Australia’s grand old matriarch of contemporary painting Emily Kame Kngwarreye was kept working until she dropped, reports Anthea Gerrie THE extraordinary army of spongers who lived off the talents of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Australia’s foremost contemporary painter, are looking for a new meal ticket after her. Emily’s talent was milked by her extended family for […]

Julius Zava in Harare Zimbabweans are concerned that the ruling Zanu-PF party is amending the constitution willy-nilly, and is trampling on human rights and eroding judicial independence in the process. Since independence in 1980, Zanu-PF, which has 147 MPs out of a total 150, has amended the constitution 13 times. The 14th amendment has just […]

Frank Swoboda and Don Phillips in Washington USAir Chairman Stephen M Wolf says there is no room for his airline in the proposed international marketing agreement between American Airlines and British Airways (BA). “We simply do not believe we can be a part of it,” Wolf said, signalling a further rupture in the relationship with […]

Scores of South Africans have joined the scramble for diamonds in Angola, reports John Liebenberg South Africans who are plundering Angola’s diamond fields have no respect for the country’s laws or Angolan sovereignty, according to officials in Luanda. Eighteen South Africans were imprisoned for eight days due to an “unfortunate mistake” by the Angolan government […]

Madagascar has witnessed a bizarre tale of money- laundering that has deposed its president, reports Chris McGreal Madagascar has called a snap election, pitting the island’s impeached populist president against parliament in a struggle with roots in a bizarre effort to revive a decrepit economy with loans from drug traffickers and scam artists. Madagascar’s former […]

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 […]