Alex Clark JAMES MIRANDA BARRY by Patricia Duncker (Serpent’s Tail) Patricia Duncker has nipped and tucked at history and bent it to her own purposes in this peculiar tale of cross-dressing in the 19th century. Drawing on the real historical figure of Dr James Miranda Barry, who has already been the subject of factual analysis […]

attraction Stephen Gray The scene is the modest veranda of the state president’s residence, Church Street West, Pretoria. The barrel-chested curmudgeon is one day older than 74, a relic of the Great Trek. He is in his fourth term as head of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR). Thanks to British exploitation of gold, his small country […]

Shaun de Waal SIR VIDIA’S SHADOW by Paul Theroux (Penguin) Paul Theroux’s story of his three-decade friendship with VS (Vidia) Naipaul, which ended in acrimony, is now out in paperback. The two first met in Uganda, and Theroux, then a young aspirant writer, found something of a mentor in Naipaul – a role the senior […]

Belinda Beresford, David Le Page and Mungo Soggot Why do half the roads in Africa break up within two years? It’s a sweeping generalisation, but the answer, according to George Moody-Stuart, author of Grand Corruption, is the ubiquitous vice of graft. Contractors pay government officials to get contracts, subcontractors pay to get to the head […]

John Matshikiza WITH THE LID OFF Bukavu, on the shores of Lake Kivu in Congo, is an idyllic tourist destination. But because of the war, which drags on despite the Lusaka peace accords, its charms are not availed of by many people. The locals don’t use the soft waters of the lake for much more […]

Marianne Merten Okiep, an almost forgotten bleak former mining town in the Northern Cape. Every afternoon, music pounds from the cement- floored community hall as dozens of youngsters learn dance and movement – anything from jazz to kwaito. It’s a lifeline for youngsters such as Ilse Carroll (18) living in this desolate town, where streets […]

Richard Calland A coach careers off a road and down a bank. Thirty die. The brakes failed, claims the driver. Maybe they did. What if he knew they were faulty? What if he knew they might be faulty because he knew they were poorly maintained by a company that won the contract through kickbacks? What […]

Mail & Guardian reporter The ninth International Anti-Corruption Conference (IAAC) starts in Durban this weekend, bringing together world leaders and experts in the fight against corruption. The conferences are facilitated by Transparency International, which co- hosts this year’s event with the Department of Justice. The IACC was created in 1983 as networking forum for international […]

the ANC’s shadow Ebrahim Harvey A SECOND LOOK The role of the South African Communist Party in the African National Congress- led alliance must rate as one of the most intriguing questions in the history of the South Africa liberation movement. There cannot be a harder act to follow. How is it that while proclaiming […]

Luvuyo Kakaza In his two current one-act plays, Bheki Mkwana avoids dealing with politics, instead he delves into the personal and, ironically, ends up revealing a clear insight into a society torn-apart by political violence. Protest Theatre, Mkhwana says “underestimates our creativity. Every piece of work produced during the heyday of apartheid dealt with experiences […]