A Soweto family is using traditional hair-plaiting skills to make ends meet Bongani Majola Ordinary women like Miriam Mothobeki make extraordinary tales. She is a matriarch of 72 years who has ensured the passage of an essential survival skill from generation to generation plaiting hair for a living. Though Mothobeki has long “retired” from ukuqhina […]
Mail & Guardian reporter When Gottfried Chmelar started taking pictures professionally he could not have realised he was documenting an important era in the history of black South Africans. During this period black musicians played a major role in the fight against apartheid. They helped destroy boundaries between black and white and build cross-cultural bridges. […]
Orlando Pirates must put their off-the-field problems behind them when they play arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs this weekend Ntuthuko Maphumulo Kaizer Chiefs are determined to replace Orlando Pirates as league champions this season, and new signing Josias Macamo has started where Siyabonga Nomvete left off in scoring goals for Chiefs. The young Mozambican does all his […]
Vibraphone, penny whistle and trombone players are some of the specialised soloists at the festival. Here is an alphabetical list of the participants DON ALBERT Cape Town-born Don Albert is a mainstream baritone saxophonist who enjoys playing jazz standards. He is also an international jazz journalist who has written articles for various newspapers and magazines. […]
Helping them help themselves Niki Moore There’s a famous story about a man whose car breaks down just outside a mental institution.?A passer-by comes to his aid, spots the problem immediately and fixes the engine. Once the car is purring smoothly, the passer-by mentions casually that he is resident in the institution. “But, but,” stammers […]
Hello, and thanks for all the fish Niki Moore The dolphins of Plettenberg Bay are a remarkable group.?They have started a crche, a theatre and a vegetable garden in the local township.?They have trained tour guides, paid school fees and raised funds for ocean research. They’re now working on a restaurant, backpacker’s lodge, fish-packing factory, […]
Mail & Guardian reporter The Mail & Guardian’s status as South Africa’s fastest-growing quality newspaper was confirmed this week with the release of the latest All Media Product Survey (Amps).The M&G now boasts 230 000 readers, according to Amps 2001A. This represents a 16,1% growth in readership over the previous survey. The M&G has shown […]
Ntuthuko Maphumulo The under-23 South African squad will be taking part in a four- nations tournament in Angola from August 25 to 28. The squad will be coached by Shakes Mashaba, who did well with the previous Amaglug-glug squad that went to the Olympics last year. Mashaba now has many of the previous national under-20 […]
Millions of South Africa’s poorest citizens continue to have their plight ignored because of the National Development Agency’s (NDA) ongoing inability to perform its central function, which is to channel money to non-profit organisations in their battle against poverty. And some NDA board members are now under attack for abusing their positions to enrich and […]
The Earth Summit in 2002 is coming home. When hundreds of heads of state and tens of thousands of delegates descend on Johannesburg in September next year for what is officially called the World Summit on Sustainable Development, they will be coming to a country that cares deeply about environmental issues and where people are […]