Stephen Gray recently attended a conference in Botswana in honour of South African writer Bessie Head, who settled there Gaborone, June 17-18 Few remember the first round of this event. In April 1976, when she was still alive and with only half her work done, Bessie Head was invited here to the University of Botswana. […]
Wonder Hlongwa Minister of Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi’s new initiative for Richmond, announced on Tuesday, has already been tried and failed. Mufamadi’s two-pronged approach to halt the murders in the town includes sending an additional 240 policemen there and transferring four policemen. But the four were served with notices three months ago – in […]
Sechaba ka’Nkosi A group of highly trained operatives linked to dirty tricks operations in KwaZulu-Natal in the early 1990s has been directly implicated in the recent upsurge of violence in the Midlands town of Richmond. A report by peace monitors suggests that senior politicians, right-wing farmers, police and military chiefs have regrouped and are exploiting […]
William Fotheringham Tour de France When Jan Ullrich effectively won the Tour de France in the second week of racing last year, his performance was so dominating that there were those, notably the five-times winner Bernard Hinault, who hailed the 23-year-old German as the man who would win the Tour into the millennium and beyond. […]
Andy Duffy Shepherd Mdladlana is duty-bound to say he will serve wherever the African National Congress deploys him. But the Ministry of Labour? Tito Mboweni, a flamboyant, popularist politician was always going to be a hard act to follow – more so for Mdladlana, who until now has preferred operating out of the limelight. Mboweni, […]
Douglas Rushkoff Online When I started writing columns about the Internet I thought of myself as something of a midwife. We were birthing a new culture, and had experienced some complications in our labour. My purpose was to hold on to our collective hand, help us remember to breathe, and tell us how precious the […]
Mukoni T Ratshitanga A University of Zululand employee is facing 82 internal fraud charges ranging over two years. The university “charge sheet” alleges that Anna Platt, an assistant buyer in the stores department, defrauded the university of R1,5-million between February 1995 and June 1997. Platt allegedly made out false orders for curtains and mattress covers […]
Peet Pienaar speaks to fellow-artist Judith Mason Iwent to see Judith Mason on a cold, murky day, and spoke to an artist who seems to have been quietly observing from the sidelines of the art world for quite a while. How would I contextualise her? I know her well, and know that what I know […]
Tangeni Amupadhi Nine-year-old Mita Molete came home from school crying a few weeks ago. She pleaded with her mother not to let her go on a school tour to Durban. Molete, whose scalp was hacked with a panga during the 1992 Boipatong massacre on the Vaal Triangle, has developed a fear of Zulus. “She does […]
Iden Wetherell When the Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Laurent Kabila paid a flying visit to Harare last week, he told reporters he was there for routine consultations with President Robert Mugabe. But the presence of Zimbabwe’s defence chiefs suggested a more pressing purpose. Mugabe is chair of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) organ […]