BONGANI NDODANA on a local composer who left the country to pursue his craft THE grass is certainly much greener in Europe, where a generation of classical composers from Southern Africa have been exiled by their craft and formed what seems to be a musical diaspora. Unlike their predecessors Priaulx Rainier and John Joubert, who […]
Glynis O’Hara IN the Afrika Oye! concert featuring Cameroonian Brice Wassy, Mabe Thobejane and Madala Kunene at the Johannesburg city hall tonight, there’s a quiet, unnoticed victory to be noted for one of the musicians. His name is Sello Montwedi (33), and a year ago he was flat on his back in intensive care, paralysed […]
SOUTH AFRICAN publisher Gecko Books is offering a prize of R1 000 for the best short story on the theme of a future South Africa. What will life be like in this country in the next century? That’s the question that has to be addressed – whether seriously or humorously. The publishers hope to compile […]
MALAYSIA TO BUY COPTERS VISITING Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad said on Wednesday that “chances are good” that his country buy South Africa’s Rooivalk military helicopters. Defence Minister Joe Modise will visit Malaysia in November to finalise the deal. Earlier, Mahathir received South Africa’s highest award, the Order of Good Hope, from President […]
WEDNESDAY, 6.30PM FORMER defence minister Magnus Malan told the Truth Commission today that murdered Swapo lawyer Anton Lubowski was a paid agent of South African Military Intelligence, which therefore had no reason to kill him. Malan first made the allegations soon after Lubowski’s murder. “What I said in Parliament then I stick to. Check the […]
FINE ART: Hazel Friedman PASCUAL TARAZONA is undoubtedly a material man. Acclaimed in the 1970s and 80s as an award-winning designer of beautiful clothes for equally beautiful women, the Spanish- born artist’s love affair with sensual, layered textures continues into his his painting. And in his most recent body of work currently on display at […]
A clash between Soweto giants Chiefs and Pirates is always a heated affair, but with both teams desperate for maximum points Saturday’s match is bound to be a sizzler SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi ONE does not require an advanced football coaching certificate to realise that Orlando Pirates striker Jerry Sikhosana is going to receive careful attention […]
WEDNESDAY, 11.00AM: THE SA Football Association has given up trying to meet its Zairean counterpart to discuss the threatened Zairean withdrawal from the World Cup because of financial problems. Safa boss Danny Jordaan said every effort had been made to contact the Zaireans, but to no avail. It would now be up to Zaire to […]
If the South African Football Association was a soccer team, it would be facing relegation, but new CEO Danny Jordaan is hoping to make some changes SOCCER:Julian Drew AFTER the revelations of the Pickard Commission of Inquiry and the subsequent removal of South African Football Association (Safa) president Stix Morewa, public confidence in the administration […]
WEDNESDAY, 6.30PM THE Independent Broadcast Authority failed to allocate resources effectively “and with probity” and there was evidence of a serious lack of financial controls, the Auditor General’s damning report to parliament said today. (Wednesday) The report says a fundamental review of the way the IBA conducts its finances is required. The report confirms widespread […]
GWEN ANSELL profiles Brice Wassy, `king of makossa’ and one of the performers in the Afrika Oye! concert performers CAMEROONIAN music found its international fame with Manu Dibangu and Soul Makossa. So, initially, did the imported star of tonight’s city hall rhythmfest, drummer Brice Wassy. But there’s rather more to Cameroonian music than makossa, and […]
WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM GOVERNMENT has announced a deal with an international consortium led by Phillips oil to prospect for oil and gas deposits along a 1 500km stretch of seabed off the KwaZulu-Natal coast. The consortium involves Phillips, with a 40% interest, and PanCanadian Petroleum, Energy Africa and Sasol, each with 20%. If oil or gas […]
LIVE MUSIC: Maria McCloy IT must have been a record – a local concert featuring some of South Africa’s hottest acts actually started and finished on time. But then again, maybe the Benson & Hedges Golden Tones bash last Saturday could have waited a little longer to get going: when I walked in at 6pm, […]
WEDNESDAY, 6.30PM PLAIN CLOTHES officials from the Mpumalanga safety and security department were rebuked by chief magistrate Heinrich Moldenhauer for intimidating witnesses at his inquiry into fake drivers’ licences. Moldenhauer summoned assistant director Phillip Mahlangu to his chambers, and complained to Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa. A group of half a dozen officials stood outside the […]
Jonathan Romney THE word “epic” has been rather devalued in cinema ever since they revved up the chariots in the original silent Ben-Hur. This week, however, epic cinema returns to its classical roots, with the release of Ulysses’ Gaze, the latest film by Greek director Theo Angelopoulos. Over three hours, Harvey Keitel’s modern Homeric hero […]
SOUNDTRACKS ON CD: Shaun de Waal MOVIE soundtracks – the compilations of miscellaneous pop/rock tracks, not the original film scores – are highly favoured by record companies because of their commercial potential. Nine of them are sitting on this week’s Billboard Top 100. Such collections can often spark interesting juxtapositions between songs one might not […]
WEDNESDAY, 11.00AM: TINY Sanet Marais won the 54-hole strokeplay section of the 1997 Bell’s Women’s Open amateur championship at Killarney, Johanesburg yesterday. Marais, of Maccauvlei Golf Club near Vereeniging, took both the strokeplay and matchplay titles in the same tournament in 1994. At the start of yesterday’s last round, she stood level at 146 with […]
Barbara Ludman QUITE UGLY ONE MORNING by Christopher Brookmyre (Little, Brown, R59,75) THERE’S a certain attraction to a book which clearly sets out to be the most disgusting read of the year. Investigative reporter Jack Parlabane, hiding in Edinburgh from contract killers out to get him at his most recent port of call, Los Angeles, […]
Maria McCloy SOUTH AFRICAN pop star Brenda Fassie has often been referred to as the “black Madonna”. But a local music magazine has taken the comparison a bit too far. The May 1997 debut issue of e’Vibe, “the only specialist pop magazine in the country”, has run an interview with Fassie titled Talking with Brenda […]
WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM HOUSING Minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele yesterday announced a plan to force builders using government subsidies to register, in an attempt to prevent consumers from rip-offs by imposing acceptable construction standards. The registration plan, which has drawn flak from major builders, involves the granting of statutory powers to the national Home Builders’ Association to impose […]
John Sturrock HOW PROUST CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE by Alain de Botton (Picador, R126) THE montage on the jacket of this slim volume is ominous: why should the gloomy Marcel Proust pictured there have a lurid bird clawing at his shoulder? Is it perhaps a parrot, echoing the unfortunate claim in the blurb that How […]
Crippled sports stars swear by him, but orthodox medicine frowns. David Davies meets Hans-Wilhelm Mller-Wohlfahrt, the doctor who rescued Jose Maria Olazabal from despair WHEN Jose Maria Olazabal, hunched against the pain and walking on his heels, limped slowly and very sadly into the Munich consulting rooms of Dr Hans-Wilhelm Mller- Wohlfahrt there was no […]
Chris Dunton FOUR PLAYS compiled and introduced by Zakes Mda (Vivlia, R49,99) THE earliest play here is Maishe Maponya’s Umongikazi/The Nurse, dating from 1983. The premire production toured Europe, though deprived of its two leading performers who were refused travel documents “for security reasons”. That was then – and indeed the play’s subject-matter was itself […]
TUESDAY, 9.00AM ENERGY Minister Penuell Maduna yesterday accused the multinational oil companies of exercising a stranglehold on the local oil industry. He suggested instead a government-backed national oil distributor, with a black empowerment share, which would redistribute its profits inside the country. Maduna said the oil industry benefitted from sanctions-era agreements to encourage multinationals to […]
NEW FRONT IN DRUG WAR A GROUP calling itself “Soldiers of Islam” today claimed responsibility for last night’s firebombing of a house in Lenasia, near Johannesburg. An anonymous caller said Soldiers of Islam will continue to bomb houses belonging to drug dealers. The firebombing adds a new twist to the ongoing war between Cape Flats […]
MONDAY, 4.30PM LABOUR consultants Andrew Levy & Associates today published its quarterly wgae report, which shows that wages in SA increased by an average of 9,1% in the first three months of this year, just below the 9,6% average inflation rate so far this year. Researcher Jackie Kelly said wage increases across all industries ranged […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM: UNITED States soccer authorities have invited SA to an international friendly in Miami, Florida in September, Safa CEO Danny Jordaan said yesterday. However, Bafana Bafana’s tight schedule for the rest of the year might mean them turning down the invitation. The team has still to play 10 international matches this year, and September […]
TUESDAY, 9.00AM TRANSPORT Minister Mac Maharaj and Mozambican public works minister Roberto White yesterday signed the three contracts to begin construction of the R3 million toll road from Witbank to Maputo. The road will give Gauteng access to the sea 150km closer than Durban. Building will start in November and take four years. The road […]
MONDAY, 11.00AM The troubled livestock industry will commission analysis of the entire feed chain from farm lots to mills to increase efficiencies and cut costs in the face of foreign competition. The analysis follows a study by the consultancy Agrimaker Trends which warned that such sectors as livestock production, animal feed production and abattoirs are […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM: THE SA Football Association is to hold an urgent meeting tomorrow with its Zairean counterpart to seek clarity on Zaire’s threat to pull out of the World Cup competition. The Zairean Leopards have been forced to play all recent matches on neutral territory due to the Zairean civil war, which has sapped their […]
TUESDAY, 3.30PM: TRANSKEI attorney-general Christo Nel today told the National Assembly’s justice committee that he dropped his bribery prosecution of casino king Sol Kerzner and former Cape Town mayor David Bloomberg because one of his key witnesses had died and another, former Transkei prime minister George Matanzima, was “belligerent, unreliable and obstreperous”. Nel said Matanzima […]
TUESDAY, 9.00AM The price of housing has fallen for the eighth successive quarter, says the latest Absa housing review. The price of housing has fallen by six percent in real terms since January 1, allowing for inflation. The weak housing market has also slowed down a rise in building costs, which grew by 4,3%, compared […]