Andy Capostagno Rugby The Currie Cup has reached its halfway stage and no one is yet counting any chickens. That in itself is remarkable, for the competition has been shared between an elite four provinces for so long that at the very least a well-informed guess should be able to provide the semi-finalists. Natal have […]

Many thousands of women undergo plastic surgery to alter their looks, but when Orlan does it, it’s called art. Alex Dodd reports `In the future we will change our bodies as easily as we change our hair colour,” says radical French performance artist Orlan, currently in Johannesburg. She is participating in a conference at the […]

The investigation into the Mpumalanga Parks Board’s dodgy deals is to be carried out in secret, reports Justin Arenstein from Nelspruit Judge Willem Heath personally took control this week of investigations into a dodgy R340-million offshore loan deal set up by the Mpumalanga Parks Board, and promptly threw a blanket of secrecy over his special […]

Sechaba ka’Nkosi A high-level investigation headed by Eastern Cape Premier Makhenkesi Stofile into allegations that three senior provincial African National Congress members are “ANC members during the day and United Democratic Movement members by night” has run into snags. The people who first made the allegations against the three party members have failed to provide […]

Wonder Hlongwa South Africa’s branch of the international corruption watchdog Transparency International has accused certain newspapers of feeding public perceptions that corruption increased after the African National Congress took power. In its first report since its inception last year, Transparency International South Africa (Tisa) accuses the newspapers of being influenced by their political agendas. It […]

Anthony Holiday Over a Barrel The secret malaise is no longer concealable. Its symptoms are manifest everywhere from conclaves in Cape Town to the conflict in the Congo. South Africa’s Department of Foreign Affairs – and hence also Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and President Nelson Mandela himself – are taking decisions and engaging in the […]

A noisy office is not only irritating, it can affect your work performance, writes Peter Baker Colleagues talking, telephones ringing, e-mails bleeping, photocopiers whirring: these everyday sounds make up an “acoustic wallpaper” in most offices -and one that can affect productivity and stress levels. Noise impairs people’s ability to perform simple tasks such as remembering […]

Jonathan Freedland and Ferial Haffajee There was a telling moment in 1994. World leaders trooped into the grounds of the Union Buildings to watch Nelson Mandela’s inauguration. Polite applause greeted each one. When Fidel Castro arrived, the newly elected young members of Parliament went ballistic. Applause turned to wild clapping and then to a toyi-toyi […]

Will Hutton A Second Look Ever since the financial crisis erupted in Thailand last June, the consensus view in the West has consistently misunderstood and played down the dimensions of what is now the most serious threat to the world economy since World War II. The calamitous misdiagnosis has reinforced the West’s leaders in their […]

Melvyn Minnaar Wine Versace probably would have liked this. While certainly not flamboyantly haute couture, Versus would have appealed to him and Donnatella, who would not have turned down a glass or two of this prt- a-porter wine. And not only because it too goes under the same name as their garments and potions for […]