Belinda Beresford Dazed and confused by the realisation of what another 2% on the bond rate means in actual money, the average South African could be forgiven for feeling that a new nightmare has arisen from the arcane murk of the economy. First life was tough because of the gold price, then inflation became prime […]
Angella Johnson: VIEW FROM A BROAD What is a thirtysomething single girl to do when she needs an escort and all her eligible male friends are out of town? Well, you could always try the personal columns, teased a colleague. She may have been joking, but images of a sexy Richard Gere wiggling his tight […]
Tangeni Amupadhi and Mungo Soggot Highway heists have become one of South Africa’s favourite crimes, with gangs of well-trained operatives pulling off a spate of audacious robberies involving tens of millions of rands. Police say they have arrested about 250 suspects, but a substantial number have escaped – as in the case of former African […]
Michel Bajuk X-ray vision and wireless Internet access may soon turn ordinary reporters to real- life Clark Kents. Hi-tech sunglasses with groovy features will also provide future super-reporters with vast database access, extraordinary communications capabilities and advanced analytical tools. All this voice-controlled with a user-friendly interface. Science fiction? No. It may seem to be inspired […]
The truth commission has subpoenaed policeman `Lappies’ Labuschagne about his alleged involvement in the killing of ANC leaders, write Wally Mbhele and Stuart Hess The police detective connected to the arrest of foreign affairs official Robert McBride is allegedly implicated in an attempted assassination in exile of top African National Congress leaders, including Joe Slovo, […]
Krisjan Lemmer The Mail & Guardian’s freelance sports writer Julian Drew, on his way to watch Bafana Bafana in Marseille last week, was a little startled to be approached by our very own Felicia Mabuza-Not-So-Subtle with an offer of two tickets for the match at the knock-down price of R1 000 each – a mark-up […]
Lizeka Mda A career as a mechanical engineer may seem an impossible dream for a parking attendant. Yet Lungile Ndebele keeps the dream of studying engineering alive every day, despite indications that it is becoming distant. Every morning the 20-year-old leaves her home in Orange Farm to go to her “job” in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, where […]
Most people who see Robin Williams loathe him. Sarah Gristwood asks if he’s really that bad The jokes aren’t that funny. On Albert Einstein: “There’s even a theory that his first wife came up with the theory of relativity. Which would make it the theory of relatives.” On film flying: “The harness shorts are like […]
The leading Maghrebian author, Tahar Ben Jelloun, attended this year’s Poetry Africa festival in Durban. He spoke to Stephen Gray Stephen Gray: How did you come to choose French above your home language? Tahar Ben Jelloun: I was born in Fez in 1944, in a modest and fairly traditionalist family, with Arabic as my home […]
Barbara Ludman ROADKILL by Kinky Friedman (Faber & Faber, R69,99) There have been many books featuring the author as amiable detective, once the main man in a country and western band, now ensconced in a New York loft with a cat, a good supply of cigars and a singing espresso machine. The Kinky Friedman saga […]