A tribute to a mother’s influence, Kate Turkington’s <i>Doing it with Doris</i> is a collection of tales about the journeys, adventures and encounters inspired by inspired by her mother’s philosophy of "make it happen". Shirley Kossick takes an armchair trip.
Centering on Jules Street Furnishers in one of Johannesburg’s most crime-ridden districts, David Cohen’s tale is of theft, burglary, hold-ups and family betrayal. <i>People who have Stolen from Me</i> is a well-written page-turner. Anthony Egan reviews.
<i>Dancing in the Dust</i> provides the reader with a fresh, insightful view of township life in the turbulent ’80s. For the post-1994 generation this novel will help to recreate those times that could so easily fade from memory, writes Jane Rosenthal.
While no milestone album, Cowboy Junkies’ <i>One Soul Now</i> is damn nice. There are plenty sad bluesy guitar chords to be savoured on their 10th album. Riaan Wolmarans lends an ear.
Hosted in Africa for the first time, the 29th World Congress of the International Board on Books for Young People is just around the corner. The event is an assembly of writers, illustrators, publishers, children’s book enthusiasts and more, reports Denise Rack Louw.
Like so many others in search of the blinding truth behind a current news story, I had no success in making contact with anyone in Hertzogville who could give me more than vague details about the lengthy pre-burial afterlife of Oom Paul Meintjes. A few local residents were willing to talk about their feelings of shock and outrage at the incalculable harm the story has brought upon the Hertzogville Christian community.
Far from rescuing our economy, as Robin Friedland suggests, "Old King Coal" (<i>Mail & Guardian</i>) is an obstacle to a rational energy policy and public-interest electricity pricing. Friedland’s justification of more coal-fired power stations ignores energy efficiency, including conservation, and fails to distinguish between energy costs and market prices, writes Richard Worthington.
Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni’s surprise rate cut last week jolted markets out of their slumber and provoked a noisy stir among financial journalists who had been lulled by a series of non-events at his media conferences. Much of the coverage has missed the central drama of the announcement.
Producer inflation for July grew more slowly than in June, while consumer inflation was lower than expected, Statistics South Africa figures showed this week. The figures point to a positive inflation outlook for the rest of this year. On Thursday, Statistics South Africa reported that the producer price index (PPI) grew by 0,7% for the year to July, down from 1,2% in June.
South Africa’s retail spending boom is likely to continue for at least the next 12 months — but could last longer if the economy enjoys broad-based, job-creating growth, say two leading analysts. Dennis Dykes, chief economist at Nedcor, and Evan Walker, retail analyst at Andisa Capital, also see the rapid depreciation of the rand as the greatest threat to the spending splurge.