Ntuthuko Maphumulo soccer Banyana Banyana will be hoping to emulate the South African men’s team, Bafana Bafana, by winning the African Nations Cup in front of their home fans but Lady Luck might not be on Banyana’s side. In 1996 the Super Eagles of Nigeria did not defend their men’s African Cup of Nations title […]

Duncan Mackay olympics ‘Don’t worry about the delays back home, mate,” said the Greek taxi driver in London. “Things are always done in Greece at the last minute. Why should the Olympics be any different?” It is true that appears to be pretty much standard operating procedure in Athens but not one that the members […]

Jubie Matlou Paramount Chief Kgagudi Kenneth Sekhukhune of Bapedi-ba-Marota in the Northern Province walked slowly into a hall packed with chiefs from all corners of his kingdom to listen to deliberations regarding the role of traditional leaders after the December 5 local government elections. The blind monarch, firmly clenching his walking stick, was flanked by […]

Five South African artists are exhibiting at Havana’s sexy Biennale this year Sue Williamson Each of the world’s great art biennials have their own character. The oldest and best known, the Venice Biennale, is highly commercialised, characterised by infighting between the local city officials and visiting art people, and only the curators and the most […]

It takes two to tango, but for a good sporting event there usually has to be a third the referee or umpire Gavin Foster Mike Gajjar’s game is cricket, while Michael Katzenellenbogen eats, sleeps and drinks rugby. Ian Mcleod prefers the game that uses a round ball, and Darryl Ribbink is a boxing man. Despite […]

Peter Dickson The Eastern Cape government has nipped in the bud an audacious plan by councils in the province to give themselves multimillion-rand golden handshakes ahead of the local government elections. MEC for Local Government and Housing Gugile Nkwinti gave the mayors of East London, Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Despatch less than 12 hours to […]

A group of Afrikaners has called for amendments to the Constitution to protect minority rights Howard Barrell A group of prominent Afrikaans-speaking intellectuals has called for a “new historical agreement” to protect Afrikaans and other minority languages and cultures in South Africa. It has called for urgent amendments to South Africa’s Constitution to entrench the […]

Philip French retro-thriller of the week No 2 John Singleton has done little of consequence since his impressive debut Boyz N the Hood in 1991. His reputation will not be greatly enhanced by Shaft, a much-hyped revival of the tough, libidinous private eye impersonated by Richard Roundtree in a series of blaxploitation thrillers in the […]

Despite businesses moving from the city centre, the outgoing city manager says Johannesburg is not a city in decline, writes Glenda Daniels He is public enemy number one to the union movement, but one of the legacies Ketso Gordhan, city manager of the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council, will leave behind is a long-awaited metropolitan policing […]