If all goes to plan, controversial Aids drug Virodene could soon get the go-ahead, reports Andy Duffy A team of top medical experts, funded from the public purse, has been helping prepare the controversial Aids drug Virodene for clearance for human trials. The group, established by the Medicines Control Council (MCC), is working closely with […]
Andy Capostagno Tennis There is only one thing better than winning Wimbledon and thats winning it again, said the late Arthur Ashe. The 1975 mens champion just about summed up most peoples feelings about the All England Championships. For while Wimbledon is full of cant and class distinctions it is also full of people, and […]
A new movie has put Julie Christie back in the spotlight she loathes. She tells Ian Hamilton about her amnesia In her latest film, Afterglow, which was released in South Africa this week, Julie Christie plays a character called Phyllis Mann, a one-time Hollywood film actress. Middle-aged and locked into a dire marriage to the […]
fossils Ellen Barlett James Kitching is really retired now, he says his days in the field are over. As he says it, he looks across the room, toward his wife. They exchange glances in the accommodating way of the long- married, then she sighs. One gets the feeling neither believes it. Moments later – talking […]
suicide Tangeni Amupadhi The bank robbery trial against Mzwakhe Mbuli got off to an inauspicious start this week when one of the officers who arrested the poet committed suicide and the probe into police actions surrounding Mbuli’s arrest continued. Prosecutor Johann Kok said this week he would not hold off until the Independent Complaints Directorate […]
Alex Dodd Despite the fact that we finally had an official presence at the Cannes Film Festival this year, there still didnt seem to have been the films to back it up not a single South African film was selected for the official competition. Meanwhile, with little pomp or ceremony, two local films have been […]
Shaun de Waal CD of the week I aint down here for your money, I aint down here for your love, sings Nick Cave on the first song of the new Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (DGR). Im down here for your soul. Whether playing the hellfire preacher or the devils advocate, […]
Stuart Millar He is probably the best-selling poet of all time after William Shakespeare and Lao Tzu. His books have sold more than 10-million copies in English alone. Even now, he is revered as a guru and an inspiration of the New Age movement. But now, 75 years after the publication of his most famous […]
The apartheid government was responsible for many disasters, but not for the Helderberg air crash, argues Robert Kirby Here’s a little paradox to tickle your logic. After carefully planning the crime, you have just shot and killed someone. Things don’t go as smoothly as you planned. As you hurry away from the scene of your […]
A black commercial farmer in the Free State claims to have been sabotaged by some of his white counterparts, writes Ann Eveleth The vultures started descending on Isaac Khumalo’s Vredefort farm soon after he took the plunge into commercial agriculture in December 1995. Thirty-one-year-old Khumalo, the Free State vice-chair of the Emerging Red Meat Producers […]
Mungo Soggot Penuell Maduna’s efforts to distance himself from Liberian consultant Emanuel Shaw II have been undermined by testimony from his own confidant at the state oil company. The minister of minerals and energy’s main contact at the company, Brian Casey, has given Public Protector Selby Baqwa’s inquiry into the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) detailed […]
Brenda Atkinson Anybody who believes the local art world is without interest or innovation should immediately let the snap and crackle of their modems take them to two local websites worthy of some dedicated surfing. First let your art beat and do other surprising things at Artthrob.co.za. This one-woman online arts mag is the work […]
Christine Gordon With Angola’s peace process at breaking point, the government in Luanda is mobilising its army to block any further advances by opposition movement Unita. No direct fighting has been reported, but the government is preparing for war. Unofficial estimates put Unita’s military capacity at 30 000 armed troops, a militia of 60 000 […]
Lauren Shantall On show in Cape Town Absolut Vodka is conquering new territory, pith helmet firmly in place. The boozy struggle for Africa has begun, as the companys marketing machine seeks the next slick promo in its infinite series of witty takes on that bountiful bottle. Weve had Absolut Stockholm, Absolut Vienna, Absolut London, Absolut […]
You can negotiate with your bank to get the best deal on your bond or car financing, writes Belinda Beresford Waking up after the night before, that faint hint of an ache in your forehead is a disagreeable reminder of the pain to come as the hangover hits with full force. Its the same wincing […]
Andy Duffy and Megan Voss The government is to send independent investigators into the University of the Transkei (Unitra) – the first time it has wielded the powers of intervention recently created through higher education legislation. The probe, due to start this weekend, will focus on what government officials have termed a “police state” allegedly […]
Gregory Mills French President Jacques Chirac’s visit to South Africa this week occurs at a moment of transformation in France’s relationship with Africa. It also comes at a particularly bad time for Africa, with a number of states moving in status from “transition” to “upheaval”. Just four years ago, Paris’s compulsion to remain engaged with […]
Andrew Muchineripi World Cup Humility has never been a strong point of Philippe Troussier and so it proved again this week in the beautiful French city of Bordeaux as Bafana Bafana bowed out of the World Cup. Perhaps capitulated would be a better word. France proved generous hosts by defeating Denmark in the final round […]
Tangeni Amupadhi The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has decided that people responsible for human rights atrocities in African National Congress detention camps will not have to testify publicly about their deeds. Dumisa Ntsebeza, head of the commission’s investigative unit, said this week public hearings on Quatro and other camps will not fit into the commission’s […]
Andrew Muchineripi Analysis The appointment of a new national coach and a four-year plan leading to the 2002 World Cup must be the immediate priorities of the South African Football Association (Safa). Never again must the pride of the nation have three coaches in four months and never again must preparations be so chaotic as […]
Bruno Peltier During the first press conference he has given in his own country for six years, the Swedish film and theatre director Ingmar Bergman seemed relaxed. He had quit his island retreat in the Baltic to announce that he is working on a screenplay. It is clearly a project close to his heart. Bergman, […]
Neil Manthorp in Cambridge Cricket The arrangement of storms and lulls, peaks and troughs has been clever so far on tour, by and large. Cambridge is a lovely city and the combined universities provide talented but not fierce opposition. Most importantly, Cambridge provides the perfect opportunity to allow the ripples and tremors from the Lords […]
Charl Blignaut On show in Johannesburg Should you happen to walk all the way to the back of the large, depressingly cold main entrance level of the Civic Theatre in Johannesburg; and then should you stumble down a couple of stairs and take a turn to the right; there you will come upon a tiny […]
Wally Mbhele An African National Congress statement this week conceding that detained foreign affairs official Robert McBride was framed by agents of the former government came after weeks of differences in the party about its approach to the issue. It is understood the matter came to a head recently when a briefing document on McBride […]
Ann Eveleth Mothinya Molakeng (53) quit his job as an agricultural extension worker in 1994 to farm the land from which the former government brutally evicted his and 124 other families in 1978. He is still waiting. The commission on land allocation, set up in the dying days of the National Party’s reign, agreed in […]
Angella Johnson Pity Philippe Troussier. The Frenchman with the poor interpersonal skills has emerged as the national scapegoat for Bafana Bafana’s less- than-sparkling performance in the World Cup. The charges: that as a foreigner he lacks any real understanding of the way football is played in this country; and that he deliberately sabotaged the first […]
Richard Tomlinson outlines a truly African scenario for Johannesburg in the 21st century Mayivuke, an inner-city vision and development strategy for Johannesburg, was launched with fanfare and great expectations a year ago. But its vision was vague and unrealistic, probably because it was not underpinned by an examination of economic and social trends. Business leaders […]
clues The Karoo is the richest repository of therapsid fossils, the group that gave rise to early mammals, writes Ellen Bartlett To the average motorist passing through it, generally at an unconscionably high rate of speed, the Karoo is that barren bit of infinity that must be crossed to get to Cape Town or Johannesburg: […]
John Grobler Angolan civilians began fleeing into Namibia this week as both the Luanda government and its Unita foes started forcibly recruiting soldiers. But both could find it hard to recruit willing soldiers to a new war, Angolan watchers said. Last Saturday June 20, about 100 Angolan civilians crossed into Namibia from southern Angola. The […]
Phillip Kakaza Puffing cigarettes, gulping tots of whisky and uttering words of wisdom in preparation for some smooth, mellow music to be rendered by a four-piece band called Basadi was the order of a chilly evening at Kippies. But the waiting was rather too long in a gloomy venue that breathes cold air up your […]
take back land Mercedes Sayagues They trickled in, women with bundles on their heads, men on bicycles. In small groups they camped on four commercial farms in Marondera, 70km east of Harare. They arrived on June 17, and today there are perhaps up to 1 000 men and women from 20 villages in the dirt-poor […]
Andrew Worsdale Interview: John Landis Last month I was very privileged to have a phone interview with one of my favourite comedy directors of all time John Landis. Youve got to love the man who made Kentucky Fried Movie, An American Werewolf in London and The Blues Brothers. His follow-up to that car-smashing, head- banging,rhythmnblues […]