Howard Barrell South Africa is on the verge of postponing its biggest-ever joint military and police exercise with other countries in the region, scheduled for next month, because of problems caused by the incursion into Lesotho. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF)has told other interested government departments it doubts it can afford the exercise, […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 5.00pm. THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange ended its four-day bull run on Thursday, dropping around 2,5% on profit taking, with sentiment suffering as extreme volatility infects Asian markets and European exchanges take big hits. The Dow Jones opened on a downward streak in the afternoon, rattled by recessionary fears and a […]
HRC David Beresford The Human Rights Commission (HRC) has suffered another body blow with the resignation of Helen Suzman, the fourth commissioner to walk out of the prestigious body headed by the controversial lawyer and theologian, Dr Barney Pityana. Suzman said on Thursday that her resignation would take effect at the end of the year. […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 10.30am. BJORN BORG on Thursday annihilated Argentinian veteran Guillermo Vilas to proceed to the semifinals of the MTN Champions Tournament, being played at the University of Pretoria indoor arena. Borg (42), who held his world number-one ranking for an incredible 109 weeks in his prime, outplayed Vilas in all departments […]
Mark Hulbert Share World What a difference two months can make. As recently as this summer, the debate between market timers and buy-and-hold investors was all but dead. After all, this year was shaping up as yet another in which virtually no market timers – investors who try to jump in and out of stocks […]
Ferial Haffajee South Africa’s television war is in full throttle with people in the industry at each other’s throats – and the only victors are likely to be viewers. The quick and dirty war has featured an arsenal of snitching to the authorities, comparative advertising campaigns, staff poaching and a drive to snap up the […]
to die Zanemvula (Zakes) Mda has happy memories of growing up among a community of South African exiles and Lesotho locals in the small town of Mafeteng. Last week he returned to find a smouldering ruin Chris Hani used to frequent this restaurant. His father, known to us only as Ntate Hani, owned it in […]
Dan Atkinson It’s that point in the economic cycle once again. It comes around like New Year’s Eve and usually leaves behind the same trail of wreckage, destruction and blinding hangovers. Yes, it’s junk time. Some of us can remember this X-rated film the last time it was showing. How we thrilled to the transatlantic […]
Michael Metelits The big news this week was the retention of investment grade ratings by Moody’s Investor Services for South Africa’s foreign currency debt and deposits. Moody’s action is a stamp of approval on local macro-economic policy. Their ratings, and those of other international agencies, are the first level of information used by international investors. […]
Chiara Carter Nomaindia Mfeketo, the new mayor of Cape Town, tackles the social side of her work with zest because she wants to make sure every function she hosts tackles the city’s “apartheid divisions”. Mfeketo, who became mayor last week, acknowledges the criticism often levelled at Cape Town: that little has changed since 1994 and […]
Angella Johnson VIEW FROM A BROAD It is exceedingly rare that the president of Johannesburg’s Central Divorce Court refuses to dissolve a marriage. Yet that was exactly what Helen Lotriet did after questioning a young husband who claimed his wife regularly cheated on him. “Are you still living as husband and wife?” inquired Lotriet. It […]
Wally Mbhele A major clash looms between the ruling African National Congress and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission over the commission’s final report to be made public at the end of this month. Behind the scenes, a volcanic war of words has already erupted between the two organisations. The truth commission accuses the ANC of […]
Andy Capostagno Cricket A collective sigh of relief echoed through the corridors of power in the smaller unions this week when the United Cricket Board (UCB) decided not to impose a two-tier system on the Supersport Series. It was, by all accounts, the most conciliatory UCB meeting for years. The outcome was that, while note […]
The winner in Exclusive Books’ promotion, the Boeke Prize, was announced this week. Critics vote on the best of six books chosen by booksellers. The ranking of the books from first to last is: Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (Sceptre); The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Flamingo); Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur […]
airwaves Ferial Haffajee Allister Sparks is an unlikely Ted Turner. Other than the grey hair, the local journalist has until now had little in common with the American media magnate. Now Sparks is the driving force behind SABC-Africa, a 24-hour news channel going head-to-head with Turner’s CNN for supremacy of the African airwaves at least. […]
CD of the week Michael Odell Sweeting Of course we knew there were two Ringos in the group. The Fugees, the biggest-selling rap group in the world, comprises two blokes employed to shout “One time!” and Lauryn Hill – who combines the singer/songwriter talents of Lennon and Macca. The Fugees was never the arena to […]
Chiara Carter investigates a link between the Mafia boss and the ex- foreign minister The investigation into alleged Mafia moneyman Vito Palazzolo has led to a bizarre hunt for photographs of former foreign minister Pik Botha in bed with a black woman. The presidential investigation task unit’s acting head, Peter Viljoen, said he had several […]
row with black officers Tangeni Amupadhi Minister of Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi is extinguishing fires these days. In between shuttles to Lesotho for peace talks, he stepped in to quell a growing rift between the national police commissioner and black managers. It is understood Mufamadi urged police National Commissioner George Fivaz to meet with […]
The outsider on this year’s Booker Prize shortlist is a bus driver. Peter Kingston caught a ride You’re sprinting for the bus. The driver spots your imploring wave and appears to be waiting, but just as catching the bus looks a real possibility, it pulls away. Why do they do that? “It’s the only pleasure […]
Ann Eveleth: IN THE ACT T hree pieces of labour legislation working their way through the halls of Parliament promise dramatic changes in the workplace. But tight human and financial resources, coupled with the growth, employment and redistribution programme’s (Gear) industrial growth bias, raise questions about how effective these changes will be. The Basic Conditions […]
Minister of Welfare and Population Development Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi responds to articles on welfare month featured in Monitor last week Poverty is one of the greatest challenges facing our country. It demands that all South Africans face up to some basic realities and come up with sustainable solutions. The payment of social grants and pensions is […]
Alex Sudheim `Comedy is the new rock ‘n roll” goes the catchphrase of the moment. Young standups across the country are provoking audiences with a scabrous brand of humour that gleefully pokes and digs at society’s guilty secrets. As with the early days of rock ‘n roll, there is a spirit of anarchic, anti-establishment zeal; […]
(and the odds) 7-4 Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape) 2-1 Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge (Duckworth) 4-1 England, England by Julian Barnes (Jonathan Cape) 9-2 Breakfast on Pluto by Patrick McCabe (Picador) 10-1 The Industry of Souls by Martin Booth (Dewi Lewis) 10-1 The Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills (Flaming)
David Beresford Racism, it seems, is the bane of even the most civilised police forces. That, at least, is the experience of the man many would regard as the world’s top cop, who landed up in South Africa this week on something of a holiday from a race row which is threatening his job. Sir […]
Julie Burchill: FIRST PERSON In the heyday of the Hollywood studio system, Louis B Mayer, head of MGM (More Stars Than There Are in the Heavens), kept a very strange chart on his wall. The chart kept a record of the menstrual cycles of the studio’s leading ladies: Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, Grace Kelly. By […]
A private college has rescued Woodmead High School, writes Thokozani Mtshali Woodmead High School, the first multiracial school in South Africa, has been rescued from closure. The school has a debt of R3-million, accumulated over the past three years. Its teachers and students were convinced that the institution would close its doors this year. But, […]
Gary Cummiskey OF WOMEN AND SOME MEN by Don Maclennan (Firfield Poetry Press) Faced with the cartoonish illustration on the cover of this poetry collection, one may think the poems are lighthearted and whimsical. But Of Women and Some Men is not a collection of outdated witticisms on the battle of the sexes. It is […]
These days, the Market Theatre management claims, people book tickets because they want to and not out of some obligation to the place that, once upon a time, changed South African culture. If you pop into the theatre now you’ll find a video monitor fixed to one of those pillars laden with brass plaques. The […]
Waters Nick Paul Grey’s the next black and has been for some time now. The Seventies are still the Seventies, only more so. And the Blue Waters still belongs in that decade, the muted pastels of its Eighties revamp (albeit executed in the Nineties) notwithstanding. And it’s still the same place it was when Claire, […]
David Beresford: A SECOND LOOK In the week of the launch of a new television channel, which no doubt heralds another garbage-load of American schlock being dumped on the local market, a debate on SAfm brought it home that the true “voice of the nation” is radio. The programme was Talk at Will, the subject […]
Ian Wylie Aside from a little bruising, Kevin Warwick is feeling no side-effects from last month’s operation to remove the silicon chip implanted under the skin inside his left elbow. The skin chip has the capability to become a household aid: turning on lights, opening doors or switching on the television as you approach. But […]
Wonder Hlongwa Selling human body parts is a lucrative business in South Africa. Prices for eyes, breasts, brains or genitals range from R1 000 to R10 000 – depending on the body part up for sale. The macabre practice is shrouded in mystery. Most traditional healers are afraid to talk about this thriving bloody commerce. […]