Shirley Kossick new fiction Anita Brookner habitually limits her fictional cast and her 20th novel, The Bay of Angels (Viking), is no exception. The narrative centres on Zo Cunningham whose widowed mother’s second husband takes her to live outside Nice and buys Zo a flat in London. With her wonderful gift for precise description, Brookner […]
Iscor and its auditors have a struggle on their hands to clarify the embattled steel giant’s debt position Mungo Soggot The auditors for Iscor, the mining and steel producer, this week conceded that the company’s level of debt was unclear from its balance sheet and said that they were seeking to clarify the figures in […]
Cosmas Desmond crossfire The import of luxury cars, such as BMWs, 4x4s and, particularly, Alfa Romeos, should surely be banned by the government, since this country obviously lacks the infrastructure to sustain travel in such cars. There are thousands of square kilometres in South Africa where these vehicles could not travel without damaging their suspension. […]
Mboniso Sigonyela The much-awaited review of the King committee will be out for public comment before the end of July. It could not have come at a better time as more and more listed companies continue to flout the original recommendations, especially the one against joining the position of chairperson of the board and that […]
Peta Lee She-Mail Ever dropped a pumpkin from a respectable height and watched it splatter into mushy pieces on concrete? That’s more or less what happens to babies and toddlers who aren’t strapped into car seats during an accident. “They look just like smashed pumpkins,” says Maxine Hall, general manager of Durban’s Amahosp Medical Rescue […]
Robert Kirby CHANNELVISION Here you are one evening, an ordinary husband, chatting with your neighbour’s husband on the pavement outside your house. Suddenly, around the corner comes an SABC television cameraman. He don’t say nuttin’, he don’t plant ‘taters he just keep his camera rolling along. Then he piss off hastily out of sight. A […]
Steven Friedman worm’s eye view For a while the African National Congress leadership has been eager to use its majority in Parliament to impose its will. In the public accounts and safety and security committees, the ANC has used its votes to ensure that the will of its leaders is served. Outside the house, groups […]
Paul Kirk Petrol dealers in the coastal areas of KwaZulu-Natal are gearing up to give the cold shoulder to hot petrol. At the end of this month the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) will convene a meeting to discuss what is to be done about hot, warm and cold petrol. As petrol heats it […]
Tom Jaine Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris (Doubleday) First Chocolat, then Blackberry Wine, now oranges. If the next is called Walnut, Joanne Harris will have the full dessert. A preoccupation with food makes her list of child characters in this latest bulletin from the French countryside read like an index to a […]
Barry Streek Far-ranging and costly steps have been taken by the government to improve South Africa’s crimi-nal justice system. They include the introduction of a computerised system to link police stations, prisons and courts; the construction and upgrading of magistrates’ courts; and reforms of the courts to make them user-friendly. “The reason is to bring […]