The cinema is considered by many, especially the French, who practically invented it, to be the key art form of the 20th century. Now a century old, its 100th birthday will be celebrated by a special presentation of films beginning at the Seven Arts in Norwood on Wednesday November 8. The season, organised by The […]

There is only one route open to General Magnus Malan if he wants to avoid the trial which is ahead of him. He and his co-accused can ask the court in Durban for a stay of proceedings because they wish to take their case to the Amnesty Committee within the Truth and Reconciliation Commission when […]

Philippa Garson THE debacle around Wits University’s “great black hope”, deputy vice-chancellor William Makgoba, represents a crisis on several fronts for the institution, including a battle for the top job. Clearly, a concerted attempt to discredit the man tipped to be the university’s next vice-chancellor by a group of senior academics, who presented current vice- […]

David Beresford THE Guardian has obtained documents which throw doubt on the explanations offered by the Labour Party parliamentary candidate for Exeter, John Lloyd, as to why he betrayed a fellow anti-apartheid activist to the South African hangman in the mid-1960s. A letter by Lloyd the year after the execution of John Harris appears to […]

Floundering or sinking, which ever way you view it the South African-Iranian oil deal is going nowhere for now, writes Karen Harverson Depending on whom you believe, South Africa’s deal to store and trade Iranian oil has fizzled out — or it has just been suspended pending the outcome of an environmental study on the […]

Elections provide the chill factor We should have more of these things. They seem to have a very high chill pill content. I’m talking of elections. We should schedule one or two of these as a matter of course. It has been pretty laid back, this election. Even the SAUK has, until the past few […]

* Following Oom Krisjan’s observations about the Democratic Party being the party with not only guts but gore as well, the party came out with a new slogan: “Less gravy — more meat”. The manne in the bar, always keen for a braaivleis, are awaiting the next election campaign with interest. True colours * Talking […]

Black fishermen are outraged by the ‘unfair’ allocation of perlemoen and crayfish quotas, writes Rehana Rossouw CHARGES of corruption, nepotism and racism have been levelled at the Directorate of Sea Fisheries quota board by irate black fishermen who say they were promised a moratorium on quota allocations until racial imbalances had been addressed. Representatives of […]

Judith Matloff South African company Mechem can now start clearing 7 000km of landmines in Angola under a lucrative United Nations contract — after negotiations cleared the way for equipment to be offloaded in Luanda harbour. Political or bureaucratic delays have cost Mechem, a subsidiary of state-owned weapons manufacturer Denel, thousands of rands weekly, if […]

* Some seek fame, others have fame etcetera. Take Durban. It spends millions promoting itself. Mainly it talks about the sand and the sea and the Gunston 500 surfing contest. This week it was dazzled to find itself in its own right an international media event it hadn’t even bargained for. Television crews flew in […]