LOOKING BACK

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 50 YEARS AGO

With the Sixties drawing to a close, the Sunday Times names The Men of the Decade: Christiaan Barnard, first to transplant a heart; Neil Armstrong, first to walk on the moon. In 3,000 years, mankind’s progress and development are studded with many remarkable “firsts”, but perhaps none as exciting, dramatic or spectacular as the “firsts” achieved by Chris Barnard and Neil Armstrong, who proved that it was possible to attain the unattainable. If “The Two Men of the Decade” award had been made regularly during the past 300 years, it is probably true to say that Professor Chris Barnard would have been the first South African to qualify for this outstanding honour. — December 7 1969

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 25 YEARS AGO

South Africa’s border controls have collapsed, leaving gaping holes for drug smugglers, arms merchants and illegal aliens to pour into the country. Police and customs officials admitted this week that they were being left “flat-footed” by criminal syndicates. A string of secondary airports, which are open to international traffic 24 hours a day, are left unmanned by customs and immigration officials at night. A Sunday Times investigation at Lanseria airport, north of Johannesburg, found that the airport, which has a runway capable of taking intercontinental aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 727, is open to criminals and legitimate travellers alike from early evening until dawn. — December 4 1994