Major-General Karel “Suiker” Britz is under investigation for his alleged poor track record in bringing to book SAPS members tied to political crimes. Philippa Garson reports THE Ministry of Safety and Security this week ordered an investigation into the country’s top crime buster, Major-General Karel “Suiker” Britz, after the Mail & Guardian raised questions about […]

Karen Harverson reports on the court verdict against McDonald’s and the burger giant’s preparation for appeal The first round of the David and Goliath trademark battle fought by local businessman George Sombonos against United States hamburger giant McDonald’s is over — with Sombonos emerging the victor. Despite the cries of outrage from the United States […]

Cinema: Justin Pearce MOST gangster movies these days have a rap soundtrack. Little Odessa has Russian chorales. And it’s these ponderous, bass-heavy anthems which set the tone for the film: it’s turgid. Locating itself in the Russian Jewish neighbourhood of Brighton Beach in New York, Little Odessa suffers from a malaise not uncommon in films […]

A marketing study determines that the quickest way to access South African black youth is through subcultures. Justin Pearce reports Ultraviolet light glows on the fluourescent grafitti-style murals. Ambient techno throbs in the background as the guests, their rave tickets hanging round their necks, down smart drinks before entering the venue. Can this really be […]

The Cabinet and Mangosuthu Buthelezi are at loggerheads again over the controversial Ingonyama Trust Act, writes Gaye Davis LEAKED documents from a Cabinet committee meeting show that government moves to spike a KwaZulu-Natal legislature bid to re-enact the controversial Ingonyama Trust Act have sparked a major showdown. In a strongly worded statement tabled at this […]

Theatre: Marc Devenish IF you can’t resist a clever couplet, and go weak on witnessing an eloquent epigram, award-winning American playwright David Hirson’s play La Bete, at the Nico Arena in Cape Town, will provide you with a lifetime’s supply of both. If you ever hear another, it may, in fact, be too soon. Whatever […]

Mozambique’s rivers all originate elsewhere — and by the time they get to the drought-ravaged country, they are almost useless. Justin Arenstein reports Mozambican goodwill towards South Africa is drying up –with a growing clamour that South Africa is responsible for that country’s increasingly parched crops and dwindling rivers. Not even a flying visit to […]

Neil Bierbaum Newspapers are finding it difficult to build black readership in the new South Africa. Despite the demand by advertisers to reach the powerful black consumer market, newspapers seem unable to deliver. A study of the All Media and Product Survey (Amps) figures for the past five years reveals that black readership of newspaper […]

The Boland town of Worcester is as divided as ever.=20 But the local government elections could change all=20 of that, reports Gaye Davis=20 WORCESTER’S Durban Street once drew the line=20 between the Boland town’s white and coloured areas.=20 Now town clerk Neels de Bruyn talks about an=20 “integrated town” — with its black township,=20 Zwelethemba, […]