RAP: Garth Cartwright WHEN Snoop Doggy Dog strolled on to Wembley’s stage in London for Soul Jam to a collective roar – he must have felt like Evander Holyfield after taking Mike Tyson’s title. In 1994, when his conviction for crack dealing and a pending murder trial made him a contemporary folk devil, a tabloid […]

John Bredenkamp, the billionaire behind Francois Pienaar’s Saracens deal, is a shady arms dealer who has already been ditched by Nick Price. Mungo Soggot and Peta Thornycroft report THE billionaire who set up Francois Pienaar’s transfer to British rugby club Saracens is a shady arms-dealer-turned- sports-mogul who was recently ditched by golfer Nick Price. Golfing […]

As the Springboks face a French backlash in Paris, South Africa’s cricketers attempt to clinch a series triumph CRICKET:V Roger Prabasarkar ON Sunday December 8 the South African cricket team will take the first step to immortality. If Hansie Cronje becomes the first captain in the history of Test cricket to achieve the most difficult […]

The Hitch-hiker exhibition bristles with bizarre ideas and dazzles with techno- wizardry. So what’s new? HAZELFRIEDMAN didn’t find the challenge AT the very least, Hitch-hiker will probably go down in the annals of contemporary art as one of the most aggressive – and effective – inter-media marketing blitzes ever undertaken by the local artworld. It […]

A few years ago you could have counted SA’s independent music producers on one hand. Today, reports GLYNIS O’HARA, the industry is booming THEIR products are legendary, the stuff of teenage dreams and, sometimes, adult enjoyment, yet few people outside the music industry would know the names of producers Thapelo Khomo and Don Laka. Youngsters, […]

NGO Week saw the sector calling for more control over funding and policies, reports Aspasia Karras THE choice of Rand Afrikaans University as the venue for NGO Week set the tone for the ironic paradigm shift the sector has been forced to make since 1994. The megalithic laager hosted 500 delegates, representing an estimated 30 […]

Hazel Friedman CULTURAL politics in Johannesburg is deadlocked while the city’s former director of culture, Christopher Till, awaits “clarification” on his future position. And unless the situation is sorted out soon it will jeopardise funds for the rapidly approaching 1997 Biennale. As a result, Danie Malan, who heads the Transitional Metropolitan Council (TMC) – which […]

More research is urgently needed into the effects of cellphones on the brain, reports Ben Potter from London ‘EAR, what’s all this fuss about cellphones? Are cellphones bad for the brain? The possibility that they could be is cause for serious concern, says Australian writer and commentator on the communications industry, Stewart Fist. He argues […]

REALPOLITIK forced South Africa’s recognition of mainland China and its decision to cut off official ties with Taiwan. Those who suggested the decision reflected the influence of the South African Communist Party on the government were missing the point. No serious international player can continue without ties to a country of China’s size and growth […]

Celia Weston EUROPE’S oil and gas companies face a $23- billion bill for disposing of offshore rigs and platforms in the wake of the resurgence of the political controversy which dogged the Brent Spar. This is the key finding of a confidential report commissioned for the European Union’s environment and energy directives and discussed at […]