Marthinus Basson’s production of Cabaret is chic,=20 decadent — and well researched, writes ANDREA VINASSA ‘DIE lewe is nie ‘n cabaret nie,” says dreadlocked=20 stage mechanist Eugene Smith in Capab’s dank canteen.=20 In the beleagured world of ”restructuring” and=20 ”transformation culture”, Smith does the work of three=20 mechanists (operating pulleys for trapeze work and=20 other […]

Pat Sidley THE mortuary at GaRankuwa Hospital has no drainage for its 66 “fridges”, its inadequate power supply is strained by having to cool too many bodies and its floor is “in a noticeably poor condition”. For those still alive at the hospital complex, things aren’t much better, according to a report after a visit […]

Dr NS Kekana SOUTH Africa needs a foreign policy which will allow it to emerge as the leader of Africa. It is now a year since a Minister of Foreign Affairs was appointed, but he has yet to point out the direction that should be taken in foreign policy. The failure of the minister to […]

With a bio-kineticist in charge of their health and fitness, South Africa’s under-24 cricketers are eating, drinking and sleeping the game CRICKET: Ahitisham Manerjee MIKE TYSON gently cuffed his “opponent” on the ear for the fifth or sixth time in 90 seconds and the whole pathetic, disgusting episode was over. What a joke. And amazingly […]

Competition Board chairman Pierre Brooks speaks to Reg Rumney about the changing shape of competition law Competition Board chairman Pierre Brooks is thoughtful and circumspect, as befits a man with a legal background — some would say to a fault, especially those who would have liked a more aggressive competition policy. Yet if Brooks feels […]

SOCCER: Lungile Madywabe COFFEE is the only instant thing Orlando Pirates’ new coach, Joe Frickleton knows. According to him, football is about hard work, patient development of the team, formulation of a winning combination and finding good strikers to put the ball into the net. Frickleton recently came back to Gauteng after nine years with […]

CLASSICAL MUSIC: Coenraad Visser AS so often in the past, this year’s Glaxo season of the National Symphony Orchestra has contained much to delight classical-music lovers caught idle between the main seasons. Even more refreshing is the fact that most of the outstanding performances have come from local artists. Peter Jaspan gave a sparkling performance […]

Hugh Masekela, Pact assistant CEO, in The Mark Gevisser ‘Seventh floor!” shouts a voice in campy, elevator-lady pitch as the crowded State Theatre lift bumps to a halt. Its occupants lower their eyes embarrassedly as a grim Pretoria cultural apparatchik pushes his way forward and the voice continues, “ladies underwear and apparel!” As the lift […]

FINE ART: Ivor Powell THE Johannesburg art world is in a condition which might be compared with a crisis in the stock market — where bullshit leads to bearishness. The centre of gravity has shifted; the game is no longer being played inside this country. Our art is increasingly perceived and marketed as an export […]

Eddie Koch It took the Pondo sangoma, Mercy Manci, exactly 40 minutes after walking through a thicket of thorn trees at the entrance of the Klipriviersberg nature reserve south of Johannesburg to locate a plant called ugobo whose root bulbs are used by members of her profession to treat sexually transmitted diseases and to collect […]