Mukoni T Ratshitanga Athol Fugard may have been writing about inhabitants of the electricity department’s disused building in downtown Johannesburg had the characters of his People are living there not been too few and employed. The inhabitants of the building belonging to the Market Theatre Company – where Fugard’s play premiered in March 1977 – […]

The CSIR has developed a unique system to prevent prison escapes, reports David Shapshak An innovative, low-cost motion detector system could be the solution to preventing the hundreds of escapes each year from police cells, say the police and its developers, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The new system consists of two […]

Alex Dodd SOUTH AFRICA THE STRUCTURE OF THINGS THEN by David Goldblatt (Oxford University Press) THE INVISIBLE LINE: THE LIFE AND PHOTOGRAPHY OF KEN OOSTERBROEK by Mike Nicol (Kwela/Random House) This year has been a big one for photographer David Goldblatt. Not only did he become the first South African photographer to be honoured with […]

Robert Mattes: A SECOND LOOK The details of the first Opinion ’99 survey (a consortium of Idasa, Markinor and the South African Broadcasting Corporation) have been widely reported. But once one backs away from the fine brush strokes of the numbers, what emerges is a distinct picture of the South African electorate six to seven […]

Alex Sudheim There’s a point in the closing song of no more heavy that serves as a rough telescope through which to view Sunways’ music as a whole: Standstill is a spooky, minimal song for most of its six-minute duration which suddenly detonates with explosive force. It’s 4am inertia blues until it takes a hit […]

Andrew Worsdale Movies of the week A lthough it’s a box-office hit in the United States, There’s Something About Mary starring Cameron Diaz has film critics divided. One of my peers, who shall remain nameless, said “it’s the biggest load of crap I’ve seen all year”. I, on the other hand, thought it quite enjoyable. […]

Not CD of the week: Sheryl Garratt Happiness is largely a matter of perception. But if the world is split into optimists who see a glass as half- full and pessimists who see it as half- empty, then Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette goes further: she sees the glass as a dangerous weapon that will inevitably […]

Preview of the week: Anton Marshall `Hey, have you heard of Renaissance?” I ask experimentally, honestly believing the hype that clubbers are in and slacker journos are out. “Er … Wasn’t that a Leonardo da Vinci painting?” she replies innocently, sipping on a Mule as her low- key rave vest struggles to find a cling […]

Ferial Haffajee Deputy president Thabo Mbeki and Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Jay Naidoo have been drawn into the e.tv fray. Warring factions in the Midi consortium – which owns e.tv – have reportedly approached their offices to seek intervention in the new channel’s internal and external battles. The approaches to government have provoked […]