Janet Smith Pianistically, Paul Hanmer is beautiful. His music – folkloric, occasionally proletarian, always warm and real – is not a private dominion or a place where culture is combat. His music, as experienced on his celebrated Sheer Sound debut album Trains to Taung, has reached into the South African jazz community like a hand […]

Peter Mokaba used his ministerial credit card to buy clothes, groceries and sweets, writes Andy Duffy An internal investigation by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has found that Deputy Minister Peter Mokaba spent thousands of rands of taxpayers’ money on personal expenses. Department officials reported late last year that Mokaba had used his […]

Andy Capostagno Tennis It’s just possible that you may have been lured into the belief that there is a tennis tournament going on in Johannesburg this week. Six of the finest players in women’s tennis are battling it out for $200 000 in prize money and you can witness all the action for as little […]

Andrew Muchineripi Soccer Who will wear the black, white, green and gold of Bafana Bafana when they begin their World Cup Group C programme against host nation France in Marseille on June 12? It a question that is much easier to pose than answer, because under fiery French coach Philippe Troussier, no one is certain […]

Shaun de Waal Raeford Daniel, who died last week, aged 66, of a heart attack, had a long and distinguished career in the South African press. As a critic he accomplished the greatest of the critic’s tasks: helping to shape our communal artistic consciousness. He started his journalistic career at The Friend in Bloemfontein in […]

Greg Bowes CD of the week As a nightspot, 206 remains one of the better reasons to stay in Orange Grove. Its most important contribution to Gauteng nightlife has probably been as a middle ground for the live rock crowd and the funky techno and trip-hop kids. I mean, where else can you see a […]

Suzy Bell Six guitarists, all fluent in French – yet decidedly South African. Doctors, artists, teachers, a lawyer and a sailor – a Durban writers’ circle. Over a year, every two weeks, they met in caf,s, restaurants and private homes to mull over words, sip whisky, write and rewrite until they created Unwrapped – irreverent […]

Marion Edmunds When retired Western Cape premier Hernus Kriel heads off on his caravan tour of South Africa, he sets off comfortable, he says, in the knowledge that his party will rule the Western Cape into the next century. Kriel bowed out of provincial politics this week, with a crocodile tear and a Cheshire-cat smile, […]

Charlene Smith The government has launched a R10-million marketing assistance scheme to help entrepreneurs market South African tourism more aggressively worldwide. The International Tourism Marketing Assistance Scheme run by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism compensates entrepreneurs active in tourism for some costs incurred when encouraging foreigners to visit South Africa. The scheme provides […]

Bongani Siqoko The United Rugby Club, the only senior black club affiliated to the Golden Lions Rugby Football Union, is preparing to take the organisation to the human rights commission. Club chair and former vice-chair of the then Transvaal Rugby Union, Brian van Rooyen, says the club took this decision this week because its team […]