Shirley Kossick LOVE INVENTS US by Amy Bloom (Picador, R118,00) THE American writer Amy Bloom’s fine collection of interconnecting short stories, Come to Me (1994), often read like a novel. Love Invents Us, her first novel, often seems like several short stories strung together around the central character, Elizabeth Taube. This impression is strengthened by […]
FRIDAY, 3.00PM UNITED Nationa officials on Friday said Unita forces had attacked and occupied Angola’s north-east frontier post in Lunda Norte province, in contravention of the 1997 Lusaka ceasefire accord. Members of the United Nations Observer Mission (Monua) who travelled to the area said in a statement they found the post had been occupied by […]
THURSDAY, 4.00PM THE United Nations will host a pan-African forum in Addis Ababa from Friday, at which senior officials from 15 African states will meet their counterparts from 18 donor countries to discuss development issues. UN secretary-general Kofi Annan will deliver the keynote address to the forum, held under the umbrella of the Organisation of […]
A new industrial strategy shows Gauteng’s future lies in hi-tech industries, reports Charlene Smith GAUTENG has no hope of achieving the 6% growth target set out in the government’s growth, employment and redistribution (Gear) strategy if it continues on its present course, according to a study commissioned by the Gauteng Economics Department. The year-long study […]
David Macfarlane TRANSGRESSING BOUNDARIES: NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE STUDY OF CULTURE IN AFRICA edited by Brenda Cooper and Andrew Steyn (University of Cape Town Press, R74,94) THIS scintillating collection of essays derives from a conference organised in 1993 by the Centre for African Studies at the University of Cape Town. The “boundaries” of the title […]
FRIDAY, 11.00AM GOLD Fields SA set the scene for the gold quarterly reporting season on Thursday by posting an 18,6% drop in profits for the June quarter. Although the fall was not as bad as the company had expected, continuing losses at Leeudoorn mine may lead to its closure. The group said it is reviewing […]
Young guns Ernie Els and Tiger Woodswill be battling each other, but the tough Royal Troon course might be the winner in the British Open GOLF: Andrew Spencer IT is nice to know that in a world dominated by the big buck and the superstars of the US PGA tour, a quietly deceptive layout on […]
Hazel Friedman NOSES have not yet been broken in the build- up to this year’s Johannesburg Biennale. But some might be put out of joint due to confusion over who is running South Africa’s second international art extravaganza, and over who will fund it. Officially, the man at the helm is the Nigerian-born New York-based […]
FENCING:Julian Drew NEXT week the first-ever world championships in an Olympic sport to take place in South Africa will be held in Cape Town when the World Fencing Championships are staged at a newly constructed venue in Culemborg. Just weeks before the 2004 Olympic Games decision in Lausanne it is important for Cape Town that […]
champion TENNIS:Richard Williams THE means were predictable, the method was not. The Wimbledon final was certainly won, as advertised, by Pete Sampras’s serve but not, in this instance, by the 208km/h fireballs that had reduced his opponents to cinders in the earlier rounds. In a match falling some way short of greatness Sampras demonstrated his […]
Stand-up comedian John Vlismas is heading for the international stage. ALEXANDER SUDHEIM laughs along HE skids on to stage, a lunatic druid on bad speed. Collides with the microphone. Glares at the audience with gargoyle eyes; shaven head; undertaker’s suit. Weird beard; hideous raptor leer. Explodes into bursts of language like a runaway catherine wheel […]
FRIDAY, 8.00AM A SECURITY company manager in Harare opened fire on 200 employees on Thursday who were stoning the company’s offices, demanding 50% pay rises. He injured 18 workers. The workers burnt a dozen company motorbikes before police arrived to quell the riot and arrest the manager. THURSDAY, 4.00PM MORE than 11 000 Zimbabwean railway […]
Gwen Ansell on Steven Berkoff GRAHAMSTOWN adores Steven Berkoff (right). Even after he referred to their quaint town as a “dump”, festinos still packed the theatre and gave the man a gushing standing ovation. The media, echoing the festival programme, have proclaimed him this year’s emperor. Problem is, despite the mildewed tailcoat, the Hamletian black […]
Financial planning can be a minefield for the unaware. Ferial Haffajee looks at the basics WITH new products appearing on the market almost daily, the potential investor is easily overwhelmed. Between the bulls and bears, trusts, equities, money market funds, and now offshore options, personal financial planning can become a minefield for the unaware. So, […]
The Cape Town 2004 Olympic Bid’s attempts to `Africanise’ its programme may be too little, too late, argues Julian Drew DEPUTY Foreign Affairs Minister Essop Pahad has shared a vital fact with Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, a fact that has so far eluded the bid company: the first known records of organised sport are from […]
ASMAL BACKS CEASEFIRE NATIONAL Conventional Arms Control Committee chair and Water Minister Kader Asmal has agreed with the Ceasefire Campaign that the SA armaments industry is overemphasising its contribution to the economy. Ceasefire representative Heike Spiegelberg said: “The income generated by arms exports last year was a mere R900-million, which still needs to be balanced […]
The plot to overthrow Mobutu Sese Seko originated not in the Congo but in Rwanda, before the campaign actually began. John Pomfret reports from Kigali, Rwanda RWANDA’S powerful Defence Minister Paul Kagame has acknowledged for the first time his country’s key role in the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko in the Democratic Republic of Congo, […]
THURSDAY, 6.00PM THE Producer Price Index fell to an annual 8,4% in May, 0,4 of a percentage point lower than the figure for April, the Central Statistical Servise said on Thursday. The PPI for locally produced commodities stood at 8,9%, 0,8 of a percentage point lower than the corresponding annualised rate in April. The PPI […]
FRIDAY, 1.30PM EXPLOSIVES and chemicals giant AECI has been found causally negligent in relation to the huge fire at its Somerset West sulphur stockpile on December 16 1995. The Desai commission of inquiry into the fire published its report on Thursday, in which it noted that since the stockpile’s establishment in 1967 to the time […]
The falling gold price has shattered the fortunes of the South African mining industry, and the lives of hundreds of thousands who depend on mining jobs for their survival Angella Johnson THE round metal Lesotho pot was boiling nicely. Makabelo Ntaote added more cow dung and wood to the fire. She used to have a […]
FRIDAY, 10.00AM: MICHAU WARRIORS’ hopes of staying on for yet another year in the elite Premier Soccer League were dashed on Thursday, when the South African Football Association (Safa) appeal board dismissed Warriors’ appeal against a disciplinary commitee’s decision to award two league points to rivals AmaZulu. The disciplinary committee last month ruled that AmaZulu […]
This weekend ANC heavyweights visit Richmond to win support in the coming council by-elections. Wonder Hlongwa reports P0LICE and army forces will be on guard in Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal, this weekend when the African National Congress launches its campaign for local council by-elections. The elections should have been held in May, but were postponed because of […]
Authorities appear to be baffled by the rise of one of the scariest illnesses around, writes Ann Eveleth THE horrible death of a West Rand man from a sickness linked to the one which sparked Britain’s “mad cow disease” scare prompted a flurry of anxious denials this week from South African authorities. Ironically, the authorities’ […]
Hazel Friedman THE future is looking upbeat for local music as M-Net gets planning on its first pan- African satellite music channel. The as yet unnamed channel will be broadcast from the beginning of September for 24 hours a day. It joins an already substantial international bouquet which includes Carlton Network, BET on Jazz and […]
Julia Grey SOUTH AFRICA can be counted among the top 10 countries worldwide in the field of space technology. But according to Dr Kelvin Kemm, a South African nuclear physicist, South African industry and politicians alike have a misconception of space technology as “fun and games entertainment” instead of “the absolute new frontier of profit”. […]
FENCING:Julian Drew ALTHOUGH there will be more than 60 countries taking part in the Fencing World Championships in Cape Town next week, the medals are likely to be divided between only a few nations. The traditional fencing powers of France, Italy and Hungary, along with Russia – who have won more medals than any other […]
David Beresford NAMIBIAN security forces, acting with the encouragement of President Sam Nujoma, have been accused of responsibility for the murders and disappearance of 1 768 Angolans on its northern borders. The claim has been made by a Namibian human rights group, the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), which has been monitoring the alleged […]
Wally Mbhele GENERAL Bantu Holomisa this week blasted the African National Congress’s “witch- hunt” of its Womens’ League leader, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and its silence on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s investigation into her. His attack followed what seems to be an increasingly futile search by the commission for a key witness, Katiza Cebekhulu, who can […]
THURSDAY, 10.30AM The gold price edged lower on Wednesday after taking a breather from its headlong fall on Tuesday. The precious metral lost another $2,20 to close in London at $319,75, after seeing $315,75 in the morning. Local markets reflected bullion’s fortunes, with the JSE’s gold index losing 2% to end the day 18,4 points […]
NO PEACE IN BRAZZAVILLE HEAVY weapons fire continued in the Congolese capital Brazzaville on Thursday. On Wednesday, the head of the national mediation committee, Brazzaville mayor Bernard Kolelas, indefinitely postponed political talks to seek a negotiated solution to the crisis after former strongman Denis Sassou Nguesso refused to attend. According to Sassou Nguesso’s spokesman Francois […]
THURSDAY, 2.00PM SOLDIERS are attempting to form an army trade union, called the SA National Defence Union, and may go to court to force the military to lift its ban on union activities. The union claims that army officers have barred members from organising for the union or wearing union T-shirts, and have insisted that […]
THURSDAY, 11.30AM EXPORTS of SA-built motor vehicles increased by 90% in the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to latest figures from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA. A total of 6 207 locally manufactured vehicles were exported between January and May this year, compared […]