Stephen Gray : Unspoilt places They first appear, like sentinels, on the dirt roads north of Calvinia in the Northern Cape. Then up over the salt pans, en route to the Orange River at Upington, there is the occasional specimen, linking the sky to the dry, dusty, arid landscape. Keep on the R27 surely South […]

the wild South Africas khoikhoi are not extinct, as popular belief would have it, but the languages that sustain them in a harsh existence are dying Eddie Koch and Siven Maslamoney On South Africas lonely frontier with Namibia, where the Orange River meanders through stony mountains and across the ochre sands of the Kalahari, live […]

Carole JL Collins and Steve Askin So he finally kicked the bucket! Zaires former despot Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (the cock who goes from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake), one of the worlds quintessential symbols of excess and venal corruption for the past three decades, has finally departed […]

A controversial poster campaign uses sex to sell a classified newspaper, writes Swapna Prabhakaran They appeared overnight: a series of posters on lamp-posts along major roads in Gauteng, inviting people to Get laid or Swop the wife. Some were advertisements for Huge Organs and other highly suggestive products. Cars slowed down and drivers stared. The […]

Gustav Thiel African National Congress MP Abdul Ganie Mohammed was robbed of more than R70 000 in August 1995 at the Carousel entertainment complex outside Pretoria. He says it was a simple case of robbery, but the prostitute and her husband who appeared in court this week on charges of robbing him claim he tried […]

Iden Wetherell Zimbabwes public watchdog, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, risks losing its bite as the countrys bishops, anxious to appease President Robert Mugabe, attempt to muzzle it. The commission built a formidable reputation snapping at the heels of Ian Smiths rebel Rhodesian regime in the 1970s. It exposed atrocities committed by security […]

culture Eddie Koch Khoekhoe languages, although thought to be on the verge of extinction, have left an indelible print on many facets of South African culture. Apart from place names, ranging from Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma in the Cape to Gudaus (now translated as Goodhouse) in the far north, many words have been imported from Khoe […]

Julian Drew : Athletics The South African cross country championships take place in Amanzimtoti on Saturday looking every bit like the national championships of a sport in crisis. For a country that possesses so much latent talent in middle- and long- distance running, South Africas performance at this years world cross country championships in Turin […]

Robert Kirby: Loose cannon FOR SALE OR HIRE: One slightly-used sentimental Candle in the Wind ballad for use as musical grief/tribute/time- filler. Only used twice before, but both previous deceased in whose honour it was written were very well-known and deeply loved blondes. For a reasonable extra fee, the mutton- throated composer of this poignant […]