Robert Kirby remembers his childhood and the part three men society politely termed ‘mentally deficient’ played in it My first clear memories of the Durban where I was born and grew up were of the war years, the early Forties. A domestic world of absent fathers and uncles, mothers’ heads bent to static-filled wartime radio […]

“This man is the person who raped me, sir. It’s very difficult to forget his face.” – Journalist Charlene Smith, asked by rape accused Johannes Zinto’s lawyer how she can be sure Zinto was her alleged rapist “Although it is morally reprehensible to rape one’s own child, the man’s sexual deviancy was limited to his […]

Shaun de Waal This year saw the centenary of the birth of the man considered by many to be the United States’s foremost composer. Duke Ellington was born in 1899 and died in 1974: his lifespan covered three quarters of this century, and more than 50 of those years were spent making wonderful music. James […]

HUNDREDS of former Namibian guerrilla fighters have threatened to remain camped at Ondangwa Airport in the north of the country. They say they will stay despite a call from the Cabinet Technical Committee on Ex-Combatants to return to their homes and await news on jobs they have been promised. At least 580 ex-combatants are currently […]

report card Making the Grade What the scores mean A – Take a bow. You’re doing an excellent job B – Good, but room for improvement C – You’re OK, but that’s all we can say for you D – Get your act together. You’re verging on useless E – Do yourself and the country […]

EASTERN CAPE: Makhenkesi Stofile Grade: B+ In a style not dissimilar from that of President Thabo Mbeki, “Stof” has become impatient for delivery and intolerant of inefficiency. He has insisted that African National Congress mayoral candidates are appointed by him. He has held an anti- corruption conference which resulted in practical suggestions and time frames. […]

Howard Barrell spoke to a Cape Town cosmologist who believes there will always be a limit to what science can do In terms of the age and extent of the universe, the passing of the millennium that many of us are marking with such fervour, fear or superstition is an irrelevance, according to George Ellis, […]

Guy Willoughby Comedy, drama, car chases, derring-do … at this crazed end-of- decade/century/millennium/world party season, the Cape has it all, although mostly offstage. Other managements are desperate to compete with our town’s longest-running entertainment – the South African police’s extraordinary efforts to help, or hinder, the seasonal killjoy bombers. Here’s a shortlist of the goodies […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, East London | Thursday 5.00pm. THE touring England cricket team are studying videotapes of Lance Klusener in a bid to devise a method of coping with the South African’s batting prowess. Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, said before the start of the third test in Durban on Sunday that the tourists have caught […]

1 Jomo Sono 2 Richard Branson 3 Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin 4 The Shah of Iran and the King of Albania 5 South 6 Enigma 7 De Voortrekkers, in 1916 8 Lech Walesa 9 Macao 10 Chris Patten 11 The Watergate 12 Luciano Pavorotti, Jos Carreras and Placido Domingo 13 Emily Hobhouse 14 General Fulgencio Batista […]