In the early 1990s, analysts had few problems in assessing the South African leisure industry. The SABC ruled the airwaves from television to radio. In 1990, M-Net took a large slice of the top sector of entertainment viewership from the SABC. The film industry was ruled by NuMetro (part of the Gallo group, which was […]
Mahluli Mngadi: In your ear In these days of wall-to-wall music everywhere, it is refreshingly rare to listen to a well-researched and produced programme on a local community radio station. But then one should not be surprised because Bush Radio is the mother of community radio stations in Africa. It was a founding member of […]
Wally Mbhele President Nelson Mandela this week threw his weight behind the theory that Robert McBride was set up in Mozambique by security force elements keen to give credibility to the discredited “Meiring” coup report. At a briefing for opposition leaders, Mandela said he had considered the possibility that McBride’s arrest was orchestrated to bolster […]
Mungo Soggot A German citizen charged with sodomy and a string of banking scams involving sums of up to $100-billion has joined the club of heavyweight alleged fraudsters who fled South Africa and are now fighting extradition. Manfred Zachel was imprisoned in South Africa in 1996 after allegedly pulling off several frauds using a fake […]
Who is . . . Paul Mashatile? Mukoni T Ratshitanga Way back in 1987, while in detention at the small Jeppestown police station, Paul Mashatile never imagined that his jailers would one day have to account to him. Nor did the police themselves in those turbulent days think of being led by a township activist. […]
Charl Blignaut: On stage in Pretoria In 1997, South Africa’s leading concert promoter Attie van Wyk announced that he and showbiz afficionado Bernard Jay would be establishing a new company, In-Concert Theatre. They would be looking to inject a dash of star quality on to the local stage by importing international stars to perform in […]
Tim Radford Scientists are poised to explore a mysterious lost world more than 3,2km below Antarctica. A huge lake, insulated by millions of years of ice, could hold living creatures that inhabited the planet more than 30-million years ago. British, French, German, Russian and American scientists met in St Petersburg recently to agree on what […]
Tangeni Amupadhi The civil war in Angola could resume as early as this month despite recent concessions by the rebel Unita movement to the terms of the Lusaka peace accord, a report by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) says. According to the ISS, a rift has emerged within Unita between those opposed to war […]
I am pleased that the Mail & Guardian regarded the recent disbanding of the Medicines Control Council (MCC) as sufficiently important to run as a cover story (“Zuma shuts down health watchdog”, March 27 to April 2). As a medical practitioner, I’d appreciate the opportunity to convey my anger and disillusionment at the outcome of […]
Poet, novelist and critic Lionel Abrahams is one of the most influential figures in South African literature. Mark Gevisser pays tribute to him on the occasion of his 70th birthday There is something transformative about a first encounter with Lionel Abrahams. At the outset, it is hard not to be overwhelmed by his extreme physical […]