Staff Reporter

Hazel Friedman CONFUSION reigns at the Pact ballet and dance companies as members and mana= gem ent come to terms with their imminent transition from a government-supporte= d d ance company to what they hope to be an independent company – due to the dr= ast ic reduction in state funding. This week, for example, […]

SOCCER:Andrew Muchineripi AS the South African Football Association (Safa) seeks solutions to its man= y p roblems, they could do much worse than phone 643-3341 and ask for Mr Trevor= Ph illips. The chief executive officer of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) may not have= al l the answers to all the questions, but the […]

Victoria Brittain KOIGI WA WAMWERE, Kenya’s best-known opposition politician, predicts he will die in a stabbing or car crash when he returns to the country to face yet another trial, for an alleged theft of arms from a police station in November 1993. He has served a year of a four-year jail sentence, was temporarily […]

Ghetto Diaries, the award-winning M&G-TV series, starts a new season. ANDRE= W W ORSDALE previews=20 WHEN I was asked to cover the new series of Mail & Guardian Television’s Gh= ett o Diaries I told editorial and filmic staff there was no way I could write = a r eview as an advertorial. I was […]

Greg Bowes BRENDA FASSIE: Now Is The Time (CCP) THE controversial and incontrovertible Ms Brenda Fassie returns clad as the= ar chetypal “girlie” raver. But don’t let that put you off because this album,= wh ile ironically not as dance-oriented as her last (the Arthur-produced Umunt= u =20 Uyathintsha), is still an accomplished outing. While […]

The ‘spy’ alleged to have known about Chris Hani’s assassination spoke to the M&G this week, reports Stefaans Brmmer MOHAMMED AMIN LAHER, whom the Mail & Guardian identified as the mystery “double agent” who had advance knowledge of Chris Hani’s assassination, this week claimed the death plot had been “a conspiracy on both sides of […]

Mungo Soggot CRAIG WILLIAMSON, the spy turned media celebrity, was “contemptuous” in his attitude toward the justice system and the truth commission, the Pretoria Supreme Court heard this week. Williamson was appearing in the first round of a case that could become a landmark clash between the truth commission and the justice system. He is […]

Smoke a mountain-fresh rush HOW does menthol get into menthol cigarettes? – Charlene, Benoni THOSE of you who have suffered head colds or sore throats will be familiar with the mountain-fresh rush of menthol that brings instant relief. In fact, the menthol that is used by the food and pharmaceutical industry is the same as […]

Rehana Rossouw A STELLENBOSCH family facing eviction from the labourers’ cottage they occupied for 50 years won a costly three-month reprieve last weekend when Land Affairs Minister Derek Hanekom stepped in to help them. Hanekom – who is attempting to limit the evictions of rural farmers through new legislation – managed to persuade the farm […]

Charl Blignaut THE Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Lionel Mtshali, this= we ek finally announced the list of who will be serving on the most powerful a= rts body yet established in post-apartheid South Africa, the National Arts Cou= nci l (NAC). But, while general reaction to the list has been favourable, there= […]

What is reconciliation? Who does it benefit?Antjie Krog probes differing views on the concept THERE was Tom and there was John. Tom lived opposite John. One day, Tom stole John’s bicycle and every day John saw Tom cycling to school on his bicycle. A year later, Tom walked up to John. He stretched out his […]

Caitlin Davies in Maun GOOD rains in Namibia recently have delayed plans to pipe water from the Okavango River down to Windhoek – siphoning it off before it ever reaches the unique Okavango Delta in northern Botswana – but as far as Botswana is concerned, the controversy is not over yet. Though everyone agrees the […]

We cannot afford to react to the market clamour by lifting exchange controls too quickly, writes Madeleine Wackernagel WITH the recent strengthening of the rand, the issue of lifting exchange controls is once again on the table. Every time the market rumours gain volume, the Reserve Bank rapidly quashes them; this time was no different. […]

Madeleine Wackernagel AFTER the sharp deterioration in October/November, the business confidence ind ex for December/January showed a recovery of one percentage point. The reason, says the South African Chamber of Business (Sacob), which compiles the index, is partly a turnaround in sentiment, thanks to the stronger rand, the prospect of a cut in interest rates, […]

The exhibition at South Africa’s National Gallery in Cape Town offers a spe= ctr um of insights into a troubled decade. JULIA TEAL reports LOOKING at the work presently on display at the South African National Gall= ery , there is an almost tangible sense of the weight that the institution carr= ies as one […]

An NGO which has been involved in drafting a code of ethics for the sector is in the spotlight for other reasons, reports Rehana Rossouw A PRIME mover behind the creation of a code of ethics for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is involved in a bitter dispute with a former employee, which has dragged his organisation […]

Dennis Mair FOR the next two weeks, Gallery Mau Mau in Cape Town shifts focus from the = ost entation of the art world to the thrill of B-schlock, exploitation filmogra= phy and pure horror. Amid projections and popcorn, administrators David L Dei = and Craig E Parker describe the ensemble as “a terrorism of […]

Claudia Braude ‘MANAGING the package” is how truth commissioner Hugh Lewin describes selecting 12 statements from 150 submitted for public hearings in one community. “Which is the story to choose, the story we say you should hear?” he asks. He’s upfront about the process, difficulties and discomfort involved in narrating the role of the Truth […]

TENNIS:Jon Swift IT is well, with the weekend’s Davis Cup World Group tie at Durban’s Westr= idg e Park in view, to keep an eye on the quintessential cornerstone of the Rus= sia n psyche – hardship is not a new phenomenon, it is to be both expected and = end ured. The Russians go […]

MARIA McCLOY talks to Skeem, a bright new South African group who are mixin= g s tyles and doing their own musical thing SKEEM broke on to the local music scene in September last year with the rel= eas e of their song Waar Was Jy? In terms of both lyrics and style they were […]

Jim Day DOCTOR Eva Ngwenya-Seobi points to the tiny male genitals, the little feet and the thumb inserted contentedly in the mouth of the 12-week-old human foetus she keeps in a jar of formaldehyde. It is obvious, she says, that this thumb-sized boy floating in his amniotic sac was a living, kicking person before he […]

Iden Wetherell reports on the political=20 crisis facing Zimbabwe’s tourism industry ZIMBABWE’S National Parks Department, due=20 to host a summit of the Convention on=20 International Trade in Endangered Species=20 (Cites) in Harare in June, is facing a=20 leadership crisis which has badly dented=20 its reputation as one of Africa’s most=20 effective wildlife managers. The department […]

After recovering from a head injury, it’s=20 downhill all the way for South Africa’s=20 one-man team at the world skiing champs SKIING:Julian Drew IT requires a certain amount of courage to=20 ski at 140km/h down a 52 degree slope when=20 the slightest misjudgment in the blinding=20 glare of the sun can prove extremely=20 hazardous. To […]

The Black Editors Forum is adamant Sanef will not undermine its black interests. Jacquie Golding-Duffy reports EFFORTS by the South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) to unite editors, irrespective of colour, are being overwhelmed by the increasingly high profile and growing influence of the Black Editors Forum (BEF). Sanef, founded in October last year, aims […]

KwaZulu-Natal’s premier-in-waiting is a=20 cautious, sauve politician with an=20 impressive resum=E9, reports Ann Eveleth KWAZULU-NATAL’S premier-designate, Ben=20 Ngubane, has signalled he will do Inkatha=20 Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s=20 bidding, rather than risk the fate of his=20 colleagues.=20 In an interview with the Mail & Guardian=20 this week, Ngubane stressed that he would=20 not make […]

THE ANGELLA JOHNSON INTERVIEW PAM WHYTE has the mind of an exuberant=20 five-month-old Dobermann pinscher. Well,=20 that’s what she says. “I try to think like=20 the animal I’m helping,” explains the 55- year-old dog psychologist. “Actually, I=20 prefer the term dog communication=20 specialist,” she corrects briskly, giving=20 me a blast of the no-nonsense tone used […]

A trip to Xiamen reveals a thriving metropolis. Madeleine Wackernagel reports on China’s experiment with capitalism THE brand new, marble and chrome airport at Xiamen was the first surprise. The second, how busy the city was on a Sunday night. Street cleaners were out in force, McDonald’s was doing a roaring trade and everywhere there […]

Derek Hanekom said this week he was=20 piloting legislation to limit evictions of=20 rural families. But this may be too late=20 for one family, reports Rehana Rossouw=20 KATRINA WILLIAMS has lived on the farm “La=20 Verger” near Stellenbosch for 50 years,=20 working there as a domestic worker for its=20 owners for 45 years. Her loyalty […]

Mail & Guardian Reporter THE Johannesburg Bar enjoyed another round=20 of debate this week over its controversial=20 northern suburbs consultation rooms, with=20 increasing signs that those in favour of=20 the suburban set-up want full-time chambers=20 there. The rooms in Sandton are the headquarters=20 of the newly formed Arbitration Foundation=20 of Southern Africa. There are also=20 […]

GOLF:Jon Swift THERE has always been an intense feeling of=20 calm about the way Mark McNulty has gone=20 about his chosen profession. In many ways=20 he is the model every aspirant professional=20 golfer should strive to emulate. This unflappability probably first came to=20 the fore at a rain-soaked Bryanston Country=20 Club course fully two decades […]

Chris McGreal reports from Kibungo prison=20 on the desperate hopes of Hutus facing the=20 firing squad for their part in the genocide=20 IF anything shakes Deogratias Bizimana’s=20 misplaced belief that he will live to see=20 his 39th birthday, it is the business with=20 his wife. Leaning against the wall of Kibungo=20 prison’s condemned cell, the […]

Lesley Cowling THE scientific community in South Africa=20 and internationally are speculating that=20 the active ingredient of Virodene is an=20 industrial solvent called dimethylformamide=20 (DMF). DMF is used in laboratories to=20 “denature” DNA, a process that releases it=20 from its double strand shape. Medical researchers say DMF is also the=20 agent used by Pretoria researcher […]