Chris Roper: On stage in Cape Town It’s a little weird that none of the press releases for Old Wicked Songs mention that one of its defining concerns is Jewish identity. It’s almost as if the PR is mimicking the actions of Stephen Hoffman, the young piano virtuoso played by Paul du Toit, when he […]
up Winning tenders to run government contracts is becoming an increasingly important source. There are widespread fears that this may contribute to a decline in criticism of the government. Mark Heywood, head of the Aids Law Project, which may close at the end of this month after government funding was cut back, says foreign funders […]
The political mud-slinging that erupted this week between the Democratic Party and the African National Congress over the so-called “Aids treatment” Virodene has served to obscure the real issues, and significant dangers, associated with the Virodene project. Minister of Health Nkosazana Zuma’s fierce response seems to indicate that the tenacious minister has not yet given […]
Mungo Soggot Central Energy Fund chair Don Mkhwanazi tried to crush government opposition to his appointment of Emanuel Shaw II with a string of threatening letters to the civil servant who raised the alarm. The Mail & Guardian is in possession of two letters Mkhwanazi wrote to Deputy Director General of Minerals and Energy Gordon […]
Robert Plummer WRITING SOUTH AFRICA: LITERATURE, APARTHEID, AND DEMOCRACY, 1970-1995 edited by Derek Attridge and Rosemary Jolly (Cambridge University Press, R100) NOVEL HISTORIES: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE IN SOUTH AFRICAN FICTION: by Michael Green (Witwatersrand University Press, R120) Just over a decade ago, in a South Africa drawn in stark chiaroscuro rather than rainbow nuance, […]
Lynda Gledhill Preliminary results of a financial audit of South Africa’s largest literacy NGO – the National Literacy Co-operation (NLC) – closed the doors of the organisation last week amid allegations of mismanagement. The initial report, released to the Mail & Guardian this week, confirms a lack of proper record keeping and expenditures that were […]
Suzy Bell: Durban nightlife The cool idea of a “recovery room” and cigar lounge at Bean Bag Bohemia, installation art at Crash, capuccino chairs at Jamb Lounge, breakbeat insanity at Bedlam, and the mellow mood at Dusk till Dawn constitute a fine, fat slobbery kiss for Durban’s nightlife, which has clawed its way from the […]
FRIDAY, 6.00PM: SHARES on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange staged a late rally after a dull day on Friday, much to the consternation of dealers who were at a loss to explain the recovery. The all gold index slipped 2,1 points to 742,7. The industrial index rose 69,9 points to 8187,2, and the financial index, 103,3 […]
Belinda Beresford There’s something sensual about the feel of a fat wad of crisp new banknotes. The rippled paper is a small piece of attempted perfection which took a month to forge and contains dozens of security devices. All South African paper money is printed by the South African Bank Note Company (SABN), although the […]
Andrew Worsdale It’s a premium week for movies on television, especially on Friday with Thelma and Louise on SABC3 on Friday March 6 at 9pm. This exhilarating thriller is Ridley Scott’s best movie since Blade Runner. It stars Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, who set out on a holiday trip. A drunken dance- floor flirtation […]