Phillip Kakaza Diva shouts, harmonic sounds and thunderous rhythms swept through the remote village of Taung during the North West Cultural Calabash Festival last week. The high-pitched voices of the undisputed queen of gospel Rebecca Malope and her backing group Pure Magic resonated from the Mmabana (mother of the children ) Cultural Centre where the […]
Cheryl Carolus looked set for a high post in the ANC government; instead she opted to be South Africa’s first female high commissioner in London, writes Liz McGregor Cheryl Carolus is not your average diplomat. She travels by tube, wears mini-skirts and parties into the small hours. She has strong opinions about her host country […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 9.15pm. GRIQUALAND West remained firmly in entrenched in their position for a Currie Cup semi-final berth after a good 33-14 win over South Western Districts at Outeniqua Park in George on Friday evening. The men from Kimberley led 21-9 at halftime. The match was, however, not as one-sided as the […]
Tangeni Amupadhi Mpumalanga police have failed to trace a former Delmas mental patient who they say might help in the investigation of the beheading murders of at least four people. The police said Johannes Mohale- Monareng (alias Mohlala), who cut off a child’s head and tried selling it in 1990, was last seen at his […]
Friday night Nathan Zeno There is no Saturday night in Cape Town – or rather Saturday night is for losers. Let me qualify that. If you know anything about this town, you’ll be in bed recovering on Saturday night. There is enough on any given Friday night to exhaust you and if not there’s always […]
Serious questions are being asked about the state of South Africa’s defence forces following the Lesotho intervention, writes Howard Barrell The public, defence and security analysts and African National Congress and opposition politicians have expressed concern over the past 10 days about the coherence of the young South African National Defence Force (SANDF) after it […]
Robert Kirby: Loose cannon Like many of my fellow citizens, I am now sleeping much more comfortably at night. After South Africa’s much maligned defence force so commendably and so swiftly trounced one of the poorest, most fragile countries on the African continent, I find instilled in me a feeling of enraptured patriotic self-esteem. Not […]
season Mercedes Sayagues tries a popular Southern African aphrodisiac, but finds the side effects too hot to handle I tried wankie, and it works. But I don’t think I will try it again. Wankie (herbs, in seShona) is the generic word for traditional aphrodisiacs for women in Zimbabwe, but there are as many names as […]
politics Cameron Duodu: LETTER FROM THE NORTH The Democratic Republic of Congo has always aroused two contradictory emotions in me as an African: the ecstasy created in the soul by appreciation of some of the best music on the continent, and the fear and anger aroused in the mind by irrational, blood-spattered politics that resurfaces […]
Lesotho rebel soldiers this week invited reporter Sechaba ka’Nkosi to view their secret camps Rebel soldiers of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF), who ignored this week’s ultimatum to report back to their bases, claim a large quantity of arms are in their hands at safe houses around the capital Maseru and in surrounding villages. The […]