These days, the Million Dollar Challenge is more about cracking the nod than it is about the prize money, reports Andy Capostagno The most delicious irony of the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge is that you have to be a millionaire in the first place just to crack an invite. A decade ago when Welshman Ian […]

Robert Mattes: A SECOND LOOK The details of the first Opinion ’99 survey (a consortium of Idasa, Markinor and the South African Broadcasting Corporation) have been widely reported. But once one backs away from the fine brush strokes of the numbers, what emerges is a distinct picture of the South African electorate six to seven […]

Alex Dodd SOUTH AFRICA THE STRUCTURE OF THINGS THEN by David Goldblatt (Oxford University Press) THE INVISIBLE LINE: THE LIFE AND PHOTOGRAPHY OF KEN OOSTERBROEK by Mike Nicol (Kwela/Random House) This year has been a big one for photographer David Goldblatt. Not only did he become the first South African photographer to be honoured with […]

Andrew Worsdale Movies of the week A lthough it’s a box-office hit in the United States, There’s Something About Mary starring Cameron Diaz has film critics divided. One of my peers, who shall remain nameless, said “it’s the biggest load of crap I’ve seen all year”. I, on the other hand, thought it quite enjoyable. […]

us) Douglas Rushkoff: ONLINE As millions in America sat down to their Thanksgiving turkey dinners last week, we celebrated a shamelessly mythologised reconstruction of our continent’s history. According to the well-ingrained but now-disputed legend, the pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving was communal in spirit, a demonstration of the debt they owed the native Americans who taught them […]

Ferial Haffajee Deputy president Thabo Mbeki and Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Jay Naidoo have been drawn into the e.tv fray. Warring factions in the Midi consortium – which owns e.tv – have reportedly approached their offices to seek intervention in the new channel’s internal and external battles. The approaches to government have provoked […]

no African renaissance’ Despite its limited resources, South Africa stands to gain by developing its own HIV vaccine, instead of waiting for the West to provide, writes Lesley Cowling More than 25 clinical trials of different types of vaccines against HIV – the virus that causes Aids – are under way all over the world. […]

Not CD of the week: Sheryl Garratt Happiness is largely a matter of perception. But if the world is split into optimists who see a glass as half- full and pessimists who see it as half- empty, then Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette goes further: she sees the glass as a dangerous weapon that will inevitably […]

Preview of the week: Anton Marshall `Hey, have you heard of Renaissance?” I ask experimentally, honestly believing the hype that clubbers are in and slacker journos are out. “Er … Wasn’t that a Leonardo da Vinci painting?” she replies innocently, sipping on a Mule as her low- key rave vest struggles to find a cling […]

Chiara Carter The University of Transkei (Unitra) council has accepted the major recommendations of a damning report on its affairs commissioned by Minister of Education Sibusiso Bengu. These include the immediate departure of the university’s controversial principal, Professor Alfred Moleah, the resumption of all official duties by its vice- principal Professor JM Noruwana and a […]