He’s got it all – fame, money and talent. But there’s more to David Beckham than that. He talks to Ian Ridley about fatherhood, Fergie – and how terrace taunts brought him to the brink When the camera is trained on him, he goes immediately, automatically, into that famous and familiar moody, brooding look. You […]

A new book on the truth commission has exposed a bitter feud between some of the body’s top officials Jaspreet Kindra Two truth commissioners this week lashed out at Dr Alex Boraine, deputy chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, for pillorying their contribution to the truth process. Hlengiwe Mkhize called Boraine a “psychopath”, while […]

Hundreds of white farmers from Cullinan have quit the Freedom Front for the ANC to pursue nation-building – and escape farm invasions Jaspreet Kindra ‘Are you Robby?” a young black man stops George Dickinson on a street in Cullinan. Dickinson, chair of the African National Congress’s interim Roodeplaat branch and a retired policeman who served […]

Universal Men, the celebrated debut Juluka album, was released 21 years ago. Richard Pithouse reports on an album that, despite being largely ignored at the time of its release, launched an inspirational career In the mid Seventies Johnny Clegg and Sipho Mchunu started playing together as a duo under the name of Johnny and Sipho. […]

Marianne Merten Taxi warlord turned local government candidate, Victor Sam, died this week the way he had lived – by the gun. But his death has left many wondering what hat Sam was wearing when he was gunned down in Crossroads in his car. The controversial taxi boss, township businessman and community figure was brought […]

Art aside, the touring Marc Chagall extravaganza is a defining moment in South Africa’s emergence from cultural isolation Kathryn Smith When a major Marc Chagall exhibition was announced at a rather lavish reception at Standard Bank headquarters earlier this year, my first impulsive thoughts were, why Chagall? If the French wanted to showcase their cultural […]

Belinda Beresford The fight between Aids activists and the government intensified this week when an NGO that helps rape survivors in Mpumalanga issued court papers against the provincial health MEC after being banned from state hospitals. The MEC for Health, Sibongile Manana, also accused the NGO, the Greater Nelspruit Rape Intervention Project (Grip), of illegally […]

Is the expiry of the benchmark RSA encryption patent an Internet watershed? Karlin Lillington At a large security software conference held recently in Florida, United States, the most popular T-shirt among the 1 000 delegates was the one you could get for free from the exhibition stand for a company called RSA Security. On the […]

Despite an international ban, many governments still torture their political opponents Heather van Niekerk In the past three years people reportedly died as a result of torture in more than 80 countries. Torture or ill-treatment by state agents was reported in more than 150 countries and was widespread in more than 70. Palden Gyatso is […]

Nawaal Deane It’s boom time in Nelspruit. Set in the subtropical vegetation among granite rocks, the lush town – strategically placed between Mozambique and Gauteng – boasts an economic growth rate far in excess of other urban areas in the country. For the past six years the town’s economy has seen an 8% growth rate […]