Stephen GrayUnspoilt places Borakalalo means (in Setswana) the “relaxing-place”, and it encompasses what previously was known by red-faced fisherfolk as the Klipvoor resort. Boetie with his latest bait still wades out through the reeds to reel in a gasping silver, yellow-streaked common carp, with scales like rand coins – at his own risk these days, […]
Martin Scorsese’s film Kundun is one of several new Hollywood movies on Tibet, writes Ed Douglas Long ago, in a land far, far away, a gentle people who believed in the spiritual force that joins us with everything else in the universe was overrun by an evil empire that believed in nothing beyond the material […]
Who is James Bond, the gunman in a tux? And why do we love him so? As the latest Bond movie opens in South Africa, Peter Conrad considers a 20th-century icon The image is contradictory. A man in a tuxedo tilts a gun; his arrogant smirk indicates that he is ready to use it. But […]
Ken Barris A BLESSING ON THE MOON by Joseph Skibell (Abacus, R99,99) A Blessing on the Moon is Joseph Skibell’s account of his own grandfather’s death in the Holocaust: the novel starts with Chaim Skibelski being shot, together with 3 000 fellow Jews, outside a small Polish town. Although dead, Skibelski is unable to enter […]
THURSDAY, 6.00PM: UNITED States President Bill Clinton told a joint sitting of the National Assembly on Thursday that the US is committed to developing closer ties through trade and co-operation, and that South Africa is an example to the world for its efforts in overcoming apartheid. He said the US will help South Africa overcome […]
THURSDAY, 12.30PM: LEHLOHONOLO “Hands of Stone” Ledwaba must be tired of pushovers. Ledwaba’s four defences of his South African junior featherweight title thus far have been entertaining and successful. And short. On Wednesday night in Johannesburg, he knocked out Cape challenger Zukile Filani a minute and 12 seconds into the third round to retain the […]
IN BRIEF PRO-ABACHA RALLY BANNED LAGOS State police have abruptly withdrawn permission for a weekend rally to urge Nigerian junta leader General Sani Abacha to stand in civilian presidential polls, press reports said Thursday. The state police commissioner, Abubakar Tsav, said on Wednesday that the permit earlier granted to rally organisers has been cancelled. Meanwhile, […]
THURSDAY, 7.00PM: FOLLOWING recent trends, financials were again the best bet on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Thursday, as investors sought the cheapest means of gaining equity in the new companies to result from various planned mergers. Local trade was also buoyed by positive sentiment following Wednesday’s Consumer Price Index figures, which showed that inflation […]
WEDNESDAY, 12.45PM: THE official consumer inflation rate in February fell to an annualised 5,4% — 0,2 of a percentage point lower than January’s figure — according to the Central Statistical Service. Month-on-month, prices rose 0,3% from January to February. Chief contributor to increased prices in February was food, which saw a 0,1 percentage point increase […]
WEDNESDAY, 6.00PM: THE Greater Johannesburg Eastern Metropolitan Local Council has been accused by Public Protector Selby Baqwa of lacking the will to govern. A January 23 report says that the council has failed to properly enforce the provisions of the Sandton town planning scheme and has been trying to avoid its responsibilities. “The criticism is […]