Adrienne Viljoen’s favourite saying is, “‘n Boer maak ‘n plan,” which she translates as “a man makes a plan”. As manager of the South African Bureau of Standards Design Institute, she believes that Africans have the innate ability to design solutions to day-to-day problems. “People are ingenious at solving problems, but they don’t think in […]

The Cannes Film Festival got off to an uneasy start last week with Nikita Mikhalkov’s saccharine three-hour melodrama The Barber Of Siberia, a movie with the epic qualities of a Russian winter. By the end of it, no peasant imagined the first shy blooms of springtime more fervently than we awaited the closing credits. Moreover, […]

DEON POTGIETER, Johannesburg | Thursday 6.40pm. THREE world boxing titles involving South African boxers will be up for grabs at the Carousel next Saturday. Lindi Memani will be making the first defence of his World Boxing Union’s Mini Flyweight world title against lanky Fillipino, Dennis Sabsal. “He’s much taller than me,” said Memani. “But I’ll […]

CD of the week Shaun de Waal Koyaanisqatsi was Philip Glass’s first foray into movie soundtracks, a genre that is arguably the best showcase of his talents. It originally came out in the days before CDs, so it was considerably abbreviated, though it still became a big seller. Now Nonesuch has rereleased the soundtrack in […]

was last week Andy Capostagno Rugby The sound of Newlands last Sunday was the sound of crumbs of comfort being swept up. Yes, the Stormers had lost to the Cats, but no one got badly injured, the bonus point for a close loss ensured a home semi-final and other results meant that the Crusaders were […]

Tangeni Amupadhi Namibian artists are outraged over what they call “apartheid-style censorship” rearing its head in their democratic country. The outrage was sparked by the Namibian government’s decision to withdraw financial support for a popular play scheduled to be staged at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg next week. The Ministry of Basic Education and Culture […]

Dan Wylie takes a look at some recent volumes of South African poetry In the hand, Jeremy Gordin’s Pomegranates for My Son (Random House) feels solid, the font unpretentious on a cover of warm amber whose texture is at once rough and even. Ditto for the contents. These poems are generous as a bear hug, […]

Jack Schofield Netwatch Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is taking over the Net. It’s not the official site that’s the problem but a supporting cast of sites for fans who will queue for up to two weeks to see it. You can get your daily dose of Star Wars at or or try […]

The greater the risk, the more he revels in the challenge. Adam Sweeting profiles Formula One’s ambitious mastermind, Bernie Ecclestone Such is Bernie Ecclestone’s reputation as the shadowy mastermind behind Formula One, that it is tempting to think he personally orchestrated the chaos of the season’s opening event in Melbourne. “You couldn’t have wished for […]