Stephen Gray NOT WITHOUT LAUGHTER by Langston Hughes (Scribners, R44,95) WITH his Collected Poems in two volumes recently published in the United States, the work of Langston Hughes (1902-67) is set for a revival. The exhaustive biography of him by Arnold Rampersad is in paperback as well, spurring reprints of Hughes’s work, most of which […]

hallucinatory drumming Jann Parry in London BODE LAWAL is a man possessed. In his solos for Sakoba Dance Theatre’s programme, New Moves in African Dance (at the Purcell Room), he seems in the grip of spirits, who speak to him and for him. Sometimes they are ancestral spirits, sometimes his own sense of curiosity and […]

Colin Blane in London WHEN Ethiopia’s long civil war reached a climax in 1991, cameraman Mohamed “Mo” Amin, who died at the age of 52 in the hijacked Ethiopian airliner crash off the Comoros Islands last weekend, was filming the rebel takeover of Addis Ababa and the shelling of the imperial palace. Mo had dramatic […]

Anthony Kunda in Lusaka AN alliance of seven opposition parties that boycotted the elections – led by former president Kenneth Kaunda – has vehemently vowed never to recognise or respect the new Zambian government because “it was elected fraudulently.” Dr Rodger Chongwe, chairman of the Liberal Progressive Front, said this week: “We will hold demonstrations, […]

TWICE during the past 32 years Zambia has been a beacon of hope in the continent. And twice the beacon has been extinguished through selfish power-grabbing. A model democracy was promised when Kenneth Kaunda led Zambians to freedom from Britain in October 1964. On the world stage Kaunda became a moral and practical leader in […]

There are many trouble spots on a tour of India, the worst of which are cuisine, toilets, travel and practice facilities CRICKET:V Roger Prabasarkar SOUTH AFRICANS in India seem to be rather unpopular with their countrymen at present, which seems unusual. The rigours of a tour to India usually unite a nation in sympathy at […]

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 […]