Johannesburg’s newest mall is tailor-made for the younger generation, but it is already beginning to age Melinda Silverman Architects hate malls. They hate their looks -ugly boxes adrift in a sea of cars – and they hate the way shopping malls have destroyed old-fashioned city streets. They hate the combination of windowless concrete brutalism and […]
Haroon Bhorat A second look As the employment equity commission (EEC) of the Department of Labour begins to assess discrimination and inequality in the labour market, it is important to inject a series of numbers and facts early on into this debate. This is to ensure that the EEC makes proclamations and decisions based on […]
Thuli Nhlapo The South African Law Commission confirmed it is conducting research on the subject of commercial sex work within the ambit of reviewing current sexual offences legislation – but said the process was still at a “sensitive stage”. The discussion paper on the matter, according to the commission, might be available by the end […]
Tom Sutcliffe Obituary T he best-known and loved English actor of the 20th century, Sir Alec Guinness, who has died aged 86, was an unostentatious and reserved man. He undertook a great variety of roles, all informed with the wisdom of the sad clown. His spiritual severity and stillness made him an icon after his […]
Sechaba ka’Nkosi The embattled Law Society of the Transvaal this week deferred a long-awaited election of its office bearers to 2001 in a move that could stall the transformation of one of the last remaining apartheid-era institutions in South Africa. The society’s bizarre decision comes in the wake of mounting calls for change from many […]
Maggie Davey T he first Caine Prize for African Literature has been awarded to Leila Aboulela for her story The Museum, which appears in the Heinemann collection Opening Spaces: An Anthology of Contemporary African Women’s Writing, edited by the Zimbabwean writer Yvonne Vera. One of Aboulela’s strengths, mentioned by the judging panel and borne out […]
Howard Barrell The multiparty South African parliamentary delegation that observed the Zimbabwean elections in June is approaching consensus that the poll was credible and reflected the will of the people. But, because of the violence that marked the run-up to Zimbabwe’s elections, the delegation is unlikely to characterise them as having been “free and fair”, […]
Nawaal Deane Magnus Heystek, the finance guru, has appeared in the Johannesburg High Court in the latest round of litigation involving a multimillion-rand family trust. Clive Berman, the father of the beneficiaries of the trust, last week sought to interdict the trustees from using funds from the trust to finance their litigation with him. Berman […]
Es’kia Mphahlele a second look I endorse everything that Arthur Maimane wrote in the Mail & Guardian (“A masterpiece in bronze”, July 14 to 20) concerning the relative merits of some of the former Drum writers. There was no reason for naming an award after Nat Nakasa for outstanding service to journalism above the greater, […]
Paul Kirk Dr Aubrey Levin has threatened to sue the Mail & Guardian – in Canada – for its articles on his exploits while in the service of the South African Defence Force. Levin’s Canadian lawyers say that in addition to suing over the articles, Levin wants his victims silenced and intends suing the M&G […]