More quietly than the cricketers ever could, a West Indian diplomatic and trade delegation recently came and went. Anti- apartheid South Africans and West Indians have longstanding cultural, political and – – through Cuba — military links. In Trinidad, when rebel cricketer Bernard Julien returned from a sanctions-busting tour, ordinary folks literally spat on him […]

Robert Kirby : Loose Cannon Now that the media blood pressure is dropping and the Bill Clinton/FW de Klerk/PW Botha emotional and sexual needs have been assessed in all their horrible detail, I think it’s time for a more informed look at these scandalous goings-on in high places. The first major peril of trying to […]

Several million people and their families will be affected by the listings of South Africa’s two largest life insurance groups on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) within the next 18 months. For more than a year market observers have been expecting Sanlam and Old Mutual to announce their plans to demutualise and list on the […]

Palme d’Or winner A Taste of Cherry is now showing on the Cannes mini-festival. Dinah Arnott introduces its brilliant director. The award of a Cannes Palme d’Or to A Taste of Cherry, a film by Abbas Kiarostami, will hopefully bring the work of this astounding Iranian director greater prominence. From a background in painting and […]

Nicky Barker Induna Jonathan Buthelezi lives with a small community in the tribal lands of the Buthelezi next to the Ngome Forest in KwaZulu-Natal. The clan occupies a piece of land on two timber farms adjacent to the Sapekoe Tea Plantation, where they all work. The farms run steeply down a mountain, with 80ha of […]

Kate Turkington INTO AFRICA: A Journey Through The Ancient Empires by Marq de Villiers and Shiela Hirtle (Jonathan Ball, R89,99) Analysing Africa is a bit like facing the many-headed Hydra. Just as you’ve got one section neatly disposed of, another rears up and puts you back where you started. Similarly, any book that attempts “to […]

Shaun de Waal CD of the week Despite the recent lionisation of (Sir) Paul McCartney, mostly on the back of a bunch of old Beatles leftovers, he is still less interesting than the other half of pop’s most famous songwriting partnership. John Lennon’s post-Beatles output was uneven (blame Yoko!), but at least he kept pushing […]

Arthur Goldstuck HOGFATHER (Corgi Books, R51); JINGO (Victor Gollancz, R112) both by Terry Pratchett Some authors annoy their fans intensely by producing a book every year or two, filling up their bookshelves and depleting their wallets. If Terry Pratchett’s six-monthly release-schedule has a similar impact, none of his fans have voiced even a hint of […]

Hazel Friedman They may have named themselves after another planet, but the creative team at Jupiter Drawing Room, one of South Africa’s leading advertising agencies, are still way ahead on this galaxy, if their new cinema commercial for radio 5fm is any indication. Using an all-South African creative collaboration comprising artist Norman Catherine, freelance illustrator […]

Michael Nurok It is 3am on Sunday and “Dr Davis”, an intern at a Western Cape hospital, has not stopped working since 8am the previous day. He is trying to resuscitate a child who has lost so much blood from an open fracture he is unconscious. Save the overburdened nursing staff, there is no one […]