Adam Mars-Jones HEAVY WATER AND OTHER STORIES by Martin Amis (Jonathan Cape) Without the story State of England, this would be a dismaying volume to come from the champion British fiction writer of his generation. Unlike his tightly themed previous collection, Einstein’s Monsters, this one brings together early work (two stories from the Seventies, one […]
Chiara Carter Concern about the National Party’s decline in voter support has led to several senior party members mooting the possibility of unseating their leader, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, before the elections. While no clear contenders have emerged, there are several factions jostling for power in the party and a strong drive for a change in […]
AFRICAN National Congress members disgruntled with Mpumalanga Premier Mathews Phosa’s leadership made personal submissions to the party’s president,Thabo Mbeki, during his low-key three-day visit to the province earlier this week. The series of meetings, initially planned as a review of the ANC’s organisational status, reportedly included a series of one-on-one meetings between Mbeki and unhappy […]
Emma Forrest First Person Among the strangest remakes in recent years is Cruel Intentions, a teen reworking of Dangerous Liaisons. Just what the world needs: a just-17 version of one of the great pieces of Western literature. It seems like a pathetic concept, the point being that you simply don’t play those sort of cynical, […]
Andrew Worsdale The Siege was the number-one box office hit in South Africa this week and has grossed R1 979 136. But many Muslim organisations would like the movie banned. Director Edward Zwick’s thriller has been causing controversy around the world. The film revolves around an FBI agent attempting to root out an Arab-American “terrorist” […]
Britain’s most famous wartime general has been tainted by revelations in newly released secret papers, reports Alan Travis from London The reputation of Britain’s most famous wartime general, Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, has been dealt a body blow by the disclosure of secret papers revealing that he advocated a racist imperial “masterplan” for […]
THE National Party has lost its appeal against a decision by the press ombudsman that the Mail & Guardian was justified in publishing details of a police investigation into its leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk. The article, NP leader in bizarre sex probe reported that a Western Cape criminal, John Hermanus, had laid charges of sodomy […]
Mail &Guardian reporter The National Party has lost its appeal against a decision by the press ombudsman that the Mail & Guardian was justified in publishing details of a police investigation into its leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk. The article published last year (April 30 to May 7)under the headline “NP leader in bizarre sex probe” […]
Bram Posthumus takes a look at what lies at the heart of Angola’s misery A snapshot, taken in Kuito two months ago on Angola’s 23rd birthday. The crowd in front of the bullet-riddled government buildings at the Praa de Vergonha (Shame Square) listens impassively to the music and speeches and then walks away. There’s not […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 10.15am. ONE in three South African schoolgirls are victims of sexual abuse, according to a study published on Thursday by a non-government organisation, Community Information Empowerment and Transparency. Of the victims, two out of three had never previously spoken of the abuse, the study of 1500 black and white youths […]