David Beresford ANOTHER COUNTRY A dreadful weekend, spent worrying over whether President Thabo Mbeki is a fool. One is used to describing politicians as fools, just as the referee is always blind – at least until he or she sees things the same way as oneself. But just as one does not expect to see […]
Guy Willoughby ‘Herman Charles Bosman died in 1951. Why revisit him now? Simple; we need to look to the past, the pre-apartheid past, to know the way forward. Apartheid so pervaded our consciousness that it’s immediately dated itself. All the writing of that period is exactly that – period stuff now …” David Butler, one-man […]
Marianne Merten ‘Traditions of Tomorrow” is the theme of a three-week textile workshop in Cape Town for artists from across Africa, held by internationally renowned contemporary textile artist Sheila Hicks. “We know all the obvious iconography representing Africa. Guess what? We are going to blow your mind with new visions and these new visions come […]
Trekking up a mountain and cherry-picking in season are only two of the many things to do in the ‘mini-Serengeti’ Jean Spear ‘There’s Chester Williams and Brendan Paulse of our springbok herd,” points Willie Nel, owner of Moolmanshoek, a luxury new guesthouse and adventure farm in the Eastern Free State. Nel has affectionately given the […]
Neil Manthorp Whatever else may be said about the King inquiry, the notion that South Africa’s cricketers will somehow attempt, let alone be successful in masking the truth would appear to be absolute rubbish. Not only are the national squad players prepared and willing to testify, they are, for the most part, looking forward to […]
With few resources to aid it, the Cape Peninsula’s visible gang unit battles to bring an end to gang activity Marianne Merten The dark alleys of gang-wracked Mannenberg on the Cape Flats resound with a rapid- fire volley of 20 gunshots shortly before 8pm on Saturday night. Gunsmoke is heavy in the air only metres […]
spiritual Martin Thorpe Football may be a religion but it does not appeal to the pope in its present incarnation. God’s assistant manager has laid down the law to some of the European game’s movers and shakers about the dangers of Mammon. During a 45-minute audience with a high- powered Uefa delegation at the Vatican […]
Cedric Mayson SPIRIT LEVEL A double page spread in the current issue of The Teacher highlights the challenge of religious education faced by our schools. In the old days, religious education was frequently boring, indoctrinated, or ignored. We need to bury it for good to rest in peace or pieces. Our new Constitution states that […]
Born in a township, she spent her first six months in jail with her mother. As a successful singer forced into exile by Pretoria, she became a symbol of resistance. Now back home and with a new album, she has become a totem of the African renaissance Maya Jaggi When Miriam Makeba left South Africa […]
Children’s books must bear many re-readings Lesley Cowling The words “bedtime story” conjure up a cosy picture: mom or dad cuddled up in bed with little one, both happily absorbed in a book. The reality, of course, is quite different. The child, instead of falling off to sleep after one reading, insists on hearing the […]