The Sunday Times’ policy of producing racially targeted ‘Extra’ editions has come under fire. Neil Bierbaum reports IS the country’s biggest-selling newspaper, the Sunday Times, living in the past? Gauteng Premier Tokyo Sexwale took aim at the paper’s separate racially-targeted editions last week, criticising the paper for continuing to “produce ‘Extra’ covers around their white […]

Lynda Loxton Despite South Africa’s 3 000km coastline, few black South Africans are seafarers while few cargo ships bear the South African flag — but all this is about to change. Several initiatives are in hand not only to make young South Africans more aware of potential careers in shipping instead of commerce, agriculture or […]

Trade unionist Gwede Mantashe speaks to Karen Harverson about his appointment to the Samancor For the first time in South Africa’ s turbulent management-worker relationship, a trade unionist has been appointed to the board of directors of a major listed company. Ferro alloy producer Samancor has appointed 45- year old Gwede Mantashe, assistant general secretary […]

Cry, the Beloved Country is beautiful to the point of kitsch — but it doesn’t seem to have benefited from 50 years’ hindsight, writes JUSTIN PEARCE Our own dear Y-fronted South African flag appears at the bottom of the ethno-abstract poster for Cry, the Beloved Country. This may seem odd considering that the film is […]

The ‘video virtual meeting’ has now come of age as a strategic business tool. Leon Perlman reports Cut-rate airfares, Voyager Miles and bargain hotel and car hire deals are set to face stiff competition from an unlikely source — the telephone line. With near-video quality images, video-conferencing over normal copper telephone lines using new high […]

The festival will host four guests who are major gay or lesbian filmmakers: * John Greyson is a Toronto-based videomaker who is widely regarded as being in the forefront of politically motivated, risk-taking gay film in North America. The director of the brilliant Zero Patience, which caused such a stir at last year’s festival, Greyson […]

The IBA’s latest strategy on radio frequencies severely restricts potential independent commercial stations, writes Neil Bierbaum ONLY five low-power frequencies are available for commercial stations in Gauteng and some of these may be allocated to the South African Broadcasting Corporation. This is only one severely limiting implication of the frequency spectrum plan published by the […]

Soccer: Lungile Madywabe WHATEVER Kaizer Chiefs coach Jeff Butler tells his charges before their game on Saturday against log leaders Cape Town Spurs at the Rand Stadium, he knows that Chiefs will have to win to keep alive their hopes of salvaging anything this year. However, the real drama will be 20 hours later in […]

Fine Art: Hazel Friedman VIEWING Jason Crystal’s exhibition From Tokolosh to Lemonade (First Gallery, Parkhurst) is a bit like being taken on a magical mystery tour that begins in the Middle Ages and ends in the Garden of Earthly Delights via the New Age highway. Sounds like an acid trip, right? Except that Crystal doesn’t […]

Opera: Coenraad Visser WITH this revival of his 1991 production of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann (State Theatre), Neels Hansen does himself proud. This time round his direction is more detailed, and there is a stronger sense of energy that pervades the Olympia and Venetian scenes. He is no doubt helped by an enthusiastic (and splendid) […]