Simon Bowers Like one of the young sorcerer’s own spells, Pottermania is producing some unexpected results in bookshops across the globe. While many stores agree that JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – the teenage wizard’s fourth adventure – is the fastest selling book they have seen, the hype and hysteria surrounding […]
Angus Begg TRAVEL Simultaneously smiling and serious, the blond forty-something wildlife exec called me over to his stall. It was the Indaba 2000 in Durban, the Southern African tourism industry’s annual showcase to the world. “You’ve got to see this,” he said, with a fair deal of enthusiasm. I already had, or so I thought […]
Robert Kirby CHANNELVISION As I begin writing this I await a call from the SABC’s ever helpful Marj Murray, who is busy finding out who was responsible for the bizarre pageant-cum- circus-cum-Sun City Showtime extravaganza which attended the formal opening of the Aids 2000 conference in Durban. The SABC itself didn’t bother to supply its […]
Howard Barrell Minister of Education Kader Asmal takes his controversial plan to rescue South Africa’s school education system before a special meeting of all Cabinet ministers and deputy ministers in Pretoria on Tuesday (July 18) amid resistance in the African National Congress and the Cabinet. The combative Asmal, who is thought to have the support […]
Steven Friedman WORM’S EYE VIEW When will we stop relying on others to do what only we can do ourselves? As the gloom which followed the frustration of our World Cup bid set in last Thursday, an apparently unemployed man who had been listening carefully to our team’s sales pitch exclaimed: “Now we will not […]
partners Jaspreet Kindra The African National Congress this week hatched an action plan to mend troubled relations with its alliance partners and to bolster links between the party inside and outside of the government. At the ANC’s national general council in Port Elizabeth this week, the ruling party announced plans to increase the capacity of […]
A series of art installations has been placed at key points in Johannesburg city. What will these mean to commuters who encounter them? Brenda Atkinson and Thebe Mabanga Whizz down Smit Street towards Braamfontein and your mind’s eye registers a billboard image that might be a mine dump, or perhaps a desert. Stroll down De […]
Belinda Beresford In the United States mother-to-child transmission of HIV has dropped by about 75%, according to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). By far the largest number of infections of children are now in sub- Saharan Africa. Giving a short course of anti- retroviral drugs, such as AZT, has been shown to reduce […]
The first award remembering a black South African journalist should have been named after ‘Mr Drum’ Arthur Maimane A panel of judges is probably already considering who should be the second journalist to be awarded the Nat Nakasa Award for Courageous Black Journalism. The best of luck to whoever deserves to get it; but no […]
In just three years he has become the best sportsman on the planet. John Carlin charts the astounding progress of Tiger Woods from golfing prodigy to global phenomenon Tiger Woods was furious. He had just missed a 3,6m putt at Pebble Beach. The ball had drifted 15cm left of the hole. Teeth gritted, eyes murderous, […]