POWER consumption surged to record levels in Sri Lanka last week when millions switched on their televisions to watch the World Cup cricket match between Sri Lanka and South Africa, state media said on Monday. The Daily News quoted Ceylon Electricity Board officials as saying that demand for power exceeded 1,200 megawatts as cricket-crazy Sri […]

BRITISH army soldiers and Royal Navy sailors were called up to help with security arrangements during the World Cup match between India and Sri Lanka in Taunton on Wednesday. Around 20 Royal Marines and sailors from HMS Somerset formed a protective guard as the players left the pitch at the end of India’s innings at […]

SAM Ramsamy will be a member of an International Olympic Committee (IOC) reform commission meeting next week, the National Olympic Committee of South Africa (Nocsa) said on Thursday. Ramsamy, the president of Nocsa, will be one of 80 delegates on the commission which meets for the first time in Lausanne on Tuesday. The commission was […]

Deon Potgieter Boxing The cards will be stacked against Lehlo “Hands of Stone” Ledwaba at the Carousel, Pretoria, on Saturday night. He’ll be stepping into the ring against former World Boxing Association bantamweight world champion John Michael Johnson hoping to become the third South African this decade to hold the International Boxing Federation’s junior featherweight […]

Robert Kitson Rugby England have a new captain, whatever the result of the Rugby Football Union’s (RFU) inquiry into allegations that Lawrence Dallaglio took and supplied illegal drugs may be. Martin Johnson, the captain of British club side Leicester, will lead his country on the forthcoming tour of Australia and the subsequent World Cup with […]

movies Emir Kustirica talks to Fiachra Gibbons about politics, his art – and the war When he’s not brawling on the streets of Belgrade with men who make Arkan look like Mary Poppins, challenging people to duels, or playing in Serbian rock bands, Emir Kusturica is winning the Palme D’Or at Cannes. No other director […]

Haroon Bhorat One of the key dilemmas facing the government is to eradicate, or at least reduce, poverty. The first step is to understand which are the most affected groups. In the labour market there are three groups which together explain more than 80% of the poverty in South Africa. They are unemployed people, domestic […]

With its quirky approach Chris du Plessis’s programme But Is It Art? has offended the `intellectuals’ of the art world. For him that might be it’s greatest success. Alex Dodd reports Chris du Plessis is on a rampage. “I think the intellectual influence on the arts is getting a bit much. There’s this whole, esoteric […]

Peter Makurube For the next two weeks, Johannesburg city will be in feelgood mode because jazz pianist Pat Matshikiza is in town. His sojourn begins on Friday night (May 28) at the Bassline and ends next weekend when he heads for Kippies in the Newtown Cultural Precinct. Hopefully, Matshikiza’s presence in the city will rejuvenate […]

Moses Qomoyi Right to Reply It is not at all clear what Ted Baumann and Diana Mitlin are attempting to prove in “The unpleasant truth of housing delivery” (Letters, May 21 to 27). Although their article appears to be intended as a critique of housing delivery, it develops into a general attack on South Africa’s […]