James Hall The Kingdom of Swaziland has been wracked by an unprecedented bout of public protest after the eviction of two chiefs that cuts to the heart of a social compact that ties Swazis together. For centuries land has been obtained not by ownership but by use and allegiance to the king through his chiefs. […]

South Africa’s girl next door has swopped her down-to-earth image for something appealing to mortgage-laden post-30s Andrew Kay Sonja Herholdt is back with an exciting new image and album – one, in fact, that contains some of the most stunning new music to be heard on the contemporary pop scene in South Africa. Gone are […]

Michael Berger Crossfire The Mail & Guardian editorial of October 20 to 26 sees the Middle East situation in terms of apartheid, and the Oslo peace accord as an unjust settlement, presumably even as an interim arrangement in an ongoing evolutionary process to finding accommodation for both Jews and Arabs in an inflammable region. This […]

Ebrahim Harvey left field Since taking office President Thabo Mbeki has often spoken about the need to “activate” black intellectuals to participate in national debates on transformation and said that they have an important role to play in this regard. He is right. But the truth is that many of our intellectuals, both black and […]

Nawaal Deane Hendrik Louw was sentenced to three years in prison in December 1998 for pushing his sister-in-law off a balcony. In his judgement, the Booysens magistrate said the fall could have killed her. But he failed to ask one crucial question: how high was the balcony? This week the case found its way to […]

Jaspreet Kindra Thirty-three amakhosi previously aligned to the Inkatha Freedom Party are standing as Democratic Alliance (DA) candidates in December’s local government elections on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Lack of delivery and development, unemployment and growing disillusionment with the ruling IFP and the African National Congress government have prompted the traditional leaders to seek […]

Jaspreet Kindra A COUNTRY UNMASKED: INSIDE SOUTH AFRICA’S TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION by Alex Boraine (Oxford University Press) No Future without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu (Rider) After the TRC: Reflections on truth and reconciliation in South Africa edited by Wilmot James and Linda van der Vijver (David Philip/Ohio University Press) Antjie Krog’s book on the […]

Shaun de Waal Body Language Cape Town artist Peet Pienaar’s work I Want to Tell You Something …, in which he had himself circumcised on camera (reported in this paper last week) raises debate about taboo issues. The first is that of cultural traditions. Fellow artist Thembinkosi Goniwe objected to Pienaar’s original plan to go […]

The government has tabled a Bill proposing that all rights of a former homeland statutory body be ceded to it, but a local community says some of its assets belong to them Pule waga Mabe On the dusty and mountainous roads on the outskirts of Tzaneen in the Northern Province lies a big open pit […]

Nicky Boje has moved from being the second-choice spinner to the star of the South African batting attack Peter Robinson In some respects it seems as if it’s all happened for Nicky Boje in the blink of an eye. One minute he wasn’t there, the next he’s everywhere, knocking off run-a-ball centuries, taking wickets, holding […]