Matthew Krouse OPEN SPACE: SIX CONTEMPORARY PLAYS FROM AFRICA edited and with an introduction by Yvette Hutchinson and Kole Omotoso (Kagiso, R42,95) MY LIFE AND VALLEY SONG by Athol Fugard (Hodder & Stoughton/ Witwatersrand University Press R25,95) TRAITOR ON THE ICE by John Kench (Mallard, R35) IT requires a certain commitment and patience to obtain […]

South Africa leads the world in automated cash dispensers, writes Mark Ashurst EVERY month, a thin line of grandparents and great-grandparents shuffles across the rural landscape of KaNgwane, clutching fresh banknotes dished out by the most sophisticated cash dispensers in the world. The machines, which are mounted on unmarked pick-up trucks and escorted by armed […]

SCIENCE WATCH: Lesley Cowling IF you haven’t mastered the technology of your video machine yet, now is the time to learn how to set record. December features a slew of science and technology documentaries on SABC3, as the channel needs to screen material it acquired as NNTV before the licences to broadcast them run out. […]

ATHLETICS: Julian Drew AFTER two years in regression, Sunday’s Soweto Marathon aims to recapture some of the lustre that led many to believe it would become the “Comrades” or “Two Oceans” of the standard marathon distance when it was launched in a blaze of hype in 1993. Towards this end Sunday’s race boasts the added […]

The union between black and Afrikaans chambers of business is a natural step towards economic integration, reports Max Gebhardt IT could be the most unlikely of marriages, both in terms of historical differences and future ambitions. Yet the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut (AHI) and the National Federated Chamber of Commerce (Nafcoc) have agreed to begin working towards […]

Today’s scientist can no longer afford to be an egghead. Simon Kent reports from London IN the movies, scientists are usually portrayed as humourless boffins: all brains and no personality. Take Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day, whose ability to defeat an alien ship, armed only with a laptop, was the result not only of years […]

The container-shipping industry has taken matters into its own hands to counter lack of police success in halting crime syndicates. Angella Johnson reports THE head of a police truck-theft unit has been transferred from his post following allegations that his section either colluded with crime syndicates or was incompetent in dealing with the scourge of […]

The new editor of Finance Week points a finger at weak TML management, writes Jacquie Golding-Duffy NIGEL BRUCE has been editor of Finance Week for 10 days now after jumping ship from rival publication Financial Mail. Bruce does not feel he has to excuse his abrupt move uptown to the ailing Finance Week: “I had […]

France have lost several key players to injury but they will have the weather on their side when they clash with the Springboks on Saturday RUGBY:Barney Spender HISTORY is overwhelmingly on South Africa’s side for the first Test against France in Bordeaux on Saturday, but the weather isn’t. It was always going to be a […]

Portnet officials, ignoring orders from parent company Transnet, went on a lavish golfing weekend in June. Andy Duffy reports ONE of the final orders given by outgoing Portnet chief executive Neil Oosthuizen was that the company should ignore the budget imposed by parent Transnet on its 1996 golf charity day. The organisation instead paid R664 […]