Anne Holmes went on an unusual trip to get books to deprived rural schools in KwaZulu- Natal Red mud churned madly on a remote hillside in KwaZulu-Natal. Men shouted instructions at each other, and passing schoolgirls shrieked and giggled at the unusual spectacle. It was certainly not your typical rural scenario. A dilapidated minibus bogged […]
Death was the uninvited guest at a wedding in Richmond this week, turning joy into grief. Sechaba ka’Nkosi reports Doyi Shezi came home to Esimozomeni in Richmond last week to prepare for his second-youngest daughter’s wedding. On Saturday, he performed all the traditional marriage rituals at his homestead and handed his daughter Nonhlanhla to her […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 10.30PM. THE South African Footplate Staff Association has agreed to suspend its strike of train drivers, ticket collectors and guards which left millions of commuters stranded around the country on Friday, and created chaos on the roads. The breakthrough was a result of intervention by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation […]
Neasa MacErlean Embarking on an new career doesn’t have to be a harrowing experience. Here are a few pointers on making a smooth change: * Understand that you can probably make a dramatic switch if you are completely determined – but few people are brave enough to try. Most sacked executives end up in the […]
Movies and television make kids illiterate, say the experts. Don’t you believe it. Colin MacCabe on some amazing findings Television and reading are opposed, right? What parent has not thought that a few episodes less of Sesame Street or Hercules would turn their children into veritable bibliophiles, at home with Dickens as well as Tolkien, […]
The continuing battle over alleged electoral fraud could plunge the region into turmoil, writes William Boot Opposition parties in Lesotho this week expressed “great shock” at a “serious rumour alleging a possible resolution by some people in high places or quarters to banish from Lesotho His Majesty the King and declare a state of emergency”. […]
Suzy Bell delves into the delicious world of Durban bus and taxi art A goddess, adorned with flowers, pink silk sari and a jewel-encrusted gold crown, flashes past in rush hour traffic. It is Durban and its bustling Beatrice Street. An African gentleman carrying a maroon briefcase and wearing amabeshu (traditional Zulu animal hide worn […]
Suzy Bell : On show in Durban A slack-jawed, stocking-headed, beaut of a character in blue checked night-gown, Marilyn Monroe pom-pom slippers, fag in mouth, and eye firmly on the box of Premier Grand-Cru, steals the show in this thrice Vita Award-nominated play, A Coloured Place. The character is Evette. Lonely but funny and fiercely […]
Belinda Beresford Employees of one of the country’s largest banks, Nedcor, have been using legally questionable tactics – ranging from impersonating policemen to threatening arrest – to intimidate petty debtors. Nedcor says such tactics are not part of its debt-collection effort and the matter is being looked into. But a Mail & Guardian investigation has […]
Roger Pratt This weekend Soul Trading, a new Johannesburg-based outfit trading in rare and exotic goods, will be holding the first in a series of weekend bazaars showcasing select ranges of handicrafts from around the world. This first show covers an eclectic range, from Moroccan lanterns to tooled Tuareg leather, Balinese wood, rattan and basketware […]