If you begin at the spatial beginning of Joni Brenner’s Off the Wall (in the entrance, adjunct to the vast gallery space), you begin with two works that are small and strong. Chip off the Old Block and Recollect – Reconnect each use as their material and visual inspiration two worn postcard images of Rodin’s […]
Sharon Hammond Nature reserves in the former KwaNdebele homeland in Mpumalanga have become lawless badlands where gangs of armed youths attack visitors, poaching flourishes and conservation has collapsed. Animals are treated so badly that lions have lost their manes, crocodiles are kept in dry sandpits and cattle allowed to graze in protected areas. Gangs have […]
Richard Lee in Addis Ababa One hundred and thirty-one years after a British military force ransacked Maqdala, the mountain capital of the Ethiopian emperor Tewodros II, a campaign has been launched to convince Britain to return hundreds of artefacts stolen during the expedition. The 32 000-strong force was sent to rescue missionaries held captive by […]
William Keegan There is speculation in international financial circles that Alan Greenspan may be offered a fourth term as chair of the United States Federal Reserve. Greenspan (73) was appointed by president Ronald Reagan in 1987, and subsequently reappointed by presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton. His third term expires in June 2000, but 2000 […]
American tycoon James Blanchard has died without seeing much progress being made on his dream project – a massive theme park in Mozambique. Mercedes Sayagues reports James Ulysses Blanchard III, the controversial, paraplegic American tycoon, died of a heart attack in March. He was 54. Staff at Blanchard Mozambique Enterprises (BME) say once his estate […]
THE price of a litre of petrol and other fuels rose by almost 50% in Angola on Friday from 1,9 million to three million new kwanzas. The US dollar buys around 1,8 million new kwanzas. Angola produces 300000 barrels a day (b/d) of crude oil and hopes to increase output to a million b/d by […]
SOUTH Africa’s Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin on Wednesday denied he was considering applying for the vacant position of director-general of the World Trade Organisation. The trade body’s 134 members are deadlocked over whether to appoint former New Zealand premier Mike Moore or Thailand deputy premier Supachai Panitchpakdi, the two remaining candidates in line […]
integrity and courage in the political debate `If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken/Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools.” – From If by Rudyard Kipling. I am reminded of these words by that archetypal Victorian, Rudyard Kipling, when confronted with the criticism centred on Tony Leon and the Democratic […]
Firoz Cachalia A common theme runs through last week’s editorial and Howard Barrell’s column in the Mail & Guardian. Under Thabo Mbeki’s leadership, they assert, the African National Congress is centralising power in ways which undermine democracy and the Constitution. Both are critical of the manner in which the ANC has appointed candidate premiers, and […]
THE four-year ownership saga surrounding the beleaguered Rosh Pinah zinc mine will end on Thursday with the official launch of a new holding company for the mine. Today’s launch will also pave the way for the listing of the new company on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) before the end of the year. Rosh Pinah […]