Staff Reporter

Belinda Beresford It came from the north-east, the killer storm, following the Limpopo River, to deliver its fury on South Africa. An immature tropical cyclone is the way climatologists describe it – the phenomenon behind the deluge of rain which has washed over the subcontinent this week. The storm – which just missed being accorded […]

She fled Pinochet’s junta and began to write as a way of coping with exile and loss. She became a best-selling novelist but her masterpiece was a memoir of her daughter, who died at 26. Maya Jaggi on a feminist pioneer of Latin American literature Isabel Allende divides her life starkly into two: before and […]

MOZAMBIQUE has appealed for $2.7-million to help victims of flooding from torrential rains that have swamped parts of southern Africa, the United Nations said on Friday. Donations will be used to purchase emergency supplies including inflatable boats, life jackets, life buoys, tents, as well as ropes, torches and pumps, the UN Office for the Coordination […]

Barry Streek Non-profit organisations are on the verge of victory in their long-standing battle to gain tax concessions from the government. This follows a draft report by the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on finance which endorsed last year’s Katz commission’s proposals to extend tax incentives to NGOs. The committee’s draft report has rejected attempts by […]

One of the world’s most influential directors talks to Brian Logan about a theatrical epiphany Peter Brook’s influence on modern theatre is so pervasive that when he says a production influenced him, you can’t help but take notice. The renowned director – whose 1970 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is considered a milestone in […]

‘I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love” … except on St Valentine’s Day of course. Valentine’s Day has never been especially important in my household but it’s always been a good excuse for my son to gorge himself on chocolate. It will be a washout this year as well since […]

Michelle Matthews ‘The future of music is in dance music.” Promoter Kim Saville, although a self- confessed rock fan, is savvy when it comes to market trends. Realising that “people will always dance”, the exuberant, opportunistic music-lover started easing her way into dance culture. In 1998 Saville released the first Future Sound of Cape Town […]

JUDGMENT has been reserved by the Pretoria High Court until Friday on whether loose-forward AJ Venter is contactually binded to the Golden Lions, or whether he is entitled to play his rugby for the Sharks. The Lions applied for a High Court order declaring that Venter cannot play for any other side, and that they […]

Andy Capostagno Rugby The Y2K-compliant Super 12 was launched this week. For the new millennium the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) has found a new sponsor (Vodacom), the Cats and the Bulls have apparently exchanged shirts, a New Zealander will be coaching a South African franchise for the first time and a new set […]

Thebe Mabanga In your ear Just over a year and a week ago today, Metro fm embarked on a series of changes designed to reposition the once premier English black commercial radio station to help it focus on a slightly younger audience. The station unveiled its Manhattan skyline logo and “it’s where you’re at” slogan. […]

Pat Schwartz RIVONIA’S CHILDREN: THREE FAMILIES AND THE PRICE OF FREEDOM IN SOUTH AFRICA by Glenn Frankel (Jonathan Ball) The 10 years since the unbanning of the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party (SACP) have brought with them a plethora of biography, autobiography and memoir evoking the hidden history of “the struggle”. […]

Raymond Parsons The highways of economic policy matter greatly, especially for a developing country like South Africa. So it is right that stakeholders and analysts have been lavish in their praise of the president’s review of successes in the economic field and of his government’s objectives regarding the future of its economic programmes. These have […]

South Africa’s top women’s high jumper, Hestrie Storbeck-Cloete, was chosen as the best in her field by the influential US magazine Track & Field News. She was also listed 16th for the best women in international athletics last year. SA athletes in other fields have also been included in the magazine’s top ten lists: Hezekial […]

Mercedes Sayagues The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) rally in Mbare township ends peacefully at 3.30pm. I am waiting for a lift into town with an MDC candidate when a group of young men arrives. One is badly wounded – gashes on his head and lips, broken teeth, his shorts spattered with blood. He says […]

Deon Potgieter Boxing There is a two out of three chance that Lennox Lewis will be defending his “Universal” heavyweight world title against a South African later this year. Corrie Sanders, Francois Botha and David Tua have been named as three possible opponents for Lewis, if he successfully defends his title against Michael Grant in […]

Being the kind of person who doesn’t walk under ladders with a whole stack of ease, I’ve got a big problem with the outcomes- based extremity of chain letters. To me they’re generally just an unwanted dose of bad ju-ju. By deleting or ripping the thing into tiny shreds on receipt, I always preclude myself […]

Tangeni Amupadhi Pressure is mounting on the Namibian government to reverse a decision that has plunged the country into the middle of the Angolan civil war. Namibian churches have joined organisations and individuals who criticised the authorities for allowing the Angolan armed forces (FAA) to use Namibia as a launch pad for its offensive on […]

ALISTER BULL and SARAH BULLEN | Thursday 4.45pm LOCAL markets stumbled on Thursday, apparent victims of the country’s own success, as a buoyant gold price and upbeat fundamentals perversely dimmed their immediate outlook. At close of trade the all share index was down 1,32% — with the all gold index down 0,29% despite bullion pouncing […]

champions Bob Woolmer FROM THE PAVILION Australia is the dominant side in world cricket at the moment. South Africa are in transition, England too, while Pakistan and India are full of Eastern promise but short on fulfilling that promise. As soon as there is any bounce in the pitch they are found wanting. The West […]

Gregory Mthembu-Salter In a world where metal prices are only just starting to emerge from a three-year slump, and Internet companies are the darlings of the stock market, prospects for substantial fresh investment in Southern Africa are bad, but getting better. This was the message emanating this week from Indaba 2000, Africa’s premier mining investment […]

Durban’s drowned and Cape Town’s still smouldering, but you’re all right – you’re well insured. Or are you? Gavin Foster looks at some disputes between insurers and their clients ‘One of the problems is that people today often buy their insurance directly from the companies rather than use a broker,” says Michael Bennett, the South […]

Internet relay chat (IRC) became easier when “talking heads” arrived: you could have a face for each member of the conversation, even if it wasn’t their real face. Now Lake Clear Interactive has produced IRC Toons, a Windows program that can be downloaded free from www.irctoons.com. It lets you create characters for use on IRC […]

SATURDAY’S triangular one-day series final betweeen South African and England has been moved back a day to Sunday, with Monday as the reserve day, after week long rains in Johannesburg. Both captains agreed that the rain-sogged Wanderers grounds would not be ready for the scheduled Saturday match. England are in the final after Wednesday’s match […]

As Africans, we have a terrific talent for talking. Whether or not we have an equal talent for doing still remains to be seen.

Howard Barrell The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is turning its guns on tax fraudsters who are cheating the country out of up to R30- billion a year. Some large companies are also involved in fraudulent tax evasion schemes, according to SARS officials. The SARS says it is poised to crack the fraudulent schemes these […]

Cameron Duodu LETTER FROM THE NORTH Because I knew my Sudan piece would be controversial, I sent it to a friend of mine who works for a large international news agency for her comments before publication. She wrote back: “It is a heart-breaking situation and you, too, will come in for abuse, of course. Off […]

Marianne Merten The Democratic Party in the Western Cape wants to team up with its provincial coalition partner, the New National Party, to take on the African National Congress in the forthcoming local government elections. “It’s important the uni-city will be governed by the parties that form the coalition,” said DP Western Cape leader Hennie […]

BAFANA Bafana have been offered a whopping R500000 cash bonus if they beat Nigeria in their African Nations Cup semi-final match on Thursday. Bafana have already earned R500000 from backers Castle Lager after beating Ghana in the semi-finals. Should the team win the trophy, they stand in line to pocket another R1-million for their efforts.

Matthew Krouse CD of the week ‘The purpose of this album is to invite the world to discover the authentic, dynamic underground sound of the Japanese and European new jazz scene.” Oh, all right then – whatever that means – let’s turn it on. With such a heady pitch, brashly reckoning that the album is […]

Peter Dickson Eastern Cape MEC for Education Stone Sizani has promised to throw the province’s farm schools a R13,9-million lifeline after being subpoenaed by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) to explain his failure to fund the schools. The HRC has issued two previous subpoenas to Sizani since late last year, but in both instances he […]

A murder suspect who threatened to kill the two witnesses to his alleged crime has been freed on bail of R500, and nobody involved in the case can explain why. Heather Hogan reports ‘It must have been a mistake,” shrugged a clerk at Botshabelo Magistrate’s Court, of the alleged murderer’s release on R500 bail. And […]

Marianne Merten The alleged bogeyman behind Cape drive-by shootings – Ebrahim Jenneker of People against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) – will stand trial on 124 charges ranging from murder to malicious damage to property in the Cape High Court from Monday. For more than six months he has been moved between different Cape jails following […]