Merle Colborne places Across from the London Tailor Shop in Durban’s Madressa Arcade, the walls of the Colonial Hairdressing Salon are press-stuck with images of Hindu gods and a barber-shy Sai Baba. An abundantly-bearded client in a Muslim khurta has arranged himself in the veteran red leather, hand-carved oak chair with its weighty brass fittings, […]

As relatively new foreign market investors, South Africans need to be aware of the many pitfalls involved Neil Thomas It usually starts with an unsolicited phone call. The voice on the other end sounds very professional and knowledgeable about investments. They represent a company that sounds reputable, a name like Bradshaw Global Investments or Mendes […]

Valentine Cascarino Parallel lines never meet in science, but musically they’ve met in South Africa in the form of Kampi Moto and George Phiri. The two have recently combined their talents to produce a superb album, both acoustic and harmonious. If you ask Congolese youth who their favourite musician is, they’ll definitely say Papa Wemba. […]

Irwin Manoim The Cogwheel Brain: Charles Babbage and the quest to build the first computer by Doron Swade (Little, Brown) Had Charles Babbage been a little more even-tempered, a little less inclined to turn friends into life-long enemies, perhaps your great-grandmother would have grown up playing computer games. Babbage invented a chess-playing computer more than […]

A bunch of new-wave ballerinas have borrowed what they can from cabaret and high fashion to update a classic Andrew Gilder The Fantastic Flying Fish Dance Company is no stranger to controversy. Its policy of following an “in-your-face” approach to choreography and production has garnered criticism from colleagues, public and press alike – most commonly […]

Robert Kirby CHANNELVISION I am currently overseas, enjoying a somewhat overdue topping up of my Eurocentricity, by way of some time in Spain, France, Italy and good old Blighty. I have therefore taken advantage of the chance to write two consecutive columns on more or less the same subject: the visual war that is being […]

Thebe Mabanga CDs OFTHEWEEK Two of South Africa’s most loved female artists have recently released their party- season albums and look set to consolidate their status as the wild icon and the graceful idol respectively. Brenda Fassie and Yvonne Chaka Chaka have just released the 25th album between them, with Fassie providing 14. Both in […]

Thebe Mabanga in your ear So, how widely do you read about radio? More importantly, how well do you listen to your favourite radio station. Try this quiz and find out. 1 This is the country’s most listened to station with 6,7-million listeners: a Metro FM q b Ukhozi FM q c Safmq 2 And […]

Tricky says black American music is rubbish and even his own creation, trip-hop, is like ‘McDonald’s’. But he’s still baffled by his reputation for being difficult John Aizlewood ‘Listen: I know without doubt that I am the best artist in the world and have been for the last seven years. Not because my music is […]