Edward Helmore Dreams of riches from entertainment bonds, to be secured against future royalty earnings, seem to be turning to dust. Japanese investment house Nomura Securities has closed the entertainment securities division in which it put so much hope. Its flamboyant head, Ethan Penner, has been fired. His partner in the scheme, former Eagles manager […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Friday 9.45pm. SEVERAL hundred supporters of the radical Moslem organisation Qibla on Friday brought the centre of Cape Town to a standstill with an anti-Zionist march, but avoided a feared clash with police. The march, which police had vowed to stop, went ahead after Qibla won an urgent High Court […]

SOUTH Africa and Ghana recorded double victories as the two countries dominated the boys and girls singles events at the just ended International Tennis Federation junior circuit in Lagos. South Africa’s 18th-seeded junior Klassen Raven defeated compatriot Maleka Kabela 6-1, 6-2 to take the boys singles trophy. Raven later paired with Kaleba to defeat the […]

Iden Wetherell The Zimbabwean government continues to be less than frank about how it is funding its forces in Democratic Republic of Congo. Ministers at first suggested it cost no more to keep troops in Congo than it did at home. When that argument failed to fly, conflicting statements followed. Zimbabwe’s finance minister said the […]

Chiara Carter A backward glance through the two-and- a-half years since the anti-drug group People against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) sprung to national prominence is a depressing litany of empty promises and unsuccessful endeavours by the authorities. The period saw ongoing bloodshed, few arrests, many collapsed cases and only a handful of convictions. 1996: Following […]

RUN, BROTHER, RUN by Nola Turkington and Gillian Mathew (Human & Rousseau) Two young township boys, Sizwe and Thando, are inspired by the Comrades’ Marathon, and decide to organise their own fun run, with the unexpected help of their local ultra-marathon hero, Vuyo. This is the simple, lighthearted story of their efforts. Gillian Mathew has […]

allegations Thokozani Mtshali A doctor in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, has filed a charge with the police against faceless culprits who are spreading allegations that he injected patients with HIV-infected blood. The police believe the rumours were started by people who are jealous of Dr Phillip Pretorious’s thriving private practice. Pretorious (50) has laid a charge […]

Salman Rushdie: A SECOND LOOK We are celebrating the 2 000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ, as Catholic cardinals and believers of all stripes continually remind us. Never mind that this will put Jesus in the odd position of having two birthdays in the space of a week (Christmas Day as well as […]

Review of the week:Phillip Kakaza The Market Theatre’s new musical, Bozzoli … like Pantsula … like Mshoza, makes some essential observations about how dance culture has provided an antidote to misery in bad times. Conceived and directed by Thulani Nyembe, for last year’s Barney Simon Young Directors Festival, it was acclaimed as the hit of […]

Chiara Carter Several senior members of the New National Party are expected to announce their defection to the Democratic Party within a matter of days. They include three candidates on the NNP’s Western Cape list for the National Assembly, as well as several candidates for the province’s legislature. The DP is also expecting the defection […]