PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki added his voice on Friday to calls for a restoration of democracy in Côte d’Ivoire. “We are very happy to follow the leadership of Ecowas (the Economic Community of West African States) on this isuse in support of the process towards the democratisation of Cote d’Ivoire,” Mbeki said in Pretoria after meeting […]
The Maitisong Festival has been celebrated in Gaborone since 1987. Stephen Gray caught up on its 14th year Ending this week on April 1 is this year’s 10-day Maitisong Festival in Gaborone, since 1987 the huge event of theatre and other performing arts on Botswana’s cultural calendar. The line-up includes 180 (mostly local) performers appearing […]
Fiona Macleod An elderly woman who long ago mastered the intricate art of a crochet needle struggles to come to terms with using a pen. Gently she is coached to hold it in her right hand and draw lines on a clean sheet of paper. Beside her a middle-aged woman is engrossed in sketching a […]
Terri Apter BODY LANGUAGE The relation between a woman and her body is often seen as problematic. She is aware of herself as a “physical object”, someone seen, assessed and known as a body. This self-awareness begins at an early age. Diaries of girls as young as eight show that they engage in what the […]
When gay men find a place they like, they tend to stick to it. That’s why Gran Canaria is still pink Britain’s winter resort of choice after 30 years Neville Walker At about 10:30pm every night of the year there’s a shift change at the Yumbo Centre in Playa del Ingles, Gran Canaria. It’s not […]
Andy Capostagno RUGBY The Super 12 reaches the halfway point this weekend with all four South African teams occupying the bottom half of the log. Thus far the thrilling rugby has come from the Hurricanes, Highlanders and Brumbies, while the Crusaders, champions of the past two years, have been ultra-professional and, at this distance at […]
South Africa take on Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar and his suspect bowling action in the Sharjah cricket final Neil Manthorp With apologies to Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistan threw down the gauntlet for today’s Sharjah final with enough force on Tuesday to send shock waves through the rest of the cricketing world. When South Africa’s 14- match […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni Three policemen from the Soweto flying squad appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court this week on charges of shooting, mutilating and killing a University of the Witwatersrand security guard whom they arrested on campus. The policemen, who have been suspended pending a police investigation, are accused of shooting Nicky Hlongwane several […]
Howard Barrell OVER A BARREL A problem with revolutionaries is that they tend to view themselves as indispensable. While they will say that the political change they helped secure was “inevitable”, they will nonetheless argue that their own intentional involvement was necessary to bring it about. By this curious reasoning, revolutionaries cast themselves as the […]
David Beresford ANOTHER COUNTRY Predictions offered by the oracles of the scientific age, intended for the stupefacation of their contemporaries, are more often quoted to the merriment of their descendants. The thought is prompted by Britain’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) which has been offering its thoughts on the future of crime. They have […]