The community of a mine was the environment for one of the SABC’s most memorable dramas ever, but it’s unlikely The Villagers will provide any reference point – bar its common setting – for the SABC3’s new homegrown, four-day weekly soap. The as-yet unnamed serial, which is pinned for the 6.30pm slot Mondays to Thursdays, […]
Chris Opperman Former foreign affairs minister Pik Botha and several senior retired Armscor officials will be among the key witnesses in a sensational case due to resume in a Paris court later this year. It is expected to expose details about South Africa’s top-secret international weapons transactions during the days of the arms embargo. A […]
WHO ARE . . . JOEL NETSHITENZHE AND YACOOB ABBA OMAR? Ferial Haffajee It’s appropriate that the modest Joel Netshitenzhe is reading Primary Colours. The novel about an obscure southern governor and his election trail to the White House is a testament to spin doctors – the powerful back-room advisers whose job it is to […]
A small ‘sacred city’ in the Karoo is South Africa’s window on to the universe, writes Ruben Mowskowski One gets to the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) at Sutherland by driving up the N1 from Cape Town until the ground becomes dry and flinty and the bushes sparse and then, after about three hours, you […]
In a world of restless and edgy markets, Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel managed to project a reassuring image of amiable calm during the delivery of his budget speech that shows, at the very least, that he has become a consummate salesman. Despite the innate conservatism of the budget, the gradual swing towards more investment […]
Janet Smith: Community jazz Trombones are polished to a shimmering golden glow. A beloved saxophone is fingered to tone perfection so smooth it shivers. Drums collect noise in tune with the mischievous guitar. And soon the players are ready. The venue may be charmingly tatty, a tad hot, but they’re going to perform till they […]
Jack Schofield ‘Think of us as a networking company,” says Intel’s executive vice- president, Frank Gill. Intel is already the world’s largest chip manufacturer: its Pentium processors have about 80% of the desktop computer market, and a growing share of the market for the servers used to run corporate applications. Now it wants to provide […]
Belinda Beresford If you’re one of those people who finds it irritating listening to the ubiquitous ringing of telephones over dinner, on the golf course or – most odious of all – at the movies, you’ll find it hard to resist cheering at the news that cellphone imports are to be hit with customs duties. […]
Ferial Haffajee While sitting around talking advertising with the team responsible for the side-splittingly funny Nando’s campaign, one thing is striking. They’re all spring chickens. The twentysomething team is responsible for multimedia campaigns that have won Nando’s peer approval, solid sales growth for the 10-year-old chicken chain and the trust of Amory Gordon, Nando’s national […]
It wasn’t only the South African duo, Ian Woodall and Kathy O’Dowd, who came home to controversy after climbing Everest. Now the horror of the storms of May 1996 has been captured on the giant Imax screen, writes Ed Douglas Even though it fills only a fraction of the gigantic screen, the huge image of […]