Alternative clubs have always formed the mainstay of Cape Town’s nightlife. Now they’re under threat from more commercial ventures, reports Malu van Leeuwen For years alternative club The Playground seemed as permanent a fixture in Cape Town as Table Mountain. Having outlasted reports of racism and the inevitable drug raid, it seems ironic that the […]

The KwaZulu/Natal government is under severe strain, with tensions between IFP and ANC leaders reflected on the ground in the rising death toll. Farouk Chothia reports THE climbing death toll in kwaZulu/Natal comes against the backdrop of severe tensions in the provincial government between the Inkatha Freedom Party and ANC leaderships. The Human Rights Committee […]

Humour, an alert mind, sociability and a shrewd sense of timing. These were some of Joe Slovo’s unique personal qualities, writes Jeremy Cronin JOE SLOVO, a young and impoverished immigrant from Lithuania, joined the Communist Party of South Africa at the age of 16. For the next 52 years he was to remain a dedicated […]

Two community projects received only a fraction of aid money handed to Dr Allan Boesak’s foundation, reports Justin Pearce THE Weekly Mail & Guardian has uncovered two incidents where only a fraction of donor money given to Dr Allan Boesak’s Foundation for Peace and Justice (FPJ) appear to have reached the communities for which they […]

Critical Comsumer Pat Sidley AN old gag asks why dogs lick themselves. The answer: “So they can get rid of the taste of Epol.” This month, Weekly Mail & Gardian pet lovers may have noticed a lot of dog- licking. Epol Tender Chunks, a product which is cereal-based and beef-flavoured, has appeared in several packets […]

Mduduzi ka Harvey CRACKS are starting to show in the fragile East Rand peace as tensions grow between Thokoza residents, self-defence unit members and the newly formed Reservist Unit because of allegations that some reservists are undisciplined, trigger happy, out of control and unaccountable to the police. The unit, which was formed before the elections, […]

Jan Taljaard: Pretoria SELDOM shy of a good idea, the die-hard leader of the Boerestaat Party, Robert van Tonder, has established the right-wing’s own reconstruction and development programme. It is unlikely that minister Jay Naidoo will ever be part of this RDP, even though the somewhat idiosyncratic Van Tonder is a businessman of no small […]

We’re a straightforward race, says Maori actress Rena Owen of her hard-hitting role in Once Were Warriors. She took time off to sip wine beneath Table Mountain with William Pretorius CAPE TOWN isn’t an ideal place for an interview. One would rather sip wine, look at Table Mountain and chat, especially as it’s Maori actress […]

THEATRE: Neville Josie A LARGE, rubbery balloon hovers over the performance space. It could be construed as a safe sex metaphor, if you’re into that kind of thing. Given the repressive times in which he lived, William Shakespeare was circumspect about most things, but not about sex. Take A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Plunging into his […]

Adriaan Vlok, former minister of law and order, pays tribute to an old foe I WANT to express my sincere condolence to the Slovo family and friends. He was a prominent, valuable and influential member of the ANC/South African Communist Party and he will be sorely missed by them. From an ideological point of view, […]