Wonder Hlongwa It was handing over my autobank card and pin number that convinced me my visit to a loan shark was not going to be pleasant. A friend had told me that loan sharks were the quickest moneylenders in the city. The sign at the one in Braamfontein certainly seemed to back this up: […]

Katharine Whitehorn: FIRST PERSON So Arthur Koestler, giant thinker, whose Darkness at Noon helped to turn a generation of intellectuals away from communism, whose Thieves in the Night can make one almost understand Israel, whose forays into science and mysticism teased and intrigued us for three decades, turns out to have been a compulsive womaniser, […]

Andy Capostagno Cricket Against all odds, the Mini World Cup in Bangladesh is set to be a huge success and the development committee of the International Cricket Council (ICC) headed up by our own Ali Bacher should pat themselves on the back. Before proceedings began there were questions and worries aplenty. Why, if it was […]

Belinda Beresford You’ve taken a deep breath and made the leap. You’ve made a commitment. You’re sharing the toothpaste, the washing-up and the telephone account. Now you’ve decided you want a joint bank account, either to pay the household bills or so you can truly express the unity of your relationship. True joint bank accounts, […]

Howard Barrell: OVER A BARREL If we do begin to make dramatic inroads into unemployment in South Africa in the near future, we can probably be sure of one thing: the presidential Jobs Summit this week will have had very little to do with it. For, as one postponement of the get- together followed another […]

The Jobs Summit must ensure the creation of jobs in a fast-changing, multi-layered economy. A trip down a Johannesburg city street shows just how diverse an economy it is, writes Ferial Haffajee The disappearing economy Fourty-four Main Street is the headquarters of the Anglo American Corporation, where an imposing bronze door greets visitors. Yuppies in […]

Oral poetry has always played an important role in South African culture, write Richard Bowker and Peter Makurube When President Nelson Mandela entered his birthday bash at Gallagher Estate in July, he was led in by the boy-poet Samkhelo Mcandi, waxing lyrical about Madiba’s greatness. All in impeccable Xhosa. He was following in the footsteps […]

Paul Farrely: SHARE WORLD The irony is delicious. The despair in markets the world over has just made Wall Street’s biggest optimist very, very rich indeed. Last week, Abby Joseph Cohen, cool- headed chief investment strategist at Goldman Sachs and the United States’s most influential market guru, finally claimed one of the biggest prizes on […]

Blue Bulls vs Western Province Andy Capostagno Rugby On Tuesday the fixtures for the 1999 Super 12 competition were released. Coincidence, or is the Sanzar (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia Rugby) committee concerned that the Currie Cup is stealing its thunder? For all the advances made since South Africa was readmitted to international competition in […]

as a 23-year-old French man A 13-year-old boy goes missing in San Antonio, Texas. Three years later, he is found, alive, in Spain, with an appalling tale of kidnap and a paedophile ring. His family is overjoyed to have him home safe. But things are not quite as they seem. Nick Davies reports Just more […]