JG Ballard CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE END OF TIME by Umberto Eco, Stephen Jay Gould, Jean- Claude Carrire and Jean Delumeau (Allen Lane) Is Britain’s Millennium Dome too small? Does it represent a failure of nerve of the kind described by the contributors to this discussion on the nature of time and the challenge of the […]

Bob Woolmer FROM THE PAVILION No team likes to get beaten, and, on the whole, England’s management were happy to concede that South Africa had played very well in order to win the first Test by an innings. Normally it would end there. But there was a proviso. The English team and many of its […]

Thebe Mabanga The South African music industry is littered with a lot of ills and has a long history of neglecting artists and compromising artistic integrity to make a quick buck. This has begun to change slowly with the emergence of small, independent record labels. With new approaches to development and a wealth of experience, […]

Heather Hogan Bushy Molefe, Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota’s personal assistant, will appear in the Pretoria Regional Court on Monday on charges of child abuse. According to the police, Molefe is charged with molesting the 11-year-old daughter of another official in the Ministry of Defence. The charge was laid at the Pretoria West police station […]

Paul Kirk Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini spent R92 500 – of taxpayers’ money – on fumigating his homes for cockroaches in the past year. The Mail & Guardian has invoices detailing the king’s expenditure, which includes R400 000 a month on a Lear jet, R16 000 repairing his jacuzzi and steam room and R12 000 […]

As Cliff Richard’s pious dirge races up the charts, Stephen Moss explains why the Bible-bashing, sexless bore is still a star Cliff Richard is like the queen: always there, always in the papers, almost born famous. And yet we know next to nothing about him. He has made more hit records than anyone else, has […]

Pierre Buyoya: President from 1987 to 1993 and from 1996 to the present day. A wily operator who enjoys being president but is nonetheless apparently sincere in his efforts to give it up to the Hutu opposition when he judges the moment to be right. Commands the loyalty of the army though not unconditionally. Many […]

Mungo Soggot Ahigh court judge last week rubbished the attack launched by former Land Bank chair Bonile Jack against Helena Dolny, describing Jack’s allegations as “defamatory and baseless”. Judge Nico Coetzee dismissed Jack’s allegations, contained in a letter to President Thabo Mbeki and leaked to the press, in his judgment upholding Dolny’s bid to block […]

John Henley BODY LANGUAGE The entrance is discreet, dimly lit. At the foot of a nondescript modern block in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, a door opens. A well-coiffed woman in late middle age inspects the new arrivals: smart casual dress only, and sorry sir, no unaccompanied men tonight. That’ll be R300 a couple, please. […]

While top executives at the SABC attack the media for biased reporting, its own house in not in order, report Ivor Powell, Wally Mbhele and Jubie Matlou New irregularities have come to light involving the SABC managers named in the forensic audit by accounting firm KPMG – the basis for an investigation announced last week […]