Aladdin’s lamp could solve some things for Trevor Manuel, but economics being what it is, more problems would arise, writes Madeleine Wackernagel Forget the whiskey (in this case, a bottle of Klipdrift would be first choice), socks and ties. What Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel would like in his Christmas stocking is a well-oiled, working […]

The fat jokes are flying at the moment, but tubby or not Shane Warne remains capable of destroying South Africa’s hopes of a Test series victory in Australia. Robert Winder reports The first thing you notice about Shane Warne, Australia’s celebrated leg-spinner, is that he looks like a bleached koala bear. Chubby, round shouldered and […]

EXCLUSIVE BOOKS 1 What it Really Takes to be World Class by Clem Sunter (Human & Rousseau/Tafelberg) 2 Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt (Flamingo) 3 Madams Are from Mars, Maids Are from Venus by Francis, Dugmore and Rico (Penguin) 4 John Platter’s Guide to South African Wines 1998 =0B(John Platter) 5 Hansie and the Boys […]

Glynis O’Hara : South African music On the one hand, there has been far more variety available in local music through 1997 than ever before, says Dave Alexander, owner of Tequila Records, but on the other hand there were “no stunners, no huge, extraordinary sales. Leon Schuster sold 130 000 (with Gautvol in Paradise), Rebecca […]

Andrew Muchineripi : Soccer South Africa realised the dream of every football nation this year by reaching the World Cup finals for the first time, but a key figure behind the success will not be in France come June 1998. Clive Barker resigned as national coach last weekend following a disastrous showing by Bafana Bafana […]

TUESDAY, 5.30PM: FESTIVE cheer seemed to help recharge the JSE on Tuesday, where the gold index climbed another 19,2 points to 810,9 thanks to the advancing international bullion price. Gold shares have climbed 45,3 points since Friday’s close. The gold price reached $292,55 in London, with some dealers predicting that it could reach $300 before […]

Gwen Ansell Jazz ‘You know,” says Damon Forbes, “with all my artists, right up to now, I couldn’t tell whether any of them played a bum note.” This bluff philistine act might just fool you if you didn’t know who Forbes was. He looks the part: six-foot, rugby-player shoulders, ruddy face — the kind of […]

The autobiographical stories in Deliver Us from Evil by Johnny Masilela focus on a rural upbringing. In this tale, young Johannes meets someone exciting on a train, but embarrassment follows My heart is filled with joy, for you have finally seen the light. You say in your letter he’d rather come and stay with me […]

Steve Morris : Rugby In the uncertainties that abound in the game of rugby, this country has managed — during a year which has had more than its share of trauma and perhaps less triumph than could have been expected — to formulate a new equation. There are four distinct sides to this: an administration […]

Eugene Nyati Mr Dial-a-Quote bolted to the United Staes two years ago — after relieving Mpumalanga of R1,2-million for two months’ work — amid revelations that the Masters degree from the University of Pittsburgh in his CV was just one of several fabrications. His real name is Albert Nana and he was born in Zimbabwe, […]