Gaye Davis ON the eve of a four-day convention aimed at mapping a new direction for the party, Pan Africanist Congress president Clarence Makwetu has declared his willingness to continue to lead the organisation and his confidence of members’ support. But it’s likely the Convention of Africanists, at Vista Mamelodi this weekend, will see intense […]

Alex Bellos THE makers of a new “alcopop” have defended their decision to put half-a-million bottles in British shops and bars, despite protests that the labelling would encourage underage drinking. Carlsberg-Tetley ignored demands to withdraw the first batch of Thickhead — 4,9% proof, tangerine-flavoured and with the consistency of hair gel — although it said […]

Jim Jarmusch’s films have finally arrived in South Africa. The director and star Johnny Depp talk about their latest movie ‘WHY don’t you take a year off from this film stuff and play Hamlet?” Marlon Brando asked his co-star in Don Juan DeMarco, Johnny Depp. “I was very honoured,” says Depp. “I think it would […]

Johannesburg’s annual Arts Alive Festival might be alive and kicking, but several Gauteng-based artists are digging in their heels over the alleged flagrant “disrespect paid to local talent”, while overseas participants are “treated like royalty”. Poets Lesego Rampolokeng, Lisa Combrinck and Boitumelo Mofokeng are just three of a growing number of enraged artists who have […]

A power struggle within the ANC was behind the Tokyo Sexwale drugs probe, reports Stefaans BrUmmer GAUTENG Premier Tokyo Sexwale this week refused to bail Deputy President Thabo Mbeki out of his embarrassment over allegations that he had been behind a drugs probe into Sexwale after the 1994 elections. In the process, Sexwale and National […]

He didn’t exactly kill with kindness but there is a charm to Eugene de Kock that belies the murderous work he carried out for the apartheid government. Eddie Koch reports IT was a balmy autumn afternoon back in 1993 and Eugene de Kock was sitting, as arranged, on the terrace of the Centurion Park Hotel […]

FINE ART: Julia Teale The insularity and complacency of the Cape Town art scene has become a commonplace of South African art journalism. The only solution for artists is often to move northward. But the last few years have seen the birth and maturation of a number of exhibition spaces, such as The Castle and […]

The Dutch queen has overstepped her authority in ousting the Dutch ambassador to South Africa, reports Bart Luirink The Dutch ambassador in South Africa, Eduard Roell, has been reassigned as ambassador to Belgium because of an alleged extramarital affair, months before the official end of his term. According to a leading Dutch newspaper, NRC Handelsblad, […]

Kevin Mitchell blames the folly of weak and stupid men for a criminal act waiting to happen as they gamble all in Las Vegas THE brave gentlemen of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, who issued Evander Holyfield with a medical certificate last week clearing him to challenge Mike Tyson for a version of the world […]

Ian Traynor in Berlin Germany and France this week signalled their determination to merge their currencies in January 1999 as part of an overall European Monetary Union. Despite misgivings from Britain about a single currency, key finance and banking officials from the two countries moved to dovetail their fiscal policies before this weekend’s meeting of […]