LOOKING BACK

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 50 YEARS AGO

Five of the six conditions laid down by the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, Mr. “Basie” van Rensburg, in the Senate yesterday for the introduction of television in South Africa can be fulfilled immediately. The sixth, the preparation of bilingual programmes for the Whites and multi-lingual programmes for Africans, is a purely practical task which the SABC should be able to accomplish within a year or so. This is the opinion of Opposition M.P.s, who describe the announcement as “skilful face-saving”. The Minister’s problem was to announce the acceptance of television in principle after repeated Government statements in the past had said it was “sinful”. — March 9 1968

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 25 YEARS AGO

The dog known to millions of filmgoers as the legendary Jock of the Bushveld is dead. Staffordshire terrier Mpfubu was the victim of a savage attack by a German shepherd and a Rottweiler last Sunday morning. Renamed Jock after his starring role in the film which chronicled Sir Percy Fitzpatrick’s adventures in the Eastern Transvaal, the dog was spending the weekend with friends in Bryanston while his owners, Tim and Mandy Ham of Benrose Gardens, Sandton, were in the Free State. His attackers jumped a fence and bit him on the back and neck. A domestic worker raised the alarm, but Jock collapsed and died, possibly from shock. The mauled body of a cat was found nearby. — March 6 1994