Staff Reporter

Robyn Orlin is managing to convince European audiences that she knows what she’s up to – but can she do the same at home? Matthew Krouse After years of pussyfooting around the smaller venues of the Market Theatre complex, Robyn Orlin has finally arrived on the main stage of the place where she launched herself […]

The new CD by Wyclef Jean, the dreadlocked powerhouse behind The Fugees, features ska, 41 gunshots, Pink Floyd and a rapping Kenny Rogers Dom Phillips Hip-hop makes sense in New York: the town that created it is still enslaved by it. On a muggy afternoon, the street vendors on Broadway blast out rap, selling mix […]

The government will face legal action following its failure to introduce measures to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV Timothy Trengove-Jones The Aids Treatment Action Campaign (Atac) has announced that it plans to proceed with legal action against the government. The campaign’s case will challenge the government’s refusal to imple- ment programmes to prevent the transmission […]

Thebe Mabanga joins the Democratic Alliance on its local government election trail through poverty-stricken Alexandra Tony Leon revels in the spotlight and looks resplendent in a pink shirt as he moves over to embrace a group of women exclaiming “re a lerata lona, retlolikissa [we love you, we want to kiss you]”. His attire, however, […]

Andrew Muchineripi soccer For many inhabitants of our beautiful land, the Olympic Games have tended to be a peripheral sporting occasion. Events would be watched in various sporting codes without a real feeling of belonging. Not any more. The Amaglug-glug are the most loved of our national football teams and although their group matches in […]

acknowledged Sechaba ka’Nkosi crossfire A close friend, Muff Anderson, last year asked me to testify in a civil suit she had instituted against a black colleague. It was a typical office disagreement where the colleague had resorted to calling her a racist. Muff rightfully felt offended. And for a person I had related to as […]

Jaspreet Kindra A remarkable feature of politics and reportage on it in South Africa is that it is dominated by two elitists – President Thabo Mbeki and the leader of the opposition, Tony Leon. Since most South Africans are poor, one would expect any self-respecting, or clever, politician to make poverty a central strategy. Instead, […]

Steven Friedman worm’s eye view Last week was a good one for those of us who insist that reality in this society is more complicated than the doom-sayers suggest. For those who insist we are on an inevitable path to authoritarianism, the national conference on racism allowed government politicians to polarise us further by demonising […]

Rupert Neethling ‘This is what the Internet should be all about,” declared a friend back in 1997 on discovering instant messaging (IM). He was already a cyber veteran, but IM finally allowed him to converse with online friends in real time. IM software allows you to see when a friend goes online, following which you […]

Thebe Mabanga theatre The name Fong Kong was made popular by a kwaito hit. It refers to the counterfeit merchandise sold by immigrants on the city’s pavements. It is also the name of an upbeat, interesting production that looks at the daily struggles of African illegal immigrants in South Africa. The piece, which was featured […]

Anthony Browne Body Language ‘So many men, so little time!” The actress and temptress Mae West jested about it, but scientists – male ones anyway – are convinced they have proved it. Women – far from being naturally monogamous – are, like men, naturally promiscuous. Biologists believe that women are genetically programmed to have sex […]

Ivor Powell In a bid to end ongoing divisions in the Mpumalanga provincial government, President Thabo Mbeki is expected to axe the province’s controversial Premier, Ndaweni Mahlangu, next week – and replace him with Deputy Minister of Edu- cation Smangaliso Mkhatshwa. Mkhatshwa was originally tipped for the premiership, when Mbeki unexpectedly announced the appointment of […]

Thebe Mabanga in your ear So Metrofm is reported to have 5,6-million listeners, making it the second-largest station in the country after Ukhozi fm (Radio Zulu), which has 6,7-million listeners. If you are a Metro listener, you are now probably drowning in a hype-induced frenzy. For that is all it is really. Here’s why. In […]

While the west is taking its first tentative steps towards Web-enabled cellphones, i-mode is walking tall in the east, writes Jonathan Watts There is a new walk on the streets of Tokyo these days. It is too slow to be a stroll and too purposeful to be a wander. In crowds it often results in […]

Olympic leaders have shied away from tests which would expose those using human growth hormones Gavin Evans Let’s say you’re a sprinter on the verge of world class. Until now you’ve played it clean – gallons of creatine, glycogen and nitrogen, obviously, but you’ve resisted offers to take the tempting banned performance-enhancers that you just […]

Howard Barrell President Thabo Mbeki is driving a R6- million project to record the history of the struggle against apartheid over the 30 years leading up to South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994. His officials in the Office of the Presidency have talked cellphone operator MTN and Nedcor, the banking group, into jointly providing […]

Peter Robinson Allan Donald, South African cricket’s prodigal son, should be welcomed back to the fold on Friday. If he isn’t, Rushdie Magiet and his selection panel deserve to have all six of their heads banged together. Donald took off the South African winter to play for Warwickshire this year. He skipped the three-Test series […]

Peter Dickson >From the foothills of the Drakensberg in the north to Pondoland in the east and the planned new port of Ngqurha in the south, the Eastern Cape was alive with ghosts this week. First, exasperated teachers being redeployed across the region notched up hundreds of kilometres in the north-eastern Cape trying to find […]

A private farm watch group in KwaZulu-Natal has been accused of taking the law into its own hands Cheryl Goodenough Employees of a private farm protection organisation in rural southern KwaZulu- Natal have been implicated in a string of brutal attacks on farm labourers and rural communities that have left two dead and 16 badly […]

Patrick Craven crossfire Thami Mazwai proudly proclaims that he and his staff “are gleefully contravening the [Basic Conditions of Employment] Act” by not paying premiums for Sunday working (“Cosatu acts irresponsibly in criticising the government”, September 1 to 7). In other words he is breaking the law. Yet he accuses Congress of South African Trade […]

trade John Matshikiza with the lid off Dakar is the black race on the make. Whatever walk of life they come from, the Dakarois are like those Broadway hoofers who rise each day with a grin on their face and run out into the city determined to succeed, singing Accentuate the Positive and I Will […]

Michelle Matthews The Africa House: The True Story of an English Gentleman and his African Dream by Christina Lamb (Penguin) Stewart Gore-Brown was an eccentric man. He built an arched and gargoyled country mansion, complete with rose gardens, in the middle of the Zambian bush. He let his servants, attired in neat pill-box hats and […]

Manchester United midfielder Quinton Fortune is coming good at just the right time Neal Collins Quinton Fortune’s name is finally going up in lights in England, nearly 10 years after his arrival at Heathrow. On Tuesday night at Old Trafford the 23-year-old from Cape Town finally proved beyond doubt that he has the quality to […]

England’s celebrations of a Test series victory over the West Indies overshadowed the departure of one of the best bowlers of all time Matthew Engel Monday was the day. England captain Nasser Hussain lifted the long-forgotten Wisden Trophy; the crowd ran on the field, chanting happily; Jimmy Adams, the vanquished captain, was gracious; and Lord […]

David Barnes soccer His name is Massimo Lombardo, he is the son of an Italian lorry driver and he could become as famous as Jean-Marc Bosman. Lombardo, a 27-year-old midfielder, played in the relative obscurity of the Swiss league at the weekend for Lausanne against Sion. He is proud of his 12 Swiss caps and […]

A farmer has pitted himself against his colleagues in supporting the government’s proposed arms control legislation Lynda Gilfillan Karoo farmer Ken Southey looks anything but the dissident. Yet his appearance at public hearings in Parliament last month on the proposed Firearms Control Bill has placed him firmly on the opposite side from most of his […]

HIV/Aids Jaspreet Kindra and Glenda Daniels The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has called on the government to end its “scientific speculation” about the cause of Aids and concentrate on providing affordable treatment to people infected with HIV. Cosatu also says that providing medication to HIV-positive pregnant women and rape victims is “morally […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday SAPPI, the pulp and paper giant denied rumours that that it might be the target of a takeover by Finland’s UPM Kymmene. Robert Hope, Sappi’s strategic development director told a local newspaper that he was irritated by the takeover rumours, but did not comment further. However the rumours have had […]

Hazel Friedman Love is on the air and hearts are aflame as Eugene (pronounced Oogeen) clutches a cheap engagement ring and kneels before the object of his obvious adoration. “Marry me, Pumpkin,” he pleads. The giggling, haute-coiffured, coutured, Pumpkin (her real name) seems equally smitten. “Sure Eugene, honey [giggle], but first I have something to […]

David Beresford Another Country I have spent the past couple of weeks hesitating over what to do about Footnote 29. The footnote that has been causing this agony of indecision is contained in the report of the Human Rights Commission (HRC) on the media that, as everyone knows, found the industry to be a hotbed […]

More and more white-collar criminals are being caught and the courts are showing no mercy Sharon Gill The subject of cheque fraud became a matter of personal concern for one of Absa’s clients in Pinetown when she discovered, to her horror, that a cheque she issued for R2E017,94 which was deposited into an account in […]

REUTERS, Washington | Friday THE International Monetary Fund approved a $11.6m payment to Uganda after completing a review of the African nation’s poverty reduction strategy and other economic reform plans. After a meeting of its executive board, the IMF welcomed Uganda’s efforts to stem a decline in trade and deal with costs arising from bank […]