Alex Dodd Despite the fact that we finally had an official presence at the Cannes Film Festival this year, there still didnt seem to have been the films to back it up not a single South African film was selected for the official competition. Meanwhile, with little pomp or ceremony, two local films have been […]

Ronald Suresh Roberts SHTETL: A HISTORY OF A SMALL TOWN AND AN EXTINGUISHED WORLD by Eva Hoffman (Chatto &Windus, R135) ECHOES OF A NATIVE LAND by Serge Schmemann (Little, Brown, R160) In her poetic autobiography Lost in Translation: Life in a New Language (1989), Eva Hoffman tells of her Jewish familys flight from wartime Poland […]

Richard Tomlinson outlines a truly African scenario for Johannesburg in the 21st century Mayivuke, an inner-city vision and development strategy for Johannesburg, was launched with fanfare and great expectations a year ago. But its vision was vague and unrealistic, probably because it was not underpinned by an examination of economic and social trends. Business leaders […]

suicide Tangeni Amupadhi The bank robbery trial against Mzwakhe Mbuli got off to an inauspicious start this week when one of the officers who arrested the poet committed suicide and the probe into police actions surrounding Mbuli’s arrest continued. Prosecutor Johann Kok said this week he would not hold off until the Independent Complaints Directorate […]

One thing is clear amid all the uncertainty: South Africa’s economy is in big, big trouble, writes Ferial Haffajee Like emergency tow-truck drivers who rub their hands together eagerly when an accident report crackles over their citizen- band radios, the repo men are waiting. A month or so after an interest-rate hike, business picks up […]

Chris McGreal Nigeria’s new military leader, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, appears close to releasing the imprisoned presidential election winner, Moshood Abiola, after the two men held talks ostensibly aimed at agreeing on conditions for the restoration of civilian rule. But opposition sources say the army is pressing Abiola to renounce his claim to the presidency and […]

Fashion fiend turned house hunk Jeremy Healy is the latest big name DJ to tour the country. Charl Blignaut calls him up in London on the eve of his visit Theres a measure of reassurance in that little peep that sounds just as the call connects Johannesburg to London. Multinational fingertips. A cheery Hello? crosses […]

Gregory Mills French President Jacques Chirac’s visit to South Africa this week occurs at a moment of transformation in France’s relationship with Africa. It also comes at a particularly bad time for Africa, with a number of states moving in status from “transition” to “upheaval”. Just four years ago, Paris’s compulsion to remain engaged with […]

Roy Collins World Cup As the Nigerians jump to the instructions of coach Bora Milutinovic in the shadow of their magnificent temporary home, the Chateau de Belinglise at Elincourt-Sainte Marguerite, 64km north of Paris, it is clear that one player is working in splendid isolation. The Nigerians being less happy campers than the Dutch or […]

Bruno Peltier During the first press conference he has given in his own country for six years, the Swedish film and theatre director Ingmar Bergman seemed relaxed. He had quit his island retreat in the Baltic to announce that he is working on a screenplay. It is clearly a project close to his heart. Bergman, […]