Phillip Kakaza CD of the week In the past four years the Blood and Fire label has established itself as the cutting edge label in reggae reissues. It introduced a whole generation of producers and DJs who took advantage of the new musical venture. Jamaican vocal singles were released with instrumentals – sometimes just rhythm […]
Matthew Krouse The profile of Boer women encouraged by historians was one of quiet endurance, of hard times in British concentration camps at the turn of the century. This is in sharp contrast to the picture of the Boer woman as a bearer of arms, in khaki fatigues, fighting a guerrilla war – but that […]
The mussel, a shellfish long known as a gourmet treat for the rich, has gained new significance for a community living in poverty on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast. For the people of Sokhulu, mussels are not a luxury, but a necessity – a valuable regular source of protein which keeps starvation at bay. Before 1996, […]
Andy Capostagno Rugby August 1 1998 was a big day for South African rugby, but will it be bigger or more important than August 7? On August 1 the contractual agreement between the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) and the squad which won the World Cup in 1995 came to an end. On Friday, […]
All Africa Three South African entries have been selected among the 23 films chosen by film awards advisor Lionel Ngakane to compete in this year’s 11th M-Net All Africa Film Awards. The three local films – Chikin Biznis: The Whole Story; Kaalgat Tussen die Daisies and The Sexy Girls – were selected together with the […]
Mail & Guardian reporter Conflict is once again engulfing Central Africa, killing the dream of regeneration and renaissance that came with the euphoria that accompanied the fall of the Zairean despot Mobutu Sese Seko more than a year ago. Then, it was believed that the series of interlocking wars, from Sudan in the north-east to […]
Paul Theroux often makes enemies of those he writes about. Now he has written about VSNaipaul, once his close friend. Tim Adams reports Paul Theroux has had more than one existence. “You have as many lives as you want,” he says. “But you have to take them. You have to be up to it. The […]
Wonder Hlongwa Estranged Inkatha Freedom Party leader Sipho Mzimela may rejoin the African National Congress, according to political colleagues who say he has been seeking advice about where his political future lies. Mzimela would not comment this week, except to confirm that he is still an IFP MP and a member of the party. He […]
As one of South Africa’s major outsider artists faces the loss of his unique Clarens homestead, Matthew Krouse and Alex Dodd journey to the source of a town’s painful conflict A Kafkaesque man in a black suit and tie flees across a surreal red landscape populated by creatures that could come from land or sea, […]
Arnold Kemp in Paris Tour de France It was 9.30pm when the police came for Rodolfo Massi, entering his hotel by a back door. They searched his room and found corticoids in a case. They gave him time to shower and eat before taking him to the police station. Then they drove him north from […]