Robert Kirby: LOOSE CANNON Nigeria gets Pope John Paul II, we get Bill Clinton. From such respite we may hang conjecture. I believe the pope’s visit to Nigeria was so he could administer last rites. When an entire country is shuffling off its mortal coil, the Vatican likes to send the foreman along to murmur […]

Gavin Evans Boxing The idea of girding his ancient loins to beat up over-hyped young Englishmen is one that has long given pleasure to Benoni’s toughest, wiliest and prettiest granddad. The 42-year-old Thulane “Sugarboy” Malinga (he finds no offence in the boy bit) is seen as a bit of a fluke on this island, despite […]

For decades, ‘Miss Katia’ was the first port-of-call for war reporters in Angola. John Grobler met her in Cape Town, where she is retired Sometime in 1977, the government in Luanda had “a little coup trouble” and imposed a midnight-to-6am curfew – which remained in place for the next 15 years or so. “I think […]

Babak Dehghanpisheh An Egyptianwriter who converted from Islam to Christianity and is resident in South Africa has come under fire from Muslims and is now under police protection. Known only as Mustafa, the name under which he writes, he is a scholar who fled persecution in Egypt -where conversion is illegal – making an incredible […]

Andrew Muchineripi: Soccer Arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates meet for the third time this season at FNB Stadium on Saturday, and after two drawn championship clashes there must be a result in the Bob Save Super Bowl second-round clash. The luck of the draw brought together at an early stage two teams the public […]

Lorraine Pace While out walking his dog one summer’s day John Payne met an angel. “It was an ethereal bright golden image, a bit like a shadow embossed on air,” says Payne of his encounter. “The angel was very tall, about 3m, and while no words were spoken I heard a message: ‘You are loved.’ […]

Andy Capostagno: Cricket One hundred and forty seven is an important number. It was the number of the bus I used to catch to school and it was the number achieved for the first time in the world snooker championships by the reformed Canadian pool hustler, Cliff Thorburn. When Thorburn sank 15 reds, 15 blacks […]

Charl Blignaut: On stage in Johannesburg Confounding though it may seem, it is quite likely that one of the main reasons South African contemporary dance finds itself poised on the brink of serious international acclaim has to do with the battle for resources and a workable artistic space that local dance has had to emerge […]

Connor Cullinan Radical adult comic book Bitterkomix has been excluded from this year’s Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKK) in Oudtshoorn, despite a successful show at last year’s event. The organisers have given conflicting reasons for the exclusion; Bitterkomix’s editors say they suspect censorship by stealth. The comic, an Afrikaans collection of graphic narrative, was founded […]

David Beresford A LONG NIGHT’S DAMAGE: WORKING FOR THE APARTHEID STATE by Eugene de Kock as told to Jeremy Gordin (Contra Press, R89,95) The temptation is to recommend this book as required reading in South Africa’s schools, offering as it does an awful warning to future generations as to the consequences when society allows the […]