Steven Friedman WORM’S EYE VIEW Our politics now is a little like a Hollywood western; if you want to be taken seriously, you have to talk tough. The most obvious examples are Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete and his colleague in education, Kader Asmal. Tshwete is given to denouncing criminals and human rights […]

Riaan Wolmarans Gauteng’s party scene has recovered from its January slump with two exciting dance events planned for this month. Love and thumping beats are in the air on Saturday February 12 when Mother Productions presents From Mother with Love. It takes place at a new venue, the Warehouse Complex at 11 North Reef Road, […]

Durban’s drowned and Cape Town’s still smouldering, but you’re all right – you’re well insured. Or are you? Gavin Foster looks at some disputes between insurers and their clients ‘One of the problems is that people today often buy their insurance directly from the companies rather than use a broker,” says Michael Bennett, the South […]

BAFANA Bafana have been offered a whopping R500000 cash bonus if they beat Nigeria in their African Nations Cup semi-final match on Thursday. Bafana have already earned R500000 from backers Castle Lager after beating Ghana in the semi-finals. Should the team win the trophy, they stand in line to pocket another R1-million for their efforts.

Ebrahim Harvey CROSSFIRE Unlike the earlier caution and equivocation of the ruling party, President Thabo Mbeki has recently openly called for the growth of a black capitalist class in order to provide greater stability and economic growth. But what are the real prospects for this development ? Black capitalism has arrived too late on the […]

The rise of regional forces has Nigeria thinking the unthinkable. Chris McGreal reports from Lagos The end of military rule nine months ago has unleashed a store of bitter resentments in Nigeria that have fuelled ethnic massacres, the rise of militant regional organisations and a rush to introduce sharia law in the Islamic north over […]

Michael Finch Hockey Claire Digby, the president of South Africa hockey, had a tough job this week. While delighted with the decision by the National Olympic Committee of South Africa (Nocsa) to include the women’s hockey side in the Olympic team, Digby also had to inform the men’s team that they would not be going […]

Luvuyo Kakaza Review Today, unlike the 1980s, township theatre has gone beyond slogans, to the realm of everyday life. Pressing issues, like crime for example, still surface in work that remains topical, making allowance for small works of serious inclination. Sweet Chocolate, directed by Mufunanji Magalasi and written by Mike Manana, is a triumph. It […]

Charlene Smith CROSSFIRE TV presenter Tracey Going is porcelain-doll pretty, and it was those looks film-maker Richard Latham threatened to destroy when he beat her up two-and-a-half years ago. This week Latham, a millionaire and recovering crack addict, was sentenced to a R5E000 fine or one year in jail suspended for five years for beating […]

A collaboration between Cape Town Tourism and other stakeholders has resulted in a musical tour of Cape townships. Karen Rutter got on the bus Weaving through throngs of home-bound pedestrians disgorged from hyperactive taxis, our mini-bus looked no different from all the others servicing evening rush-hour commuters. Except for the tour guide up front, and […]