Staff Reporter

John Crace First Person Madonna, Michael Jackson and Lenny Henry did it last month. Caroline Quentin, Jennifer Saunders, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sean Bean, Gary Oldman, Sharon Stone and Rik Mayall did it earlier in the year. And come November, Jamie Lee Curtis will be doing it, too. Not so long ago, 40 was old. It was […]

Andy Capostagno Rugby The Currie Cup originated in Kimberley and there is every chance that this year it is going back there. For Griqualand West, under the coaching of Andre Markgraaff, have progressed this season from worthy underdogs to pedigree contenders; you might say that the rough diamonds have been cut and polished, although their […]

A Sussex link to a `routine’ US child abuse inquiry has led to the exposure of a global ring using KGB codes to hide in cyberspace. Stuart Millar reports Even by the increasingly sophisticated standards of Internet child pornographers, the Wonderland club operated on a technological and organisational level which shocked investigating authorities around the […]

ARMED AND DANGEROUS: FROM UNDERCOVER STRUGGLE TO FREEDOM by Ronnie Kasrils (Mayibuye/Jonathan Ball ) When this autobiography of Deputy Defence Minister Ronnie Kasrils first appeared in 1993, it was a bestseller. Five years on, with a new section detailing the author’s experiences in government, the question is: will it repeat its resounding success? Kasrils’s life […]

unionists Union investment has achieved success beyond Cosatu’s expectations, writes Ferial Haffajee Faced with the growth of a generation of trade union millionaires, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has moved to rein in its investment companies. Last week Cosatu called the heads of investment companies and union leaders to its Johannesburg head […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 11.00pm. DELEGATES from the six countries discussing a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo have adjourned their meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, saying they are expecting “other parties” to join the talks on Friday. Sources at the conference would not say who the “other parties” might be. The meeting […]

Simon Segal and Andy Brown The chips are down for leading black empowerment companies in the wake of the stock market crash. There are fears that many will not be able to repay their loans because their stock prices have declined and they are being crippled by high interest rates. Rate hikes could also cripple […]

Nineties? Douglas Rushkoff Online Maybe the news that the Internet makes people depressed shouldn’t have taken us by surprise. It’s what concerned cyber- reactionaries have been telling us since the beginning: the Internet renders us incapable of forming real relationships, isolates us in an empty electronic simulation and destroys family bonds. Now, the well-meaning killjoys […]

brothel Michael Finch Commonwealth Games Noise curfews, group photo- graphs, airport delays, buses and goodie bags that offer toiletry sets, shower shoes and, wait for it, a doorstop. Glitz and glamour? More like a stint in the army! That’s what awaited the likes of Chester Williams and Shaun Pollock when they arrived in Kuala Lumpur […]

The faces of apartheid’s feared security police were on display at the truth commission this week, writes David Beresford They are unlikely combatants, but long-time adversaries; the almost theatrical figure of the lawyer George Bizos and the stocky, hawk-faced former police commander, General Johan Coetzee. They have faced each other on previous occasions across the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Dar es Salaam | Friday 11.30PM. TANZANIA has expelled five Iraqis and a Libyan who were questioned by the FBI and police in connection of the bombing of the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania last month, a newspaper reported Friday. Immigration officials put Libyan Atif Issa Enhamed on a flight to […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Maseru | Friday 11.30PM. THE commander of the Lesotho Defence Force, Lieutenant-General Makhula Mosakheng, announced his resignation with immediate effect on Friday night. Mosakheng said on Radio Lesotho that Brigadier-Commander Thibeli had taken over the running of the army. Mosakheng also announced that 26 senior officers had been dismissed “in the public interest”. […]

Chris Roper On show in Cape Town Their name makes me think of some kind of League of Super Heroes, and I picture them in tights and colourful costumes, ta-dahing off into the lurid sunset in pursuit of their evil nemesis, Bad Taste Man. A ridiculous fantasy, brought on by the early hour at which […]

Charl Blignaut On stage in Johannesburg By the time the opening night applause had died down to a cacophany of hearty gels and a veritable nursery of spring bouquets had been trundled on to the Civic Theatre stage and into the sinewy, muscled arms of that world famous troupe of male ballerinas, New York-based Les […]

for locals Evidence wa ka Ngobeni Competition for jobs and money lies at the heart of many black South Africans’ hatred of foreigners – particularly those who come here from other African countries. Easily two-thirds of people interviewed by the Mail & Guardian this week said they did not want the government to allow foreigners […]

Phillip Kakaza Feeling stressed out from switching on the radio and getting only hip-hop and R&B? Well, the Belgium-based Afropop group Zap Mama will dose you with acappella and rhythm at Arts Alive on Thursday. At last year’s festival we saw outstanding international acts, like Beninoise funk diva Angelique Kidjo. This year the French Institute […]

Christian Figenschou Old cars are generally more of an emotional investment than a financial one, but the rand’s recent slide has widened the scope for speculation in classic cars as commodities. Sought-after collector’s cars have always lagged in value in South Africa compared to overseas markets, and the crumbling of the rand has opened up […]

taking our jobs Chiara Carter and Ferial Haffajee South Africa has become a world in one country in more ways than tourism pundits could ever have predicted. The boundaries of state are becoming less important as waves of migrants seek a better life. Complex trade networks, energetic enterprise and entrepreneurial dreams are the stock-in-trade for […]

Forget Viagra. There’s a natural alternative that’s bound to keep you up all night, writes Mercedes Sayagues If you live in Zimbabwe, you have probably heard the stories: of dusk-to- dawn erections that exhaust women; of non-stop sex and multiple ejaculations all night long; of formidable hard-ons that land men in hospital, even kill them. […]

Angella Johnson VIEW FROM A BROAD `I’m ready for my close-up, Mr DeMille.” These immortal words delivered by Gloria Swanson in the film classic, Sunset Boulevard, came flashing to my mind as I stood before a solitary camera in a poky but brightly lit back room of a Johannesburg theatre. The lights created a sweltering […]

She’s the queen of country music, a Dollywood legend, America’s Princess Di. People warm to her sentimental ballads and silicon looks, but something is missing … William Leith reports To me, an Englishman, Dolly Parton was always a small, mysterious figure on the edge of my consciousness. She was a wig, a quavering voice with […]

Attacks on farms have soured relationships between farmers and their workers. Swapna Prabhakaran visited a farm where mistrust has grown `The attacks are happening with such regular monotony, I don’t think any fence will keep them out. I know they’ll come back and this time they might kill me or my family,” Colin Reddy says […]

Robert Kirby: Loose cannon It seems we are doomed to yet another month or so of the dreary adventures of President Bill Clinton’s prick. And what a joyless escapade it has been. There is always available groupie- tail, like the banal Monica Lewinsky, hanging around senior politicians and public figures. Everyone knows that. When one […]

Andrew Muchineripi Soccer First-round action in the multimillion-rand Rothmans Cup continues this weekend with many of the eight second-leg matches delicately poised. While realising that there is no such thing as a certainty in cup football, the Muchineripi clan will publicly eat this page of your favourite newspaper should Kaizer Chiefs, Manning Rangers and Orlando […]

Who are . . . the Congolese Rebels? Ann Eveleth When Congolese rebel commander Jean- Pierre Ondekane vowed this week to “intensify” the rebellion against embattled Democratic Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila, he spoke with a confidence his opponent has never enjoyed. Unlike Kabila, whose 1997 Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of […]

Maureen Barnes Down the tube Money, the SABC is always telling us, is the problem which prevents us from watching top-quality television – a fact which we silly viewers just can’t get into our heads. There’s not enough money from the government; there’s not enough money from advertisers and there’s not enough money from us […]

Brenda Atkinson On show in Johannesburg The opening of the Wits group exhibition Histories of the Present was a beautiful moment in contemporary art history. As freakish French multimedia artist Orlan looked on in horror, Steven Cohen douched fake blood onto a cheesy thrift-shop painting of a serenely bare-breasted young girl. Later, Orlan – the […]

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is, as we have observed before, a curious if admirable beast – a combination of attributes which were on display with particular effect this week. There is something wonderfully satisfying about the sight of the likes of General Johan Coetzee and Craig Williamson being subjected to aggressive questioning on their […]

Emma Durden Dance in Durban The Kwa-Suka Theatre, usually home to Durban’s experimental drama offerings, is currently awash with rich swirls of tangerine, pimento olive and deep wine. Camino Flamenco is an exuberant hour and a half of traditional Spanish dance put together by Linda Vargas of the Spanish Dance Company and her husband, the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Addis Ababa | Friday 6.30pm. A RIFT has developed in the Addis Ababa talks aimed at brokering a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both Uganda and Rwanda, accused by DRC President Laurent Kabila of invading the DRC, have demanded that the rebel leaders be invited to the talks. The DRC delegation […]

Belinda Beresford gives a few handy tips on how to survive in a wild financial world You might have been getting by with a little help from your friendly bank manager, but now the world economy seems to be going for a walk on the wild side and the most immediate effect for many South […]

The streets of Pretoria are becoming increasingly dangerous for sex workers, reports Tangeni Amupadhi Prostitutes walking the dark streets of Pretoria know that danger lurks around any corner. But they were particularly anxious this week, following the murder of a co-worker. The body of an as yet unidentified prostitute was found lying face-up in a […]