Howard Barrell Over a Barrel An anarchic British pop group of the 1970s – called, I think, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Daa Band – used to play a time-travel trick on commuters on the London Tube. It involved the band getting hold of the newspapers from a particular day, say 20 years earlier, and then stepping […]

THE Human Rights Commission said on Thursday it is ready to begin its investigation into racism in the media with the publication of draft procedures for the probe. In a statement, the commission said the investigation will provide an objective and honest assessment of the incidence and effects of racism in the media. The statement […]

Local tribespeople have rejected a company’s bid to mine titanium in a pristine area of the Eastern Cape, but it seems that the company can’t take no for an answer, write James Black and Arlene Cameron On the Wild Coast south of Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape there is a small estuary of […]

Theatre: Chris Roper When you take your seat under the sky for the opening scene of As You Like It, this year’s offering at Maynardville, you can’t help but be intrigued. On stage is an aerobics floor, three exercise cycles, a juice bar, and Health and Racquet Club and Reebok flags fluttering in the Cape […]

Trainspotting made Irvine Welsh cool with its portrayal of drug-fuelled Scottish low-life. But don’t mistake the creator for his characters: he’s had a job in local government and even deals in property. Can he hack it as a novelist, though? Critics say his new book may be his last chance to prove himself. By Andy […]

SUSPECTED thieves blew up a signal box on the railway line between Germiston South and Germiston West stations on Wednesday afternoon at 3.30pm. The explosion is the latest in a series, usually set by miscreants planning to raid stopped goods trains, the Germiston police said. Nobody was injured in the explosion, opposite a school and […]

SOCCER players of the Zambian national women’s squad blamed their coaches on Wednesday for their 15-0 defeat by South Africa in Swaziland. They claimed the coaches were more interested in sex than soccer. One of the players said that some male coaches demanded sexual favours in return for a place in the women’s national team. […]

SOUTH Africa and Denmark will play a soccer friendly on April 28 in Copenhagen in a World Cup rematch, the South African Football Association announced in Johannesburg on Thursday. The teams drew 1-1 in a World Cup group match in France. South Africa has not beaten a European team in nine attempts, despite several agonising […]

EIGHTEEN members of Zanzibar’s main opposition party will go on trial for high treason on Friday, facing execution or life in jail if convicted, after more than a year in detention. The Civic United Front members are charged with conspiracy to overthrow the government of President Salmin Amour which rules the twin semi-autonomous Tanzanian islands […]

A STRONG contingent of South Africa’s top athletes and several international stars will compete in the first of the 1999 Absa series prestige meetings in Bloemfontein on January 23. A showdown is expected between Africa’s number one discus thrower and 1998 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Free Stater Frantz Kruger, and Aleksandr Borichevsky, the Russian champion. […]