Robert Kirby CHANNELVISION With the advent of satellite television, those with the wherewithal to buy and have installed dishes, decoders and all the rest of it are offered what seems at first to be a plethora of wonderful entertainment and information. It’s a far cry from the early days of South African television when the […]

Glenda Daniels The Office of the President is expecting the first application for a presidential pardon for a woman who killed her abusive husband. The application is currently with the Department of Justice. Four more applications will reach the president’s office in the next few months. Should these applications be successful, it would set a […]

John Young The South African cricket team don’t spend a lot of their time reading the local newspapers so they won’t know that their first visit to Port-of-Spain caused quite a stir. On the day the cricketers’ plane landed, two days before the second Test, the Trinidad Guardian published as its Thought for Today a […]

Having found ‘special’ players it is important to develop them Andy Capostagno It is traditional for Springbok selectors to produce at least one shock in every squad. In 1992 the first post-isolation touring team included the then unknown Western Transvaaler Botha Rossouw. In 1995 Kitch Christie took a chance on Transvaal scrumhalf Bennie Nortje, although […]

Kathryn Smith FINE art One comment by a visitor to Alan Alborough’s Standard Bank Young Artist exhibition reads: “Totally incomprehensible. Which is kinda nice in a chin-stroking, art diploma kinda way isn’t this image a bit too myopic in its area of attraction? It’s too inaccessible to revolutionise but not sensational enough to excite. And […]

The government denies that it aims to close down the University of Transkei, and says the retrenchments are part of restructuring Glenda Daniels and David Macfarlane The University of Transkei (Unitra) has been flung into crisis and conflict over the retrenchment of 300 staff members both lower-skilled workers and academics. Union sources say this is […]

The Caribbean dope-smoking affair was badly handled especially so soon after the Hansie Cronje scandal Peter Robinson One of the more fascinating aspects of South Africa’s tour of the Caribbean has been the condition of Herschelle Gibbs’s head. So clean-shaven on top as to resemble a hard-boiled egg, a fashionable scrub is on display lower […]

A South African who became one of the leading lights of the British stage has now written his autobiography. Antony Sher spoke to Shaun de Waal Sir Antony Sher’s autobiography, Beside Myself (Hutchinson), is not simply a luvvie’s memoir. Despite its easy and often humorous style, Sher digs deep, talking about everything from his one-time […]

Sipho Seepe no blows barred It is unfortunate that the 11 black signatories of the advert in the Sunday Times preferred to attribute President Thabo Mbeki’s unimpressive record as a president to right-wing conspiracy in the media. While the signatories argue that the media is on a campaign to discredit blacks in powerful positions, they […]

Tight security and prosecution blunders marked the first few days of the high-profile trial Marianne Merten Four years and nine months after Hard Livings gang boss Rashaad Staggie was shot and set alight during a People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) march, five prominent current and ex-Pagad members are standing trial for his murder and […]