Pretoria Matthew Krouse spoke to curator Erna Beumers about her mission to return African art to Africa To say that each item on the Africa Meets Africa exhibition carries its history with it is an understatement. The mystery is reinforced by the tags on each that don’t date the exhibits by when they were last […]

South Africans are often upbraided for being a nation of poor savers. Personally, it’s an accusation that irritates me. We are given little incentive to save, particularly through our tax structure that soon starts eating away at any savings the average person sets aside. However, we do have a highly developed, sophisticated financial services industry, […]

A Booker prizewinner, he claims to stand at the crossroads where African and European cultures meet. But his magical mysticism means some people can’t tell whether he’s bridging a gap or meandering alone up a one-way street. Roy Hattersley spoke to Ben Okri By his own admission, Ben Okri finds “concrete prose the most hard […]

Heather Hogan This year’s Media Freedom Day has been celebrated with the launch of a new documentary on the life of deceased journalist Nathaniel “Nat” Nakasa. Commissioned by the South African National Editors’ Forum, Print Media South Africa and the Niemann Society of Southern Africa, and directed by Lauren Groenewald, its title A Native of […]

Every 20 seconds a child somewhere in the world dies of malaria. Last week the governments of South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland joined forces in an ambitious anti-malaria drive. Mark Honigsbaum reports on the race by scientists to find a vaccine Every six months Dr Stephen Hoffman, a captain in the United States navy, enters […]

Richard Reeves BODY LANGUAGE It is the study which proves the point of a thousand conversations between women every day: they really are better off without men. With the decline of the traditional family, post-2000 is set to be the singles’ century – but while live-alone women are thriving, enjoying a rich social life and […]

Jack Schofield NETWATCH Fatbrain is offering writers 100% commission for the rest of this year if they upload their works to e-matter, its digital bookstore. You can set your own price, which readers will pay to download secure texts when the service goes live on October 18. Normally Fatbrain will charge $1 a month to […]

AdamSweeting CD of the week The longevity of the Pet Shop Boys is one of pop’s minor miracles, particularly since they’ve managed to sustain themselves for all these years on a diet of disco and hi- NRG. There are signs on their new CD, Nightlife (Parlophone/ EMI) that the Boys are finally outgrowing their clubland […]

Shaun de Waal Movie of the week Jack is a truck driver, accustomed to traversing large swathes of the dusty Australian outback. He’s also the author of a romantic novel, A Bird in the Hand, but he doesn’t want anyone to know that, because “blokes aren’t meant to write them”. He has made use of […]

provincial budgets Barry Streek South Africa’s nine provinces do not come cheap – their legislatures are budgeted to cost taxpayers R346,9-million during the current financial year, with R42,6- million going to the executive councils and R108,4-million to ordinary members. This means that 43,5% of the costs of the provincial legislatures are allocated to salaries of […]