism and anger from Amichand Rajbansi at Indian people who opted to vote for the DA instead of the Minority Front. I would like to point out to Mr Rajbansi that everything he has done for the community is appreciated, but his action should stem from the ...
Policeman's actions smelt of intimidation tactics.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... In other countries police protect their citizens, but here they threaten you. One Sunday morning I had just pulled out of the parking area of a fabric shop in Umgeni Road, Durban, when a policeman pulled me over. He told me I had not been wearing my seatbelt. He had ...
Experts nowhave eggon their faces.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... It has been most edifying to watch the reaction of this country's electronic media announcers and "political analysts" who over the past three months stated categorically that Cope would be neck-and-neck with the Democratic Alliance in this national general election. Despite ...
No thanks to the opposition for brake on special pardons.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Rebecca Murdoch and Hugo van der Merwe THE HIGH Court's ruling last week interdicting the president from granting pardons in terms of the special dispensation on political pardons raises important questions regarding the state of the rule of law in South Africa. Apart ...
THE PRIDE OF THE LIONS.(Sports)
May 03, 2009 ... Since 1950, the British & Irish Lions have made 16 tours - six of them to South Africa, six to New Zealand and Australia combined and, since 1989, two to Australia and a couple to New Zealand alone. During the course of those 16 tours, a total of 566 players have been used by ...
Hours on the green turned Locke into a putting wizard.(Sports)
May 03, 2009 ... Most readers will know that four-time British Open champion Bobby Locke was a great putter, and as his career blossomed, the "Old Master" was persuaded to write a book about this aspect of the game which he entitled Locke it up on the Green. In the preface to the book, several ...
DA must stay cheeky in Parliament.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... The Dalai Lama will finally be granted a visa to visit the Western Cape, but will be whisked through hostile in-transit at OR Tambo International Airport to elude the clutches of immigration officials. Although my tongue is firmly in my cheek, this anecdote depicts the tense ...
More pets handed in as 'strays' as people can't afford food, vet bills.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Eleanor Momberg As the financial crisis continues to bite, more and more South Africans are dumping their pets, or handing them in to animal welfare organisations under the pretence that they are strays. Animal welfare groups this week said they had seen a ...
Competent leader can save SABC.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... Amid a new row over the cost of his inauguration, Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president-in-waiting, has one less challenge. Snuki Zikalala, the man central to the credibility crisis at Fawlty Towers, otherwise known as the SABC, has left the building. The controversial news ...
Local writers offload about load shedding and other SA troubles.(Dispatches)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Maureen Isaacson Load shedding: Writing On and Over the Edge of South Africa, edited by Liz McGregor and Sarah Nuttall (Jonathan Ball), was launched in Johannesburg this week. Load shedding or offloading? I told McGregor that I had the impression that the ...
People trafficking surges at border; Zimbabweans and their children fleeing the country's meltdown often unwittingly become victims of unscrupulous smugglers.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... To the untrained eye, the human tide surging through the South African border town of Musina is just that: a mass of people leaving Zimbabwe's collapsed economy to seek job opportunities and a better life. Sebelo Sibanda, of Lawyers for Human Rights in Musina, is a more acute ...
Low-flying Obama sours the Big Apple, while in Kenya it's no apples at all.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... As I write this, indelible ink still stains my thumb. It clashes with my colour scheme of choice and even bleeds through the most lurid of nail polishes in my repertoire. The purple Mark of the Beast has, to date, lasted far longer than the 72 hours promised - threatened? - by the IEC ....
Elephants to be culled for research - and for their own survival.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Eleanor Momberg Elephants are to be culled in national parks in the near future. This will be done as part of a controlled experimental programme undertaken by South Africa National Parks (SANParks) to determine the effects of culling, contraception and range ...
Cheap meat means cheap lives; Its snout firmly in the trough, agribusiness is contributing to the spread of disease with production-line farms.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Johann Hari Modern factory farms have created a "perfect storm" environment for powerful viruses. A swelling number of scientists believe swine flu has not happened by accident. They argue this potential global pandemic is the direct result of our demand for ...
The stain Zikalala leaves at SABC will take some time to fade.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Janet Smith There will be no hangover after the era of Dr Snuki Zikalala, insist his critics. But the celebration of his demise has been short and bitter. The moment the SABC board announced on Tuesday that it would not be renewing Zikalala's contract when it ...
Doctors thought first swine flu victim had Sars.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Tracy Wilkinson OAXACA: By the time she reached the hospital, Adela Gutierrez was gasping for breath, the tips of her fingers blue. She had been sick for several days, had seen a couple of neighbourhood doctors, but now, on the Thursday before Easter, her ...
An epidemic of quiet in Mexico.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Ken Ellingwood Stroll around Mexico City for long and a gnawing sensation grows. The children are missing. This is a place where, normally, children are abundant and doted upon. In an instant, they have disappeared. The swine flu epidemic has achieved the ...
East African countries in various stages of preparedness for swine flu.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... Nairobi: The East African region is generally not well prepared for a pandemic such as swine flu, which has killed more than 100 in Mexico and is spreading to other countries, an expert said. In Addis Ababa, a meeting of African humanitarian NGOs, Red Cross members and diplomats ...
Controversy over bid to oust Lekota; Presidential candidate quashes rumours of leader's return to National Assembly.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Political Bureau Frustrated with party performance and continued infighting, some Cope members want an early conference to get rid of their leader, Mosiuoa Lekota, after indirectly forcing him to quit Parliament. Cope's erstwhile presidential candidate, Mvume ...
ANC has bone to pick with IEC.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: SIBUSISO NGALWA and XOLANI MBANJWA The relationship between the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the ANC continues to deteriorate as the party and its allies feel they have been treated contemptuously by the electoral body. The ANC in Gauteng has ...
Without press freedom, there can be no other rights.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Larry Kilman "I was put in jail in Zimbabwe for simply doing my job. They said I was 'committing journalism' and I hope they were right." That's how Barry Bearak of The New York Times described his arrest, brief detention and expulsion from Zimbabwe for ...
Will Zuma fulfil voters' expectations?(News)
May 03, 2009 ... Jacob Zuma has a lot to prove. Our president elect will be inaugurated on May 9, with the eyes of the world, of Africa and, indeed, all of South Africa on him as he ascends to the highest office in the land. Inside the ANC, the organisation he leads, there are also high ...
Two-headed monsters again threaten service delivery.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: CAIPHUS KGOSANA IN a single stroke, in announcing four relatively unpopular or unknown premier nominees, the ANC has reawakened the ghost of Thabo Mbeki it had temporarily buried in Polokwane. Delegates at the watershed ANC conference, in their haste to undo ...
Record sales expected at Kebble art auction.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Jani Meyer French champagne, guests in tuxedos and glittering designer gowns, and a venue to die for. Brett Kebble would have revelled in this glamorous - almost surreal - affair. The murdered businessman's pride and joy, his extensive art collection, will go ...
'Projects could undermine Mapungubwe's potential'.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Eleanor Momberg The development of an open-cast coal mine and power station at the entrance to the Mapungubwe National Park would threaten the protected area's world heritage status. This is according to David Mabunda, the chief executive of South African ...
A survivor: strong but vulnerable; Gauteng's premier-elect has had her share of criticism, but she's ready for a new challenge.(News)
May 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Maureen Isaacson This week Nomvula Mokonyane found herself in Gauteng's hot seat as the province's premier-elect. The ANC, which decisively won the recent general elections, had promised to increase the number of women in top positions, especially in the ...