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, […]

Ros Davidson Highland Games California might seem a strange place to stage Highland Games, but that is not the only unusual feature of this weekend’s 133rd annual Scottish Games and Gathering near San Francisco. For alongside the men in kilts throwing huge wooden cabers and lumps of granite will be the graceful form of Shannon […]

Who are . . . the Congolese Rebels? Ann Eveleth When Congolese rebel commander Jean- Pierre Ondekane vowed this week to “intensify” the rebellion against embattled Democratic Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila, he spoke with a confidence his opponent has never enjoyed. Unlike Kabila, whose 1997 Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of […]

Ferial Haffajee speaks to visiting Asian-American author Ruth Ozeki Ruth Ozeki is so like her lead character, Jane Takagi-Little, that I call her “Jane” several times in the course of our interview. She doesn’t mind the gaffe, adding that her best friend refers to the character as “Ruth”. Takagi-Little, the narrator of the novel My […]

Forget Viagra. There’s a natural alternative that’s bound to keep you up all night, writes Mercedes Sayagues If you live in Zimbabwe, you have probably heard the stories: of dusk-to- dawn erections that exhaust women; of non-stop sex and multiple ejaculations all night long; of formidable hard-ons that land men in hospital, even kill them. […]

Chris McGreal Jean Kambanda was bathing when soldiers burst through his front door four years ago. Rwanda’s genocide was starting and he was sure death was knocking. The soldiers nabbed him and offered him not a bullet in the head, but an invitation to lead the government – which came to oversee the slaughter of […]

Donna Block If miners and a few metals analysts are to be believed, gold is golden once more. They say the precious metal, up from 19-year lows, is poised for a major comeback. But the glitter might not be as bright as those who dig it out of the ground are hoping. Metal markets are […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Addis Ababa | Friday 6.30pm. A RIFT has developed in the Addis Ababa talks aimed at brokering a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both Uganda and Rwanda, accused by DRC President Laurent Kabila of invading the DRC, have demanded that the rebel leaders be invited to the talks. The DRC delegation […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 11.00pm. DELEGATES from the six countries discussing a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo have adjourned their meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, saying they are expecting “other parties” to join the talks on Friday. Sources at the conference would not say who the “other parties” might be. The meeting […]

MICHAEL METELITS, Johannesburg | Thursday 6.30pm. A plummeting Dow, and little help from overseas investors rocked the share and bond markets on Thursday. Traders suggested that bonds will only pick up if the rand breaks out of the R6,23 to the dollar range. The bright spot was the rising price of gold, which pushed gold […]