row Cotton is the only cash income for peasants in Maringu. A farmer who grew the average of 300kg per hectare earned about R450 last year. With this, families need to buy whatever they do not grow or make themselves. As the cotton is being harvested, expectation hangs in the air. Families picking the crop […]
Ferial Haffajee The bid to challenge the country’s first private television licence hung by a thread this week. The powerful Free to Air consortium has lost the support of Primedia for its court battle, and the industry is speculating that two other shareholders will withdraw their support. Rival bidders for the lucrative licence earlier indicated […]
Mark Gleeson in Baiersbronn World Cup It is a persistent debate as to which is bigger and better and commands the most prestige – soccer’s World Cup or the Olympic Games. Both claim television audiences in the billions, unscientific figures that still seem to seduce multi-million dollar marketing packages out of corporate coffers. The World […]
Mungo Soggot A Canadian mining company has accused De Beers of trying to hijack its rights to mine a lucrative diamond field in the Northern Province. The company, Southern Era Resources, also believes old-guard government officials have conspired against its bid for a mining permit at the Marsfontein field. De Beers apparently passed over the […]
Robyn Alexander, who helped curate an exhibition on the reproductive body, explains the thinking behind the show The Bringing Up Baby exhibition is part of the main programme at the Standard Bank National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. It was first conceived (and, of course, that verb is used deliberately) by its curator Terry Kurgan, during […]
Adrian Turpin Profile: Sam Rockwell To become a star every actor needs a quirk in his or her private life. A handy hook, preferably unconnected with work, something that allows people to say, “Yeah, that’s the guy who …” For Sam Rockwell, it’s what he does in bed. “My mother, let’s just say, was a […]
Ruaridh Nicoll He may be yellow, non-existent and have deformed hands, but Bart Simpson, cartoon dude most excellent, is one of Time magazine’s 20 most influential artists and entertainers of our century. The American news magazine has released its second top 20 list, this time looking at the arts, in the run- up to naming […]
Charl Blignaut On stage in Johannesburg From the parking lot already, it is obvious that this is not going to be a regular evening at the theatre. There are large, mounted candles burning outside on the lawn of the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereenigings’s Trap der Jeugd national monument building in Cottlesloe, Johannesburg, and there are […]
Christopher Reed in Los Angeles After an acrimonious debate, the San Francisco school board has become the first in the United States to require students to read books by “authors of colour”. The measure caused conflict when proposed by two black members, who initially insisted that seven of the 10 required books on high school […]
Despite economic crises, there’s money to be made on the stock exchange, writes Mark Allix Following the plunge of the Thai baht in July last year, the volatility on global stock exchanges is starting to take on biblical proportions – particularly the hellfire-and-brimstone warnings of the Old Testament variety. The 10th Commandment on covetousness and […]