Suzy Bell On show in Durban When the entire Playhouse Dance Company was retrenched at the end of March this year, our Durban dancers were reeling with the rude shock. But instead of whingeing, Mark Hawkins, the ballsy former artistic director of the Playhouse Company, founded The Fantastic Flying Fish Dance Company, one of the […]

Dan Jellinek People living in some of the world’s most oppressive regimes are using the Internet to engage in civic and political activity, according to a leading international human rights activist. Jean-Paul Marthoz, of the Brussels- based group Human Rights Watch, last month told an Outlook for Freedom conference in Budapest that the Web is […]

Chiara Carter Arefugee Bill about to be tabled in Parliament will provide for the processing of applications for asylum within three to six months. The Bill, which is being certified by the state law advisers, is based on a draft White Paper completed earlier this year. Migrants and refugees to South Africa have fallen under […]

Adam Haupt On stage in Cape Town Evita se Perron hosts the Hello, Darling Festival again this year and promises to provide much entertainment by way of theatre, concerts and cabaret. Whilst Pieter-Dirk Uys’s Tannie Evita Praat Kaktus and Ouma Ossewania Praat Vuil are proven drawcards, the festival has quite a few new and interesting […]

of closet Anthony Kunda Gay men and lesbians in Zambia have formed an organisation to represent their interests, despite government threats to arrest them. Gershom Musonda, project manager of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual and Transgender Persons Association (Legatra), says the country’s homosexuals face constant harassment and victimisation. “The Zambian gay community has suffered silently, living as […]

brothel Michael Finch Commonwealth Games Noise curfews, group photo- graphs, airport delays, buses and goodie bags that offer toiletry sets, shower shoes and, wait for it, a doorstop. Glitz and glamour? More like a stint in the army! That’s what awaited the likes of Chester Williams and Shaun Pollock when they arrived in Kuala Lumpur […]

Phillip Kakaza Feeling stressed out from switching on the radio and getting only hip-hop and R&B? Well, the Belgium-based Afropop group Zap Mama will dose you with acappella and rhythm at Arts Alive on Thursday. At last year’s festival we saw outstanding international acts, like Beninoise funk diva Angelique Kidjo. This year the French Institute […]

Winning eight Lions at the Cannes awards this year, the South African advertising industry has shown it has the talent for temptation. Alex Dodd reports I exit the cinema feeling a bit like a latter day Phineas Fogg. I’ve seen the world and it’s taken me a whole lot less than 80 days. In more […]

Peter Makurube Kora awards The All Africa Kora Music Awards have come and gone with as much fanfare as a meeting of tannies sharing koeksisters and a bit of gesels en skinner. Hell, this is supposed to be the best thing on the continent. Expectations are high among the citizens of Africa and each time […]

Nicholas Dawes Live in Cape Town Amampondo leader Dizu Plaatjies is one of the more popular teachers at the University of Cape Town’s College of Music, where he teaches African instruments and dance. The role is not one he sheds easily, and when “Madiba’s favourite band” played at the Drum Cafe in Gardens last Saturday, […]