Yearly Archives: 1999

David le Page The “wind event” which hit the Cape Flats this week probably wasn’t a tornado – but tornadoes may be hitting South Africa more frequently. Certain areas of South Africa, particularly the eastern escarpment, are already more prone to tornadoes. Tornadoes are a spin-off from the thunderstorms enjoyed by the Free State and […]

The tornado may have passed, but those left homeless are still facing a storm over housing, reports Marianne Merten Residents of the devastated Cape Flats areas of Manenberg, Surrey Estate and Guguletu are bracing themselves for a potentially long wait for new homes while politicians this week haggled over disaster relief until President Thabo Mbeki […]

Hilary Fine Lifestyle It’s been a long time coming, but the Cosmo girl finally has a playmate. For Him Magazine (FHM) will launch in South Africa in December with Neil Bierbaum, formerly of Directions magazine, as its editor. The young, affluent South African man- about-town will soon have a general lifestyle publication to call his […]

Alex Dodd LANDMARKS Cast your mind back awhile to a vacant lot just south of Joubert Park and the Johannesburg Art Gallery. For about 90 years this Union Grounds site was reserved for use by the military, creating a unique situation whereby four city blocks remained essentially vacant – on the surface anyway. For a […]

Q & A Buddy Wells Buddy Wells is the award-winning saxman behind the legendary Kusasa, The Truly Fully Hey ShooWow Band and Jimmy Dludlu’s C-Base Collective. He has played and recorded with jazz luminaries such as Winston Mankunku, Joe McBride and Dutch pianist Jack von Poll. His most recent gig was at the North Sea […]

Cameron Duodu Letter from the North As could be expected, the claim by the African World Reparations and Repatriation Truth Commission for $777-trillion in respect of the enslavement and colonisation of Africa has produced quite a few titters. One Nigerian wrote on the Internet: “Is this some kinda joke?” And a Ghanaian wrote: “I am […]

John Matshikiza With the Lid Off The Lusaka accords, heralding the possibility of an end to the war in Congo, has finally been signed by the last of the several hundred different people who were supposed to sign it. It’s like that folk tale about the gang who stole a pig from someone’s yard and […]

In an article in last week’s Mail & Guardian, Melanie Chait was described as an SABC commissioning editor who successfully sued the SABC and was awarded three months’ salary from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. The position she held was, in fact, general manager: programme policy, planning and co- productions. The SABC offered […]

identity Ebrahim Harvey A Second Look As tempting as it is, it would be a mistake to dismiss the current debate on who qualifies to be an African as simply a case of diversionary intellectual masturbation between black and white journalists, intellectuals and academics – as much as it has often come close to that. […]