Do anthems wear out their appeal and need replacing to suit new conditions? James Ambrose Brown examines South Africa’s three anthems that tell the tale of the century For the English it was God Save the Queen, and Land of Hope and Glory. For the Afrikaners it was Die Stem van Suid Afrika. For the […]

1 PW Botha 2 Philippe Troussier 3 Gauteng’s provincial Premier Mathole Motshekga 4 Renamo 5 The Northern Cape’s Manne Dipico 6 Hlengiwe Mkhize 7 Mitchells Plain on the Cape Flats 8 Moeneeb “Bowtie” Abrahams and Leonard “Chippie” Archilles of the Hard Livings gang, Jackie Lonte of the Americans, Ismael April of the Mongrels, to name […]

Things are looking up for the local film industry, writes Andrew Worsdale At this year’s Sithengi, Cape Town’s film and video market, Zimbabwean producer Joel Phiri said of South African cinema: “There’s a lot of cinema, but there’s not much on the screen.” Sithengi is, of course, one of the many strong initiatives that have […]

Wally Mbhele interviews the Mail & Guardian’s newsmaker of the year, Robert McBride On a cold morning on April 9, South Africans woke up to what was to become one of the biggest thrillers of the year: the arrest of a senior government official in a foreign country. The official was none other than the […]

A `necessary pretence’ seems common practice in politics worldwide. David Beresford wonders if South Africa will suffer the same fate The most intriguing aspect of Thabo Mbeki’s recently released collection of speeches (Africa, the Time Has Come, Tafelberg Mafube, R80) is not the speeches, but the introduction which contains a brief biography of the man, […]

knowledgeable you really are How clued up are you on the highs and lows, ins and outs of 1998? Test your skills with this brain-teaser 1 President Nelson Mandela made a special concession to pay the lawyers of an infamous politician more than double the going rate to prepare for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission […]

Patricia Whitelock Perhaps it’s because we have 10 fingers and work on a decimal system that numbers and intervals of time like 10 and decade, 100 and century or 1 000 and millennium seem to have such significance. This probably explains the interest in the beginning of the new millennium, but not the controversy associated […]

Free State Matthew Krouse Some feelings cannot be explained, they just have to be absorbed. For a Jew, like me, to meander through a small town in quest of the Christmas spirit on a sweltering Sunday feels quite odd. Even if the town is called Bethlehem, and the Sunday happens to be five days before […]

The technology of the future may seem like science fiction, but it’s more than just talk, writes David Shapshak In the home of the future, people will talk to the walls. And the walls will listen. You’ll walk into your home, it will greet you, turn on the lights, select your current favourite music or […]

David Sharrock This is where Christendom began, and where it is ending, for Bethlehem at least, and, perhaps, for the Holy Land also. In a gloomy cave beneath the basilica of the Church of the Nativity is the spot where the Virgin Mary is supposed to have given birth to Jesus. If it wasn’t for […]