South Africa’s 1996 athletic achievements came about largely despite, rather than because of, the country’s athletics administration Athletics: Julian Drew Looking back on 1996, one might be inclined to regard it as a particularly successful year for the sport of athletics in South Africa. Gold and silver both bore the South African hallmark at the […]

This year, the Environmental Justice Networking Forum has come into its own, r eports Eddie Koch When Chris Albertyn was travelling around the country with a team of environme ntalists to research a new policy paper last year, he met Kraai van Niekerk, f ormer minister of agriculture, in Cape Town. Said Kraai: “You people […]

Over 20 000 people work as black hair stylists and their creative services are in great demand. Judith Watt reports on the growth of glamour coiffure IT is a common claim among South African whites that “blacks” are the people who really know about style. They say it, but how many of them really believe […]

1996 was a big, exciting year for new South African music. Glynis O’Hara gives the run-down on some of the favourites There certainly was a plethora of South African material released this year and the new trend, kwaito, was responsible for wagon loads of it. Kwaito is South Africa’s version of house — contemporary disco […]

What’s green and crinkly and threatens civilisation as we know it? The all-conquering Hollywood dollar. Derek Malcolm takes a sceptical look back at the movies of 1996 I’VE recently seen, though you haven’t yet, Barbra Streisand’s The Mirror Has Two Faces, in which our beloved if narcissistic star is supposed to spend three-quarters of a […]

SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi South African soccer moves into the new year with one goal eclipsing all others ‘ qualification for the 1998 World Cup finals in France. After comfortably disposing of Malawi in a preliminary tie, the African Nations Cup holders found Zaire a very different proposition in Johannesburg during November. The Leopards from Central […]

Marion Edmunds reports on an old man who runs a pharmacy which occupies the ho ttest piece of undeveloped property in Camps Bay. But he’s not selling HE is not selling at any price. Not his pharmacy nor the fittings nor his flat above – although he is regularly pestered by developers. They’re willing to […]

The Mail & Guardian’s third annual politicians’ report-card comes halfway thro ugh the Government of National Unity’s term of office – the ideal time to make a rigorous assessment of the performance of each individual Cabinet minister. This year, we have formed a five-person panel of experts: Wilmot James, execut ive director of the Institute […]

President Nelson Mandela and Graa Machel, the widow of the late Mozambican pre sident Samora Machel, have been involved in a very public relationship. Kingsl ey Makhubela, chief of state visits in Mandela’s office and M-Net presenter Do reen Morris are expected to tie the knot in the near future. South African rug by wing […]

Scientists made a giant leap this year in understanding the HIV virus, which u ncannily changes itself as it invades human bodies, writesLesley Cowling It’s taken more than a decade of concentrated study by thousands of scientists all over the world to begin to understand how HIV operates. Part of the probl em is that […]