THE march of Laurent Kabila and his spirited rebel army through the jungles of Zaire is less a war story than a tale of disintegration. If he had transport, Kabila would be in Kinshasa already, if there were roads. The difficult part only begins when he gets to the capital, when the euphoric crowds that […]
Chris McGreal writes from Kinshasa on the machinations behind the chaos in Zaire THE gatekeeper shakes his head in despair at mention of the leopards of President Mobutu Park. No one fed them, he says, until one by one they disappeared from their cages along with the lions and rhinos. Only a few starving monkeys […]
Lyndall Campher THE youth are notoriously fickle when viewing television and the past two weeks of data demonstrate some interesting insights. Firstly, the coloured, Indian and white (CWI) youth and the black youth view different programmes, and secondly the way they view tends to be different. The top ten programmes are: CWI Youth % Fresh […]
Allister Harry in Hollywood QUEEN LATIFAH is something of a repeat offender. The rapper-turned-actor repeatedly steals scenes from her co-stars Jada Pinkett and Vivica Fox in the new heist movie Set it Off, about four female bank robbers with attitude. Latifah is just one in a long line of rappers now making waves in Hollywood. […]
Mpumalanga government officials have repeatedly glossed over corruption in their ranks, reports Justin Arenstein INSTEAD of being charged or being held publicly accountable for the widespread maladministration which forced the government to dismantle the Mpumalanga Development Corporation, its CEO, Patrick Mogorosi, was granted a “generous settlement” and a promise not to discuss the issue by […]
Kiss your browser goodbye, Webcasting will facilitate easier access to the Net and appeal to advertisers, writes Jacquie Golding-Duffy THOSE fumbling with the Internet need no longer worry as a medium called Webcasting/Push technology will make a dramatic entry into the world of computers by pushing information on to a desktop without the need to […]
A remote-control robot that will pack them in at theme parks could also prove whether life on the moon is viable. Robin McKie reports IN a few weeks, a strange driverless vehicle will be dumped in the Atacama desert in northern Chile and sent trundling over its dunes in a two-month, 200km odyssey. The test […]
In his testimony to the Tebbutt Commission, Mangope laid blame on everyone but himself for the violence that engulfed Bophuthatswana in the last days of his regime, reports Stefaans Brmmer IN the old Bophuthatswana, the buck stopped a few desks short of Lucas Mangope’s. If it reached the top, it was handed back down again. […]
The parliamentary finance committee criticised slow Budget reform, but praised fiscal discipline, reports Lynda Loxton AFTER intensive week-long public hearings, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and his team were handed brickbats and bouquets from the parliamentary finance committee for the 1997/98 Budget. “Overall, the committee commends the minister for the manner in which this Budget balances […]
Justin Arenstein PROVINCIAL government dithering is hampering plans for a multi-million rand international airport in Mpumalanga. Two rival groups have tabled proposals to build an airport, and both claim the provincial government gave them the green light for their plans nearly 12 months ago. But officials say neither plan has been approved, and that the […]
Alex Brummer in London BRUSSELS has been rightly concerned that the Boeing/McDonnell Douglas merger is anti-competitive and will work against the interests of Airbus Industrie. But now it has something potentially even more serious to worry about. As Airbus chief Jean Pierson struggles to consummate his plan to bring Dasa of Germany, British Aerospace, Aerospatiale […]
A new age of African film dawned at Fespaco this year, reports ALEXA DALBY BURKINA FASO is one of the world’s poorest countries, but it has still co-financed 25 feature films and is the only country that thinks film-makers important enough to merit their own public monument. Two weeks ago, its capital, Ouagadougou, hosted the […]
Stephen Gray THE latest number of the six-monthly English in Africa shows a change of policy. Instead of the usual miscellany of learned articles, most of it is devoted to printing primary material that would not otherwise be available to the general reader. This is the very raw material, before the biographer gets to it. […]
BONGANI NDODANA discovers Gilgamesh, a serious musical collaboration that specialises and harmonises in world music SOMEWHERE in the imaginary crossroads between rock, classical music and the music of the East, floats the creative energies of an ambitious, quirky quartet of white twenty-somethings, striving to make sense of what seem to be musical contradictions. Labels are […]
Chris Dunton THE OPEN SORE OF A CONTINENT: A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF THE NIGERIAN CRISIS by Wole Soyinka (Oxford University Press, R161) IT has been a steady, cynical process over the last few years, Soyinka’s harassment by the Nigerian authorities, the confiscation of his passport and the attempt to seize the United Nations documents he […]
Mark Milner in London WORKERS in Europe’s steel industry are not having an easy time. In the United Kingdom, British Steel, rated as one of the world’s most efficient steel-makers, acknowledged it will be making deep cuts in its workforce over the next few years, although how deep it is not yet saying. In part, […]
Madeleine Wackernagel THE formation of the second-largest trade union federation this week drew a unanimously positive response, even from its bigger rival, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa), created through the merger of the Federation of South African Labour Unions (Fedsal) and the Federation of […]
Gillian Farquhar TELEVISION journalist Max du Preez has lashed out at the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) and The Flame Lily Foundation, an organisation which represents the interests of former Rhodesian citizens. Du Preez’s criticism stems from a complaint lodged by The Flame Lily Foundation about statements he made in the programme Truth […]
Tangeni Amupadhi and Stuart Hess A SELF-APPOINTED “guardian” of street children is due to appear in a Durban magistrate’s court this week to face charges of indecent assault on several children in his care. Reverend Livingstone Jacob, who founded and heads the Children Rights Ministry, was served with a summons this week to answer to […]
The auditor general has uncovered a sorry tale of money mismanagement within the government. Marion Edmunds reports THE government’s financial management has continued to deteriorate, with irregular spending running to more than R150-million in the 1995/96 fiscal year. Unveiling his annual report on national government accounts in Parliament on Wednesday, Auditor General Henri Kleuver said […]
Jim Day LUCAS Mangope is campaigning hard for a political comeback in the former Bophuthatswana, but so far his support base appears limited to the rural elderly and some disgruntled civil servants. He took time out on Tuesday to face a scolding by the Tebbutt Commission, but for the rest of the time Mangope is […]
Huge losses in revenue to pirates have goaded the music industry into constructive action, reports Glynis O’Hara IN China, eight people were executed last year for music piracy. “Just like that,” says Mike Snow, drawing a line across his throat with his finger. The trouble is, they weren’t the big guys. And, according to overseas […]
Running, swimming and jumping for joy Malcolm Pringle brings talent and sheer joy to his medal-winning performances, writes Julian Drew AS the surprise package in South Africa’s team at last year’s Paralympic Games in Atlanta, multiple medallist Malcolm Pringle was one of the star attractions at last week’s national championships for the physically disabled and […]
There is a possible breakthrough in negotiations between the weakening President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and rebel leader Laurent Kabila. Chris McGreal reports from Kinshasa ZAIREAN President Mobutu Sese Seko this week opened the door to negotiation with the rebel army advancing from the east, but on terms it is almost certain to reject. […]
From the Cape Flats to downtown Johannesburg hip-hop is rising on the streets. We look at its evolution and its roots – and at what’s going down in Hollywood Maria McCloy in Johannesburg HIP-HOP is worldwide, or so the saying goes. Well it’s true there are rappers all around the globe – stretching from what […]
done RUGBY: Jon Swift IT was, in the light of hindsight, perhaps too much to expect that this country could hold two World Cups simultaneously. The Fijians, certainly, were not going to allow that to happen and duly donned the sevens crown with a handsome, come-from-behind 24- 21 victory over South Africa in the final […]
The IFP has dictated to the new provincial premier whom to appoint to his Cabinet, reports Ann Eveleth INKATHA Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi appears to have blocked attempts by KwaZulu-Natal’s newly elected Premier Ben Ngubane to appoint a provincial Cabinet without his approval. IFP parliamentarians told the Mail & Guardian this week Ngubane -sworn […]
Susannah Frankel in Paris CALL it fin de sicle confusion if you will, but something, in fashion at least, is rotten. There was a cynicism underlying many of the so-called high points of the Paris autumn/winter ready-to-wear collections that made for uncomfortable viewing. Increased media attendance meant even fewer real clothes and more bare-faced sensationalism […]
While Sugar Ray Leonard was disappointing America, his arch-rival Marvin Hagler was making a new life in Italy. BOXING: Gavin Evans `HEY-a Giuseppe – come-a da here.” The Italian-American doing the shouting is Lou Duva, trainer of champions, and when Lou hollers, heads turn because he has a mouth on him, and connections, and a […]
THE ANGELLA JOHNSON INTERVIEW PICTURE this as the new corporate logo for South African Airways: a humongous image of Desmond Tutu’s beaming face emblazoned on the tail of the national carrier, with the words “gravy plane” running alongside. This was just one of the numerous items of “hate mail” Peter Vundla says his advertising agency, […]
Angella Johnson BABIES who survive abortion attempts should be left to die even as they gasp for breath, according to new guidelines for the termination of pregnancy laid out by the Department of Health, and sent to all major hospitals last week. Medical practitioners across the country have been told that in cases where gestation […]
Phil Gunson in Panama IF Balbina Dennis (right) had a computer she could visit a web site belonging to an organisation called Peoplink and see her picture on the screen. She lives, on a tiny island off the Panamanian coast called Kuna Yala, from where the inhabitants staged a decisive rebellion against the government 72 […]