Stand-up comedy is enjoying an international renaissance — and South Africans are getting in on the act, as DAVID LE PAGE MOST evenings at the moment, the Johannesburg Civic Theatre foyer is bustling with theatregoers missing a great opportunity: that of going to see — totally free of charge – — the Swopping Comics crowd […]

Jazz: Meshack Mabogoane THERE are musicians who use sound as the basis for working their beings into living monuments to creativity and expression. The sounds they produce are more than musical, however consummate their accomplishment; they convey something — the very depths, even — of the person. Both musician and music serve as conduits for […]

Justin Arenstein Faced with accusations of corruption in the awarding of school textbook supply contracts, the Mpumalanga Tender Board has dismissed the allegations as a racist attack on the country’s new political leaders. Officials did, however, concede that a criminal investigation was necessary following irregularities during the awarding of four multi-million rand school textbook contracts. […]

Two innovative ventures are set to improve the Gauteng public’s art literacy levels, reports HAZEL FRIEDMAN THE perfect instrument for assessing art literacy in Gauteng has, to date, been the microscope. And leading the “no-need-to-know” pack are past city councils whose role in cultural promotion has been so negligible — and misguided — as to […]

Contrary to government rationalisations, privatisation is not necessarily in the interests of disadvantaged South Africans, argues Brendan Martin THE price of water was as popular a talking point in the Gdansk birthplace of Polish Solidarity this week as the defeat of the city’s favourite son, Lech Walesa, in the presidential election. Water tariffs have risen […]

Chris McGreal follows a forlorn dirt track to Oloibiri, where oil was first struck in the Niger Delta 40 years ago ASMALL, rectangular sign on the dirt track into Oloibiri is the sole monument to the crucible of modern Nigeria. “This is Oloibiri, the goose that lays the golden egg. You are welcome,” it says. […]

Leon Perlman The Internet, introduced to the world by the United States military as a method of ensuring uninterrupted global communication, is providing a benevolent peace dividend — as a unique conduit for international commerce. But while many companies vacillate over whether to commit to the new business paradigm, a new enemy has emerged — […]

The man accused of killing a trainee diplomat has been allowed to leave the country, writes David Beresford WEDDING bells were due to ring out for Roslyn Perkins this week. Instead she is nursing her grief in England and fuming at a demonstration of the apparent powerlessness of the powerful where the new South Africa […]

Leon Perlman Transtel is to install a large national satellite-based network to foil cable thieves disrupting rail traffic. Cable thieves are disrupting rail services by pulling up copper cabling leading to line signalling and switching equipment. Despite increased policing, the problem is becoming endemic as thieves go on 24-hour shifts to yank out the arteries […]