Brenda Atkinson MARKETING THROUGH MUD AND DUST by Muzi Kuzwayo (Ink Inc) One would think that the advertising industry in South Africa would be at the frontier of research into selling products to black South Africans, the so- called “emerging market” of the post- apartheid era. But a pervasive cultural ignorance lingers and plays out, […]

Soundtracks are an integral part of movies and their promotion. Scott Hughes traces their track record They’d never done it before. But, with a screening of some rough footage, and, no doubt, a big white grin, Tom Cruise managed to persuade United States rock giants Metallica – for the first time in their two-decade career […]

Barry Streek The government is pressing ahead with its plans to establish an independent Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA), which it hopes will start operating in the middle of next year. It also says considerable consensus about the basic principles of the new agency has already been achieved, ahead of the publication of a […]

Ups: Cheery Cape clone that’s Jo’burg’s current favourite. Colourful, clean, safe to walk around at night. Great restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs and some interesting shopping. Downs: The people. Rich hippies, media kids and ever-so-slightly-smug residents. More cool than culture ensures an empty- headed experience. What the Estate Agents say: “Melville’s looking good. High demand and […]

Cameron Duodu LETTER FROM THE NORTH The term “senseless war” should be a contradiction in terms. Because humanity was given the power of reasoning by Mother Nature, war should not be in our vocabulary at all. But Mother Nature also gave us the power not to use our reason! And more often than not, we […]

South Africa Paul Kirk A new survey of the muti industry shows that trade in traditional medicines tops R500-million a year and concerns 27-million South Africans. The study, by the Institute of Natural Resources, found that in KwaZulu-Natal alone more than 4E000 tons of indigenous plants are traded a year, while the value of the […]

Stephen Gray I, TITUBA by Maryse Cond (Faber &Faber) THE ABYSSINIAN by Jean-Christophe Rufin (Picador) As one of their first books dated 2000, Faber have reissued one of Maryse Cond’s novels in their Caribbean Series, chosen by Caryl Phillips. The short title is I, Tituba, although this had previously been followed by the subtitle Black […]

Henry Gee looks at the surprising secrets of one of nature’s stickiest surfaces – the gecko’s atom-powered feet Robert Full’s laboratory is more than usually full of gizmos, even for a modern biologist. Full is a biological engineer. Like an industrial espionage outfit, he and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, look at nature […]

AN angry mob burned six robbers to death in Nigeria’s economic capital Lagos. Police said the mob put tyres doused in fuel around the robbers’ necks and set them ablaze after they had robbed a man of his valuables. The incidents took place in the Orile and Maza-Maza areas of the city, he said, adding […]

SOUTH African Airways has turned an operating loss last year of R130-million into a profit of R557-million this year, SAA chief executive Coleman Andrews announced on Tuesday. The national air carrier cut costs by more than R300-million and increased its revenue from R8,5-billion to R9,8-billion in the past year. More than 1200 staff have left […]