No image available
/ 12 November 2007
The European and American tradition of the political novel is deeply entrenched. From Emile Zola to Gore Vidal, the perceptions and attitudes of citizens in these smug old democracies have long been shaped. South Africa too has a rich history of political fiction, from Alan Paton to Nadine Gordimer, André Brink, Njabulo Ndebele and Lewis Nkosi. But there is, of course, a vast difference between the literary political novel and the ”novel of politics”, writes Marianne Thamm.
No image available
/ 3 November 2006
Now that the posturing and rhetoric that has dominated Western Cape politics in the two months prior to this week’s agreed compromise on the system of local government is over there is one clear victor: the citizens of Cape Town. The decision has been hailed by various commentators as ”mature”, and by the local media as ”the kind of compromise that good politicians make in the interests of the people they serve”.
No image available
/ 3 November 2006
Everyone in Hout Bay agrees: the tipping-point was the murder of Gerhard Vergeer on Sunday March 13 last year. Vergeer, his wife and three children had arrived in the postcard-pretty Hout Bay valley from Mpumalanga and were staying at a local guesthouse ahead of the Pick ’n Pay Argus Cycle tour.
No image available
/ 30 October 2006
The crisis over the Cape Town mayoral system is coming to a head, with mayor Helen Zille set to meet Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi on Friday. Recently Zille accused the ANC of attempting to make the city ungovernable, while the ANC and Independent Democrats stormed out of a full council meeting.
No image available
/ 27 October 2006
University of Cape Town Professor Girish Kotwal, who used university laboratories to research an herbal concoction touted as a ”anti-HIV” remedy, has resigned from his position as chair of virology. An internal joint statement by UCT and Kotwal this week announced that Kotwal ”will resign his position with effect from December 31 to pursue his research interests in natural medicine”.
No image available
/ 13 October 2006
While same-sex partners will soon be able to marry legally, it seems increasingly likely that heterosexual couples will be able to choose from two marriage Acts to formalise their unions. The Civil Unions Bill, although purporting to be equal in status and legal rights to the Marriage Act, creates a separate regime for same-sex couples.
No image available
/ 29 September 2006
In a surprise move Independent Democrats (ID) caucus leader Simon Grindrod this week came out in support of Cape Town mayor Helen Zille "as an individual" and as a city mayor under an executive committee system with more than "ribbon-cutting" powers.
No image available
/ 19 September 2006
Pinelands, a Cape Town suburb built in the 1920s to emulate a British rural idyll, has become the city’s most racially mixed neighbourhood. If you’re really lucky you might glimpse Pinelands residents Patricia de Lille (Independent Democrats leader) and Pregs Govender (activist and former MP) having their hair done at the same salon.
No image available
/ 17 September 2006
Rumours are flying that the Western Cape’s Local Government Minister, Richard Dyantyi, is planning to use municipal laws to remove Cape Town’s DA mayor Helen Zille from office and undermine her ruling coalition. The office of Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool would not be drawn on the issue this week.
‘Now that I’m in it, it’s not nearly so daunting,” says Cape Town mayor Helen Zille of the job she accepted with trepidation six months ago. Zille is perched on a couch in the lounge adjoining her sixth-floor Civic Centre office in the central city.