Ferial Haffajee A senior SABC radio executive has resigned from a strategic elections committee amid staff fears of African National Congress interference at the broadcaster. Franz Kruger, the national news and current affairs editor, quit the elections team when a story he wrote which painted a picture of dwindling ANC support provoked a heated response […]

SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Thursday 5.45pm. THURSDAY brought a pleasant change to the directionless few days on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with all indices ending in positive territory. Dealers said the market responded well on news of a 0,1 percentage point drop in the Consumer Price Index to 9%, pleasantly surprising the market which had […]

Sibusiso Bengu : Right to Reply The article in the Mail & Guardian (November 13 to 19 1998) by Mungo Soggot and Sechaba ka ‘Nkosi with the headline “Baqwa protected dirty professor” contained some factual mistakes leading to wrong conclusions and insinuations. The tone of the article creates the further impression that both myself and […]

With a host of new releases, kwaito looks to be the holiday soundtrack this year, writes Phillip Kakaza Jingle Bells might be blaring through the malls, but this season it’s the latest kwaito and d’gong releases that are getting party animals geared for the hot nights ahead. If you ask anyone, from producers to DJs […]

diamond The managerial heirs to Tiny Rowland have inherited something of his fighting spirit, as they battle to maintain board control of the conglomerate’s newly demerged division, reports Laurie Laird The late Tiny Rowland was never a man to shy away from a battle – his feud with Mohamed al-Fayed, owner of Harrods, over control […]

Friday night : Jean Barker `Big, bloody indie beats!” the flier promised. “Dress as your favourite victim and get in for R15 …” sounds just right for Friday 13. My imagination is aroused. I picture strange people, weird conversations, tribal dance, excessive make-up. Unfortunately, none of my friends are keen to go. So the evening […]

Andy Capostagno Cricket The South African selectors must be breathing a sigh of relief. First Adam Bacher stuck his hand up and said, “Pick me”, by scoring a century and two 50s in successive SuperSport Series matches, then both Gary Kirsten and Mark Boucher made the three figure mark and finally Shaun Pollock got 30 […]

CD of the week : Peter Makurube The great bull of South African jazz, Winston Mankunku Ngozi, has released a new album, Molo Africa (Nkomo). This is Mankunku at his very best, on an album which introduces him as a multi- instrumentalist. But the tenor sax is still there, bellowing fiercely and with conviction. Not […]

Kelwyn Sole It is unfashionable these days to admit to any intention in one’s poetry. Yet, as a critic and teacher as well as a poet, I find it impossible to imagine my poems without thinking about their generation in the broader context of South African literature and its history. They grow out of this […]

Donna Block : Share World International markets. Global markets. Sounds pretty awesome, huh? “Sure,” you say, “but I live in Bloemfontein or Johannesburg or Cape Town. What in the name of Nelson Mandela’s undershorts does all this have to do with me?” Good question. Ever since South Africa began relaxing exchange controls it has been […]