Anthony Egan MY WINDS OF CHANGE by Wilhelm Verwoerd (Ravan, R59,95) If ever a country deserved a “paradox” theory of history, it is South Africa. Where else would one find a situation where today the grandson of HF Verwoerd, the grand architect of modern apartheid, is a member of the African National Congress, the movement […]

Who is . . . Paul Mashatile? Mukoni T Ratshitanga Way back in 1987, while in detention at the small Jeppestown police station, Paul Mashatile never imagined that his jailers would one day have to account to him. Nor did the police themselves in those turbulent days think of being led by a township activist. […]

Poet, novelist and critic Lionel Abrahams is one of the most influential figures in South African literature. Mark Gevisser pays tribute to him on the occasion of his 70th birthday There is something transformative about a first encounter with Lionel Abrahams. At the outset, it is hard not to be overwhelmed by his extreme physical […]

Krisjan Lemmer Last week Die Burger ran a sanctimonious article chiding two eminent neurologists for disclosing details of former president PW Botha’s stroke in his spat with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The crime the medics commited: disclosing to the world, without asking Botha’s permission, that the old crocodile had probably become mentally unstable as […]

Holistic land management has begun to take root in South Africa, reports Belinda Anderson Every year, almost 400-million tons of precious South African topsoil are washed into dams and rivers by inefficient management techniques. It is estimated that by the year 2020 all of South Africa’s dams will be silted up. The government attributes erosion […]

Charl Blignaut: On stage in Pretoria In 1997, South Africa’s leading concert promoter Attie van Wyk announced that he and showbiz afficionado Bernard Jay would be establishing a new company, In-Concert Theatre. They would be looking to inject a dash of star quality on to the local stage by importing international stars to perform in […]

Peter Vale: A SECOND LOOK We made the military, now the military makes us: to recognise this bromide is to understand the inevitability of what historians one day will surely call Georg Meiring’s Folly. Far too quickly for democratic comfort have searching questions over the military been driven to the corners of our national life. […]

Victoria Brittain The fourth anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda will be marked this week at Bisesero, where new evidence shows Tutsi survivors fought hand-to-hand battles against Hutu extremists led by local officials and businesspeople for 10 weeks. The survivors’ testimony also reveals how French soldiers drove away, leaving wounded and starving Tutsis at the […]

Andy Duffy The investigation into the fiery killing of Cape Flats gang leader Rashaad Staggie has exposed a deep split within the ranks of the Western Cape police. The probe has already looked at police allegations that top police intelligence operatives have collaborated with People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) – the vigilante group responsible […]

Wally Mbhele President Nelson Mandela this week threw his weight behind the theory that Robert McBride was set up in Mozambique by security force elements keen to give credibility to the discredited “Meiring” coup report. At a briefing for opposition leaders, Mandela said he had considered the possibility that McBride’s arrest was orchestrated to bolster […]