Phillip Kakaza Rock In black jeans and fuzzy T-shirts, four- piece band Metal Orizon could easily be mistaken for an Afro-pop band. Yet even before you see them perform, the name Metal Orizon gives you a clue as to what these funky Tswana dudes are up to. Unusually for black people, they are into heavy […]
After Jackie Brown and Get Shorty he’s hot in Hollywood and hailed as a literary genius by writers like Amis and Bellow. But few realise that the king of crime fiction thinks most filmed versions of his novels have been junk. Lawrence Donegan reports In the Squad Seven room at 1300 Beaubein beats the dark […]
Olivia Strange Pursuits Sorry, chaps. Although it’s definitely your province, you’re worse at it than we are. Women, that is, and fly fishing. “Their timing is so much better. They’re relaxed about it and don’t become panicked or competitive,” says Mark Eardley, compleat fly fisherman and instructor at the Footloose Trout Farm just outside Johannesburg. […]
Wally Mbhele and Tangeni Amupadhi The controversial Fivaz report linking disillusioned elements of Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) and the Azanian People’s Army (Apla) to the recent theft of military arms originated from South African policemen assigned to the Robert McBride investigation. The report claims an organisation called Mkapla (an acronym for MK and Apla) plans to […]
Angella Johnson VIEW FROM A BROAD `Hi! I’m Angella and I’m a compulsive overeater.” “Hello Angella. Welcome,” comes the rousing chorus. I look at the 30 eager faces peering expectantly at me and feel a rush of anxiety. You see, I am the new girl. The latest victim. They are almost drooling in anticipation of […]
Tangeni Amupadhi The National Youth Commission has declared 1998 a year of delivery after two years of talk-shops and much fuss about the salary of its chair. For the youth of South Africa, however, the commission is doing too little, too slowly. Random interviews conducted with youth this week revealed high levels of impatience with […]
code Nick Hopkins and Keith Devlin When The Bible Code was published, even the most grudging cynics had to admit something astonishing was afoot. The book claimed to have discovered hidden messages within the scriptures which predicted major events in world history. References to World War II, the Gulf conflict, the assassination of John F […]
Brenda Atkinson You’ve gotta love the Absa Group. This corporate banking crowd has been quietly ploughing money into local contemporary art for, oh, quite some time now. They continued to build the collection initiated by Volkskas in the days when you couldn’t see the bank tellers for the Van Wouws. They’ve endorsed the Volkskas Bank […]
Lesley Cowling A new state-of-the-art telescope to be built in the Karoo will give South African astronomers a window seat on the furthest journey yet through southern skies. The construction of the R100-million Southern African Large Telescope (Salt) at Sutherland, approved by Cabinet last week, means local cosmologists can now maintain their position at the […]
The technology explosion has given a new dimension to office warfare, writes Chris Ball Imagine opening your office post and finding a memo from the boss attacking you in highly abusive terms. But we live in the age of the electronic office, and memos are now often e-mails. Click on “address” after receiving a particularly […]