For Olympic marathon-winner Josiah Thugwane, who will be competing in the prestigious New York Marathon next weekend, it’s been a long, hard road to success. Gavin Evans reports When Josiah Thugwane talks of his life’s greatest achievements, he glosses over his Olympic marathon gold medal and a string of other running records and settles on […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 7.20am. PROMISING South African tennis junior Dirk Stegmann advanced to the quarterfinals of the Central African tennis satellite after he beat Marcel du Coudray 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) in the Zambian capital Lusaka on Wednesday. The 15-year-old from Willowmore will now meet top-seed Justin Bower on Thursday. Bower can […]

Wally Mbhele Before his arrest in Mozambique eight months ago, foreign affairs official Robert McBride was approached by Gauteng Premier Mathole Motshekga’s representative to take over from former MEC for safety and security Jessie Duarte. McBride is understood to have turned the offer down, citing his commitment to his foreign affairs job. But since his […]

Andy Capostagno : Cricket Contrary to what you may have thought, the cricket season began this week. Specifically it began on Tuesday night at around 7.30pm in the Long Room at the Wanderers, the occasion being the launch of The Mutual and Federal South African Cricket Annual 1998. The provinces have been applying WD40 to […]

Stuart Hess Ayanda Ntsaluba does not enjoy the limelight. But his new position as director general of health has thrust him into the public eye. Minister of Health Nkosazana Zuma appointed Ntsaluba three weeks ago. He replaces Olive Shisana, who left the department in June this year in the wake of the Sarafina II scandal. […]

Martina Hingis is still smiling after frittering away a huge lead in the tennis rankings, reports Jon Henderson For burn out, read chill out. If Martina Hingis is indeed slipping inexorably from her pre-eminent position in women’s tennis, we could be witnessing one of the most pleasing declines in the history of sport. Rather than […]

The Gay and Lesbian Film Festival turns five this year, and it promises to be bigger and better than ever, with one of the highlights being a local documentary on a gay activist Andrew Worsdale During the late 1980s and early 1990s filmmakers like Gus van Sant, Derek Jarman and Monica von Treut, together with […]

Angella Johnson : VIEW FROM A BROAD It is a cold Saturday afternoon and Rasheda Pahad’s hands are deep in the dough she is kneading to make vetkoek. A pan of oil is bubbling away on the stove in the kitchen attached to her tiny living room. Pahad’s husband and their two young children have […]

Friday night: Swapna Prabhakaran My weekend sort-of starts on a Thursday afternoon, and my Fridays are usually earmarked as a day to chill and catch up with friends. As the sun sets on the weekend traffic heading out of Durban city, we avoid rush hour altogether by driving into town to meet at the Bat […]

Chiara Carter The heat is being turned on alleged Mafia boss Vito Palazzolo, with moves to step up a police investigation and another extradition request expected from the Italian authorities. Palazzolo, who became a South African citizen in 1995, is on trial in absentia in Italy and was recently listed as a top Mafia figure […]