Andrew Muchineripi : Soccer It has been the worst of times and the best of times for Doctor Khumalo, the Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana icon, who comes closer to walking on water than any other South African soccer star. Just how popular Doctor is was driven home with a forceful bang at FNB Stadium […]

Shaun de Waal : CD of the week It is not in order to denigrate him that one argues Philip Glass has found his perfect medium in the film score. His operas -and opera has long been seen as a pinnacle of the Western art-music tradition -are long and boring to listen to; Glass’s minimalist […]

Mish Middelmann ‘To hell with having our cake and eating it,” Microsoft seems to be saying, “we want the whole damn bakery!” Two weeks ago, Reality Bytes said Microsoft products were declining in quality, while the company begins to undermine its own flagship of universal compatibility. But neither Microsoft nor Bill Gates are stupid or […]

Emeka Nwandiko They sell from beneath tarpaulin tents, on top of planks of wood, at street corners and on pavements, at half the price in stores, but street hawkers find that even selling at rock-bottom prices does not attract buyers. “There has been no business this year,” says Hibrahime Theophile from Togo, who sells fresh […]

Jonathan Proctor is the former head of Bop Broadcasting Corporation. The bte noir of Lucas Mangope, he aired certain programmes well before Aunty-SABC dared. Publicity-shy and independent, this is a broadcaster with a plethora of skills. He will lead e.tv for five years with Richard Magau as his deputy. Magau is an all-rounder from Bop-TV […]

Suzy Bell Clay – ubumba -has never looked so glamorous. “Ceramics!” sniffs Kobus Moolman, the education officer of the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg, as his hand waves at the magnificent historical and contemporary collection of ceramics now on exhibit. There are delicate animal studies by Hezekile Ntuli from the 1930s, voluptuous beer vessels in […]

Dirk Hartford : Right to Reply The Mail & Guardian last week published suggestions that Yfm radio secured its licence through improper political intervention by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki (“A short leap to dictatorship”, March 27 to April 2). Let us state at the outset that Yfm never sought, nor are we aware of, any […]

Claudia Braude Negotiating the Past: The Making of Memory in South Africa edited by Carli Coetzee and Sarah Nuttall (Oxford, R110) South African academics and artists have discovered the memory market, a thriving area in the United States and elsewhere. In Negotiating the Past: The Making of Memory in South Africa, editors Carli Coetzee and […]

In the hotseat at Midi TV Swapna Prabhakaran At first glance, Jonathan Proctor does not look much like the television executive he is. He wears no tie and has an open, immediately likeable face. He looks controlled and calm – he could be an aeroplane pilot or a professional golfer just off the green. Look […]