Next month Pietermaritzburg, hometown of Alan Paton, marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Cry, the Beloved Country, writes Stephen Gray This year’s Alan Paton celebrations in Pietermaritzburg include the kind of events rarely accorded a South African writer – but appropriately so, for it was he who put the city on the map. […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT in Johannesburg | Friday 9.15pm. MERCENARY outfit Executive Outcomes on Friday denied that any of its members is playing a hand in renewed fighting in Angola. Responding to recent media reports, EO managing director Nic van den Berg said: “I declare that EO is not involved in Angola and has not been since […]
The surest sign of China’s remarkable economic success was when President Jiang Zemin traded his Mao Zedong suit for Giorgio Armani and became the Gordon Gecko of Asia. Like his fictional movie-tycoon counterpart, Jiang’s slogan could be “greed is good”. Under his guidance China has become an economic powerhouse with stock markets that would make […]
Keith Henderson CD of the week Although Brimful of Asha is the track which has catapulted Cornershop to fame, the album is more than just one funky pop tune and a couple of mediocre bits and pieces to make up a complete album. Rather, When IWas Born for the 7th Time could easily be heralded […]
Howard Barrell The African National Congress has turned down a South African Communist Party request for a meeting between their leaders this week to discuss serious disagreements between the parties that emerged last month. The SACP had hoped the parties could get together before a two-day meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC), which […]
no bells Ann Eveleth The bogus news agency which former Strategic Communications (Stratcom) operative Michael Bellingan confessed to setting up in the 1980s appears to have made few ripples in the media world. The agency is named as the Pan African News Agency (Pana) in an amnesty application handed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission […]
Judge William de Villiers delivered his judgment in the Sarfu case this week, lambasting Mandela for his performance in the witness box. The South African correspondent of The Guardian in London, David Beresford, reflects on his coverage of the hearing and protests: `With respect, M’Lud …’ There have been both moving and historic moments in […]
It’s all over and there’s barely enough time for both sides to lick their wounds, never mind carry on with their `other’ lives. Neil Manthorp reports from Leeds Cricket boasts the cruellest, most finite moments of any sport. Soccer, through golden goals and penalty shoot-outs, has managed to emulate the “immediate death” nature of the […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Goma | Friday 1.00PM. WITH panic growing in Kinshasa, rebel troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo are reported to have advanced as far as Kasangulu, some 30km south-west of the capital. Rebel leaders in Goma said Kinshasa is now in their sights, and will fall by the end of the month, if […]
Wally Mbhele A former African National Congress member who was convicted in 1988 of the gruesome murder of four women considers himself abandoned by his party. Of the six people convicted in the case, four – including the ringleader – were given political amnesty in 1991. Another, Absalom Kobela, was released on parole last year. […]