Shaun de Waal MOVIE OFTHEWEEK The phantasmagoric imagination of Tim Burton seamlessly combines the adult sensibility of the horror tale and the cartoony delights of a children’s story, using a fairytale form to deal with death, destruction and the rest of the darker side of the human psyche. It is this vision that provides Burton’s […]

Communities near state forests are upset about not being consulted about proposed sales Fiona Macleod The government’s multimillion-rand sale of commercial state forests could literally go up in flames if the rights of the rural communities who own the land where the forests are growing continue to be ignored. Critics say threats of the forests […]

Angry residents in the Northern Province are threatening to take action over delays in land claim settlements, reports Jaspreet Kindra Land claimants in the Northern Province are threatening to boycott the local government elections, and have joined other claimants across the country in threatening “Zimbabwe-style” invasions. The disgruntled claimants have found an unlikely ally in […]

The ICC announces swingeing penalties and an anti-corruption investigation Mike Selvey at Lord’s The International Cricket Council (ICC) this week demonstrated, in the strongest terms it can muster, its commitment to cleaning up the sport by announcing a package of measures to counter corruption, including life bans for those found guilty of match-fixing in any […]

Michelle Matthews One of the more recent flyers advertising Soft Serve 2: Art at Play posed a riddle to Capetonians: “Q: What are squares scared of? A: Vicious circles.” The queue outside the National Gallery on Friday will be a long one. While the flock instinct is strong, however, it doesn’t fully explain why an […]

Lack of international experience could thwart Siyabonga Nomvete’s plans to move to Sunderland Neal Collins in London Sunderland’s bid to sign South African striker Siyabonga Nomvete could be derailed by work permit problems. Manager Peter Reid has let it be known that he is “very interested” in the Bafana Bafana goalgetter – but fears the […]

Barry Streek A new body to help South Africans come to terms with their past and develop the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to promote “nation- building”, is to be officially launched in Cape Town next week. “The post-1994 years were marked by a sense of goodwill and optimism regarding reconciliation. We […]

Jaspreet Kindra President Thabo Mbeki has organised a top- level meeting with traditional leaders aligned to the Inkatha Freedom Party to address the amakhosi’s concerns that their power base in KwaZulu-Natal will be eroded by new local government structures. The traditional leaders, who have been pressing Mbeki to hear them for several months, are to […]

Merle Colborne LIFESTYLE The Friday-night crowd at the Flagons and Dragons pub in Durban’s Windermere Road have “lived-in” faces or, at least, faces that have been “stayed over in” a good few times. Loosened by lyrics and beer, the men hug a lot and stare damply into each other’s eyes. The women smile, the way […]

M&G reporters The London and Frankfurt stock exchanges have agreed to merge, creating Europe’s largest stock market and a powerful regional counterweight to Wall Street, the London Stock Exchange announced this week. The London exchange and Germany’s Deutsche Boerse would each own 50% of the new entity, which is to be called iX, for International […]