Tangeni Amupadhi and Miepje Commandeur IT was detective Johan Wiese’s birthday on Wednesday, and the present he wanted was to arrest a few drug dealers, preferably Nigerians. He was to be disappointed. After three hours prowling Johannesburg’s Hillbrow district, Wiese and five colleagues – the cream of the city’s drug busters – had to settle […]
South Africa’s search for a foreign-policy triumph goes on. After the humiliations of Nigeria and the frustrations of Angola, expectations have risen once again with the arrival of Laurent Kabila in Cape Town. Are we about to establish ourselves as the peace- makers of Africa at last? Peace is, of course, “a good thing”. But […]
South Africa’s mining giants are scrambling for the spoils of war in Zaire. But they face an uphill battle against foreign competition, report Chris McGreal and Stefaans Brmmer DE BEERS has secretly bowed to Zairean rebel demands that it sever ties with President Mobutu Sese Seko’s regime, after decades of close partnership with the despot […]
Poverty-stricken workers in the Northern Province are living in the shadow of defunct – but still deadly – asbestos mines. Jim Day reports A LONG-STANDING feud between a traditional leader and civic groups has halted aid for thousands of people suffering from lung diseases caused by asbestos exposure in the remote Northern Province community of […]
Although the KwaZulu-Natal gambling board has not yet opened tenders for its casino licences, certain celebrities are vying for the best sites. Ann Eveleth reports FILM star Omar Sharif and former Inkatha Freedom Party secretary general Oscar Dhlomo are among those vying for Durban’s potentially lucrative casino licence. The actor, best known for his roles […]
Lynda Loxton THE financial services market could be in for a shake-up this year as supermarket giant Pick ‘n Pay moves into in-store banking. Fairly common in Britain, the concept is new to South Africa and has created quite a stir in the conservative banking community. What particularly irks the banks is that Pick ‘n […]
Gustav Thiel THE people responsible for launching The Big Issue in Cape Town have more than just making a quick buck in mind. Instead, the editorial staff want to help the homeless and unemployed living in the Mother City and ”offer them an opportunity for change”. According to the magazine’s editor, Charmaine Bruins, there have […]
Julian Schnabel, New York painter, has turned to film. His subject? Fellow artist, the late Jean-Michel Basquiat. ROBERTA SMITH looks at his fascinating film – in which he twists history to suit his own ends THE art world spent the Eighties getting used to reading about itself in glossy magazines. In the Nineties it may […]
FINE ART: Julia Teale DENISE PENFOLD and Margaret Chetwin have more in common than the title of their joint exhibition Common Objects. Both are MBA graduates from UCT’s Michaelis School of Fine Arts and both now teach at the Cape Technikon’s School of Design. And although the exhibition is not presented as an explicitly collaborative […]
DANCE: Suzy Bell THERE’s a development dance theatre company so hot, hip and happening that it’s already performed for President Mandela and Sonia Gandhi. Siwela Sonke is an eclectic, experimental dance company that melts together African, Indian and European dance heritage, creating a new rhythm we’ve all been waiting for. The vibrant, young dancers move […]