The winner of the Lillian Hellman/Dashiell Hammet award is not a standard academic, reports Mercedes Sayagues Judged on her writings alone, Dr Patricia McFadden appears to be an African Valkyrie in metal breast-plates, who sees the world through rigid prisms of gender and race. But when you meet her, she is a warm woman with […]
Catherine Knox Taking the gap left for literary arts, the National Arts Council-sponsored Wordfest springs fully armed (as it were) on to the Standard Bank National Arts Festival’s fringe programme with a range of events from performance poets to debates on the politics of prose (July 1 to 8). Envisaged as a place where readers, […]
Alex Dodd Imagine spending 25 846 hours in a prison cell anticipating a noose tightening quickly and irrevocably around your neck – punishment for a crime you did not commit. This is the nightmare that came true for Duma Khumalo, who spent seven years in prison – three of those on death row for the […]
Aaron Nicodemus It was a bright Sunday afternoon when Tsepo Molemohi (11) went to play his favorite game – soccer – on a field between Central Western Jabuvu and White City in his Soweto neighbourhood. Before he left, he kissed his mother goodbye. Tsepo, with his soft voice and wide smile, always told his mother […]
South Africa’s second democratic election saw the virtual extinction of the party that invented apartheid, writes Howard Barrell The African National Congress scored an emphatic victory at the polls this week, soaring beyond the two-thirds majority threshold in an election widely acclaimed by international observers. And in one of the most remarkable recoveries in modern […]
With South Africa’s second democratic elections concluded, it is clear that the country has reached the end of an era.
The David Gleason Column Is South Africa about to step out from underneath its long-running recession? Stockbroker SG Frankel Pollak chief economist and strategist Nico Czypionka believes the domestic economy has bottomed, and privately says he considers it probably touched its lowest ebb in February. Well, that’s certainly something, but it won’t do to get […]
Matthew Krouse Down the tube >From the outset one would think that Baby Fathers, showing on June 16 at 9pm on e.tv would be the most depressing documentary ever made. But actually it’s not. Take the subject matter: three teenage fathers living in the townships, who have had their offspring early. They’re poor, inexperienced and […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 6.45pm PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela on Friday repeated praises he had heaped on his successor Thabo Mbeki, saying the country was in good hands under Mbeki’s leadership. “He has self-confidence. Not only is he competent, he has vision and courage to carry on what needs to be done,” Mandela said in […]
irregularities Ivor Powell Election observers and monitors have reported more than 30 electoral irregularities in KwaZulu-Natal, ranging from likely political murder to multiple voting in some areas. The incidents occurred despite the presence of intimidating contingents of security forces personnel to guarantee stability at nearly every voting station in the province. While the disruptions recorded […]
Neil Manthorp Depending on other results, Sunday’s match against Australia could be a case of “win or go home” for both sides. If South Africa have been successful against New Zealand, then Australia will need to win and Hansie Cronje’s side can play without pressure. Either way, South Africa will face a better Australian one-day […]
The government may not like it, but land invasion is a reality in South Africa, writes Louis Freedberg Isaac Williams, a land invasion officer for the Tygerberg municipality, has an uncanny ability to spot an unauthorised shack amid the hodge-podge squatter settlements in Khayelitsha and surrounding townships. To help him do the job, the city […]
Jacques Rautenbach It’s the staple of countless science fiction comics and movies: a flying car. Just think of Mila Jovovich’s scantily clad body against a backdrop of flying cars in the Fifth Element. But, to the surprise of many sceptics who thought it a dream fit only for Steven Spielberg and other special effects fundis, […]
war, grandad? A controversial new book claims that, far from hating war, soldiers thrive on the thrill of dispatching the enemy. Peter Kingston reports Since the end of conscription, the British army has tried a variety of tricks to lure young men and women to take the queen’s fivepence. See the world, get yourself a […]
In The Prophet, Brett Bailey boldly takes on one the most enigmatic figures in Xhosa history, writes John Matshikiza Six weeks before the play was due to premier at Grahamstown, Brett Bailey had his laptop computer stolen from his makeshift office in Port St Johns, where he was rehearsing with his group, Third World Bunfight. […]
Chris Gordon All the indicators suggest external backing for the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is nearing an end, despite a flurry of hostilities in the last week. A short summit meeting of the presidents of Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and Congolese Foreign Minister Abeloulage Ndombasi discussed the unilateral ceasefire declaration by Rwanda […]
Andrew Muchineripi Soccer They say there is no rest for the wicked, and it looks like we can add Bafana Bafana to the list, despite the fact that I have no knowledge of any misbehaviour by the national soccer squad. A tough African Nations Cup battle with Mauritius has just passed and there will be […]
Howard Barrell Like any politician, Thabo Mbeki has his fair share of detractors and enemies. But Zanele Mbeki, his wife, appears to have only admirers. Across the worlds she inhabits – business, development work and politics – she attracts superlatives. “An excellent person”, “of deep conviction”, “very smart”, “dignified”, “lovely” – these encomiums come from […]
Libby Young The last year has seen South African cyberspace grow up. The number of users has passed that crucial one million benchmark, Web addresses are starting to appear on bumper stickers and no business card is complete without an e-mail address. So what’s been happening to South Africa’s search engines? Newcomer Max, , from […]
challenge If the bullion price stays at its current level for any length of time, South Africa could face even more severe unemployment, report Donna Block and Mungo Soggot One of the first major challenges for the Mbeki presidency will be the potentially massive ramifications for South Africa’s economy stemming from the collapse in the […]
John Matshikiza With the Lid Off Response to the saga of my looted home has been huge. Many people have recounted similar misfortunes; most have been amused and appalled at the same time (it is like being in the middle of a horror movie, where the extremity of the situation makes you burst out into […]
Local hero Charl Mattheus is facing a Russian assault at this year’s Comrades Marathon, writes Michael Finch It was April 7 1996, the day after Russian Dmitry Grishine had almost shocked national marathon champion Zithulele Sinqe at the Two Oceans Marathon. Sinqe scraped home for victory by five seconds, but it wasn’t Grishine’s second place […]
supply lines Unita’s smuggling Chris Gordon The United Nations, having faced up to the failure of its peacekeeping operation in Angola, has launched a new bid to shorten the war by targeting the sanctions-busting arms, oil and diamond trade that is keeping Unita in business. After 16 intensive days in Southern Africa, Robert Fowler, Canadian […]
The size of the ANC’s electoral victory need not be an issue of burning concern, writes Richard Calland So, it’s all over. And frankly, thank goodness for that. Elections are a necessary – though often engaging -evil. However, it was not that this campaign consumed so much energy and resources, or even that it was […]
slowly Five years into the new radio and where is the gender equality, asks Charl Blignaut It’s the Monday morning after the elections and AMLive co-anchor Sally Burdett is having a small domestic breakdown. She still can’t quite believe she got through the biggest political broadcast of the year in one piece. “Uh … Yes,” […]
Ivor Powell and Wonder Hlongwa report back on KwaZulu-Natal election results Election politics will give way in KwaZulu- Natal to political horse-trading as the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party look for political advantage in an election battle that went right to the wire. By the time the Mail & Guardian went to […]
For the determined investor, there is more than one way to push the limit, reports Shaun Harris The capping of yet another global unit trust fund this week – this time Old Mutual’s recently launched Global Technology Fund – underscores the asset swap limitations being faced by unit trust management companies. Under current Reserve Bank […]
Sarah Hall It sounds like the answer to the prayers of drivers who can’t parallel park: a car so tiny it squeezes into spaces with its back or nose to the kerb. The Smart Car was launched last year in Europe, but manufacturers Daimler Benz and Swatch had no plans to introduce it in the […]
Herman Lategan takes a look at a somewhat unusual fashion design that also has an ecological advantage When most people think of fish, they think of food, or fishing or perhaps feng shui. In the United Kingdom it is traditionally served deep-fried with chips, in Japan it’s served raw and in Jewish households they poach […]
Marianne Merten Large numbers of the Western Cape’s Muslim 150 000-strong population went to the polling booths across the province despite earlier calls on them not to vote. Those who cast their votes were unanimous – it was a Qur’anic duty to vote. Two weeks ago, the Islamic Unity Convention (IUC) called on Muslims not […]
Makhosini Nkosi and Wally Mbhele The ruling African National Congress celebrated its landslide victory in the country’s second democratic elections this week in grand style. The party forked out more than R180 000 to set up an election nerve centre and a celebration at Gallagher Estate in Midrand near Johannesburg. Even a bomb scare that […]
Aids myths? Myths, quasi-myths and questions about Aids abound. Donald McNeil Jnr attempts to demystify the epidemic in Southern Africa Donald G McNeil Jnr Despite its size, South Africa is number one in the world in several fields: rugby, cricket, tuberculosis and Aids. One hears too little about the last two. In 1990, a New […]