If Wouter Basson is to be believed, the apartheid government had secret dealings with its enemies, writes Marlene Burger Of all the riddles wrapped in mystery inside enigmas raised by the trial of Wouter Basson, the one causing the most head-scratching is the averred link between the apartheid government’s chemical warfare programme and one of […]
Brett Bailey’s story of dictator Idi Amin is a blend of modish Western and venerable African aesthetics Theatre Guy Willoughby Big Dada: The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin Dada is play-maker (writer-director seems too cramping) Brett Bailey’s fourth big stage excursion into the weird, palpitating nexus of history and myth that makes story-telling in […]
analysis Darryl Accone Johannesburg’s Civic Theatre rechristened its main stage The Nelson Mandela Theatre this week. The announcement was the equivalent of someone unexpectedly jumping out of a giant cake. The evening had already been planned as a celebration and inauguration of The Civic’s makeover into a little corner of New York, named Times Square […]
Barry Streek A decision by the national and Western Cape governments to allow a perlemoen (abalone) farm in the pristine Pringle Bay area, located in the buffer zone of the country’s only United Nations-recognised biosphere, has triggered strong criticism from local residents and environmentalists. The two groups argue that the proposed farm contravenes the international […]
Analysis Tom Lodge At last year’s African National Congress council meeting, secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe said “the principles of democratic centralism continue to guide our structures”. Strictly speaking there is little in democratic centralism that liberals should find objectionable. The concept was used by the Soviet Communist Party to describe the organisation of its internal […]
On the field the 2001/2002 season is expected to be the best since the formation of the Premier Soccer league (PSL) five years ago. But the PSL will have to solve several off-the-field problems. Firstly it will have to stick to its fixture list to avoid congestion something it has been unable to do in […]
An initiative helps children from disadvantaged backgrounds attain a significant level of readiness before entering school Congress Mahlangu Project Head Start is making a difference in improving the quality of early childhood development in townships around Pretoria. The five-year-old project is an initiative of Early Childhood Development (ECD), an NGO that runs the programme in […]
Byron Kennedy Since the start of this week platinum shed a further $36 per oz to touch fresh 18-month lows of $435, a far cry from the $625 that the metal commanded back in April. That translates into a 30% devaluation in three months, although the majority of that pain was effected over the past […]
Mail & Guardian reporter Mail & Guardian chief photographer Ruth Motau was honoured for her work at an awards ceremony sponsored by the SABC. This is the second year the SABC acknowledged women who have made a difference in the media and 28 women were honoured last Friday. Motau received the same award last year. […]
Nobody could have anticipated Sharpeville a second look Humphrey Tyler So the Sharpeville massacre need not have happened. According to the Mail & Guardian (August 3) Philip Frankel, a Wits University academic, claims in his book, An Ordinary Atrocity, that it could have been avoided if, for example, there had been “proper crowd control” and […]