CINEMA: Justin Pearce THE unique charms of Zero Patience can be gleaned from a quick run through of this film’s musical numbers: a bluesy solo sung by a blonde, beehived HIV virus; a Victorian scientist, who has discovered the secret of eternal youth, delivering an ode to enlightenment values, called Let’s All Be Empiricists; a […]

Atlantis, an apartheid dumping ground for coloured people, has risen from a state of despondency with the creation of its own community radio station, writes Ruben ONE comes across Atlantis suddenly when driving through scrub and sand dunes on the west coast road about 45km north of Cape Town. The absence of distinguishing landscape features […]

David Beresford FREDERICK VAN ZYL SLABBERT has been offered the editorship of the Sunday Times as successor to Ken Owen, but has rejected it. The former Progressive Federal Party leader this week confirmed rumours about the proposal. ”Yes, I was offered and I declined after serious consideration,” he said. He declined to comment further. It […]

THE Mail & Guardian is the best English- language international newspaper in the world. This is the assessment of the International Press Directory, which honoured the M&G in its International Press Awards, presented in London on Tuesday night. The M&G came first in the English language section of the Johnsons International Press Awards, beating the […]

Eddie Koch SOUTH AFRICAN forestry giant Sappi says it will cut back the size of a controversial eucalyptus plantation planned for southern Mozambique in line with suggestions from an independent environmental study. Natal University’s Institute of Natural Resources, commissioned to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on the proposed forestry, presented its findings to the […]

A game between Austria and South Africa team showed that being in a wheelchair doesn’t limit the skill and excitement BASKETBALL:Julian Drew WHEN I set out last Friday evening to watch my first ever wheelchair basketball game I must admit I was a little doubtful about how much excitement there could be in such a […]

For Helge Janssen, cult status’ has meant an 18-year career on the margins of the artworld. He spoke to HAZEL FRIEDMAN EVERY city has its cultural heroes, those living legends who define the times (and themselves) by defying the norms. Durban had Helg Janssen, DJ, designer, film-maker, performance artist and painter, tapping into the psyche […]

Vuyo Mvoko ‘THE World in Soweto” — a project to be launched today by President Nelson Mandela — will give foreign governments the chance to make their mark on one of South Africa’s biggest and most famous townships. According to the project’s founder and co- ordinator, Zelda Mantle, it is envisaged that a foreign country […]

The structure — not just the colour — of South Africa’s newspaper industry is where the real problem lies, writes Bruce Cohen CARL NIEHAUS should know better. As one of the African National Congress’ key media liaison figures during the run-up to the April 1994 elections, he got to know the press as well as […]

THE day Susan Sithole died, abuse activists, counsellors and government officials met in Cape Town at a national conference organised by the Department of Welfare under the banner “Women in Africa won’t be beaten — unite to end violence”. Catholic Welfare Development counsellor Charles Maisel challenged participants to extend their services to the perpetrators of […]