Norm Dixon

  • Why Buthelezi caved in

    JOHANNESBURG — Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi's surprise decision to have his Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) participate in the national and provincial elections and both the levels was announced on April 19. The Inkatha leader

  • Reggae album to celebrate democracy

    JOHANNESBURG — One of the things that doesn't vary much from country to country is the speeches record company executives make at album launches. There they stand amongst the music journalists and photographers and musicians,

  • Cuts in military to fund South Africa's reconstruction

    JOHANNESBURG — The African National Congress' ambitious Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP) — the cornerstone of its election campaign — would be funded in part by major cuts in military spending and the nuclear

  • Chris Hani remembered

    JOHANNESBURG — Scores of thousands of South Africans gathered at rallies, meetings, ceremonies and church services to pay tribute to Chris Hani, the murdered South African Communist Party and ANC leader, on April 10, the

  • Strikes cripple homelands

    JOHANNESBURG — Angry public servants in what is left of South Africa's discredited system of ethnic "homelands" are continuing to press their demands militantly. Workers in the health services of KwaZulu, Transkei, Lebowa and

  • Musical call for unity and peace

    DURBAN — Mbongeni Ngema's latest musical extravaganza, Magic at 4am, packed the Natal Playhouse here night after night for weeks until the final matinee performance on April 10. By the time the young cast had swarmed on to the

  • Buthelezi torpedoes peace effort

    JOHANNESBURG — The leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party, Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, has surely drained the last drop of patience from those here who wanted to believe he could be convinced to accept a peaceful settlement.

  • Hand of Third Force seen in killings

    JOHANNESBURG — The impression created by the media here that on March 28 a "peaceful Zulu march" came under attack by "ANC gunmen", causing as many as 53 deaths, has been proven thoroughly false. The identity of the snipers who

  • Deaths despite state of emergency in Natal

    DURBAN — Wandering along the "Golden Mile" — Durban's tacky hotel-lined stretch of beach front, a cross between Surfers Paradise and Kings Cross — and seeing the throngs of South Africans of all races enjoying the sun and

  • Mass action victory: prisoners win vote

    JOHANNESBURG — Following a week of mass protests in South African prisons, the Transitional Executive Council agreed on March 22 that all prisoners will be allowed to vote in this country's first democratic elections.

  • By Norm Dixon

    JOHANNESBURG — The ANC's southern Natal chairperson, Jeff Radebe, flanked by the ANC's candidate for premier of Natal, Jacob Zuma, said here on March 23 that "the time has come for the Transitional Executive Council to take

  • Butcher of Bisho Bopped

    JOHANNESBURG — The hated military leader of the Ciskei bantustan, Brigadier Oupa Gqozo has been toppled by a revolt by Ciskei public servants and police. Gqozo is better known here as the "Butcher of Bisho', after his troops