Stephen Gray REVIEW OFTHEWEEK Arrived at last in Johannesburg – via the Pretoria Art Gallery, the Labia Museum in Muizenberg and the Bellville Gallery of the show’s sponsor, Sanlam – is the retrospective of the work of the neglected South African artist, Harry Trevor. Perhaps retrospective is too sweeping a description, as Trevor’s career was […]

in the ANC Howard Barrell OVER A BARREL A local historian told a colleague recently that he feared the African National Congress might be going doo- lally. “Why?” asked my colleague. For two reasons, the historian answered: one, the government seems intent on rewriting HIV/Aids science; and, two, the ANC appears obsessed about the Mail […]

John Brand Last week’s “Bosses mustn’t have babies”, was a shocking story. The shock, however, lay in the reporting, not the judgment. The story was a litany of twists and distortions, distressing enough in themselves but made doubly so when read in the light of the editorial, a few pages on, that employed the ringing […]

Barry Streek The South African Police Service (SAPS) has a shortage of 7E000 personnel and 371 vehicles, according to Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete. It will need an extra R7,8-million to hire the personnel and R471,5-million to finance the vehicles, Tshwete said in reply to a question tabled in the National Council of […]

Shaun de Waal CD OFTHEWEEK The Million Dollar Hotel (UNI/Interscope) is the soundtrack to the forthcoming Wim Wenders film of that name, based on a story by U2 singer Bono and inspired by a real hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Bono is also the moving force behind the soundtrack. First off, there’s a song with […]

The small town of Vermaaklikheid could provide a model for low-cost housing Barry Streek The Cape Town holidaymakers who descended on the southern Cape village of Vermaaklikheid 15 years ago were a mixed blessing for the local community. They created jobs – but they also created a housing shortage, buying sites and farm workers’ cottages […]

Popular steel pan musician Andy Narell is back in South Africa to share a melting pot of pan-American sounds Nicky Blumenfeld Gentle and unassuming, steel pan virtuoso Andy Narell is otherwise “your regular kinda guy”. Besides the fact that he has a musical gift, what makes him different is that a series of chance encounters […]

Grant Shimmin HOCKEY The South African Hockey Association (Saha) has decided to appeal to the executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in an attempt to overturn the exclusion of their men’s side from the Olympic team for Sydney. The decision is an indication of their determination, in the words of president Clare Digby, […]

Paul Kirk A top official in the Department of Home Affairs and one of Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s closest aides has been raped in her Ulundi home. The official, who has asked not to be identified, was surprised in her home by a single attacker who, after severely assaulting her and tying her up, raped her […]

the working classes SERJEANT AT THE BAR One of the key concerns of legal study is to analyse judges’ decisions to see how they are influenced by unarticulated assumptions and prejudices. There is no need to do that with Judge Nigel Willis’s recent decision in the case of Woolworths v Whitehead. His assumptions are proudly […]