Andrew Muchineripi : Soccer It has been the worst of times and the best of times for Doctor Khumalo, the Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana icon, who comes closer to walking on water than any other South African soccer star. Just how popular Doctor is was driven home with a forceful bang at FNB Stadium […]

Claudia Braude Negotiating the Past: The Making of Memory in South Africa edited by Carli Coetzee and Sarah Nuttall (Oxford, R110) South African academics and artists have discovered the memory market, a thriving area in the United States and elsewhere. In Negotiating the Past: The Making of Memory in South Africa, editors Carli Coetzee and […]

Mail & Guardian reporter The value of pregnant women’s urine just hit the equivalent of a Wall Street high this week, when scientists published the discovery of a protein that can reportedly wipe out tumours caused by Kaposi’s sarcoma, an Aids-related cancer, and inhibit the reproduction of HIV, the virus that causes Aids. The protein […]

Shaun de Waal : CD of the week It is not in order to denigrate him that one argues Philip Glass has found his perfect medium in the film score. His operas -and opera has long been seen as a pinnacle of the Western art-music tradition -are long and boring to listen to; Glass’s minimalist […]

Mungo Soggot The downfall of state oil chief Don Mkhwanazi this week came after the Cabinet blocked an earlier attempt by the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Penuell Maduna, to keep him at the helm of the Central Energy Fund (CEF). Maduna tried to persuade the Cabinet that Mkhwanazi, the fund’s chair, and his board […]

Johnny Masilela Now that the censorship restrictions of the old order are no more, are South African writers tackling political issues with vigour? No. As they emerge from the influence of the so-called language boards, which directly or otherwise restricted South African writing in the African languages, our new writing is not necessarily about politics. […]

The finale of the private TV channel bid was nail-biting and the fall-out spiteful, writes Ferial Haffajee Around the world, races for private television licences are known as beauty competitions. While the finalists in the contest for South Africa’s prized new private television licence didn’t parade in swim-suits and the judges didn’t make flimsy jokes, […]

David Shapshak The South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) can retain the Springbok emblem, but it will have little significance if the National Sports Council revokes Sarfu’s national representation, says council president Mluleki George. “They can use it if they want, but not on behalf of South Africa. It can only be a national emblem […]

Stefaans Brmmer Mininster of Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi has shrugged off murder claims against Superintendent Lappies Labuschagne, the member of the police team investigating Robert McBride – but now Mufamadi faces civil action for the death of one of Labuschagne’s alleged victims. Mufamadi and police Deputy Commissioner Zolisa Lavisa have resisted calls for Labuschagne’s […]

Mish Middelmann ‘To hell with having our cake and eating it,” Microsoft seems to be saying, “we want the whole damn bakery!” Two weeks ago, Reality Bytes said Microsoft products were declining in quality, while the company begins to undermine its own flagship of universal compatibility. But neither Microsoft nor Bill Gates are stupid or […]