Tamar Kahn As the rand lurches into the land of Monopoly money, lawyers are among the few people still smiling. Not because they had the foresight to invest in foreign currency, but because they see the bony fingers of bankruptcy collecting record numbers of clients. Bankruptcy has an ominous ring, bringing to mind Dickensian scenes […]

disruptions’ Heidi Clark Community leader Freddie Brown says the 350 “squatters” who have made their home under the tall pine trees on a hill in Wilderness have lived in the area since the 1920s and feel they have a right to be there. The setting is idyllic, but for the fact that they are forced […]

John Fordham Panthalassa was the name given to the ocean surrounding the primordial, unbroken continent. If Bill Laswell, the gifted producer and sometime free- jazz bass player, hears Miles Davis’s 1970s music as an “ocean of sound”, he’s gone to considerable lengths to reinforce the point on the remarkable Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis […]

crackers Nic Turner The word hacker is enough to strike fear into anyone’s heart, but the South African Tiger Team Initiative (Satti) is trying to change that. They are at pains to make a distinction between enthusiast programmers – hackers – and their criminal counterparts – crackers. To help spread the word, Satti organised Zacon, […]

Peter Makurube Pretoria’s anomaly has always been that it is the headquarters of apartheid and jazz. On one side of the city they chilled out to Bles Bridges and other nostalgic musicians. On the other side the spirit of Malombo won the hearts and minds of the people. Gradually,after all these years, Pretoria is learning […]

Stuart Hess Police investigating a complaint against artist Mark Hipper dropped the probe this week when the country’s chief censor read them the film and publications Act. Police telephoned Dr Nana Makaula, CEO of the Film and Publications Board, to arrange to take a statement following a complaint lodged by the National Council of Child […]

rots Wally Mbhele An accomplished military intelligence (MI) agent, Nigel Barnett – who infiltrated Mozambique in 1984 and operated there until his dramatic arrest last year – was granted bail despite documentary proof that he was a spy for apartheid South Africa. Barnett’s release by Mozambican prosecuting authorities has raised more questions about why Robert […]

David Shapshak The real economic damage caused by computer crime is committed by insiders who already have access to networks, not hackers trying to prove their technical prowess, computer experts warn. Most computer crime is practised by organised crime syndicates, disgruntled employees, embezzlers and, rarely, hackers. The South African Police Service says it investigated an […]

Durban Nick Paul Surfing Just when you think you’re sick of big emotional sporting events, when you’ve had the Comrades, and the July, and the men’s and women’s Wimbledon finals and this year the World Cup and the opening sallies of the Tri-Nations, in great big chunks, along comes the Gunston. If you’re a Durbanite, […]

Philippe Dagen On show in France The 200th anniversary of the birth of the French painter Eugne Delacroix (1798-1863) is being celebrated by a series of exhibitions in France, each devoted to a different aspect of his work. The bicentenary exhibitions set a challenge: since Delacroix is being served up in pieces, why not try […]