Swapna Prabhakaran Archibald Jacob Gumede, journalist, lawyer and veteran freedom fighter, passed away after a long battle with illness in Durban last Sunday. It was Father’s Day and he died surrounded by his children and grandchildren. His passing was peaceful – appropriate for a man known as “Archie, the gentle giant”. Gumede played no small […]

suicide Tangeni Amupadhi The bank robbery trial against Mzwakhe Mbuli got off to an inauspicious start this week when one of the officers who arrested the poet committed suicide and the probe into police actions surrounding Mbuli’s arrest continued. Prosecutor Johann Kok said this week he would not hold off until the Independent Complaints Directorate […]

Gregory Mills French President Jacques Chirac’s visit to South Africa this week occurs at a moment of transformation in France’s relationship with Africa. It also comes at a particularly bad time for Africa, with a number of states moving in status from “transition” to “upheaval”. Just four years ago, Paris’s compulsion to remain engaged with […]

Roy Collins World Cup As the Nigerians jump to the instructions of coach Bora Milutinovic in the shadow of their magnificent temporary home, the Chateau de Belinglise at Elincourt-Sainte Marguerite, 64km north of Paris, it is clear that one player is working in splendid isolation. The Nigerians being less happy campers than the Dutch or […]

Andy Capostagno Tennis There is only one thing better than winning Wimbledon and thats winning it again, said the late Arthur Ashe. The 1975 mens champion just about summed up most peoples feelings about the All England Championships. For while Wimbledon is full of cant and class distinctions it is also full of people, and […]

Angella Johnson Pity Philippe Troussier. The Frenchman with the poor interpersonal skills has emerged as the national scapegoat for Bafana Bafana’s less- than-sparkling performance in the World Cup. The charges: that as a foreigner he lacks any real understanding of the way football is played in this country; and that he deliberately sabotaged the first […]

Bruno Peltier During the first press conference he has given in his own country for six years, the Swedish film and theatre director Ingmar Bergman seemed relaxed. He had quit his island retreat in the Baltic to announce that he is working on a screenplay. It is clearly a project close to his heart. Bergman, […]

Christopher Reed in Los Angeles The self-proclaimed shaman and best- selling author Carlos Castaneda, who pioneered the New Age movement with stories about a Mexican sorcerer called Don Juan, has died as mysteriously as he lived. His demise in the fashionable Los Angeles district of Brentwood was disclosed by the Los Angeles Times, almost two […]

Ed Vulliamy Baseball Before he pitched his first ball from the mound at Yankee Stadium earlier this month, Orlando Hernandez paused and looked around at the crowd with an expression that mixed disbelief, joy, awe and a little pain. It was the end of a rainbow, and of a six- month journey, for the Cuban. […]

Andrew Worsdale Interview: John Landis Last month I was very privileged to have a phone interview with one of my favourite comedy directors of all time John Landis. Youve got to love the man who made Kentucky Fried Movie, An American Werewolf in London and The Blues Brothers. His follow-up to that car-smashing, head- banging,rhythmnblues […]