Staff Reporter

POP & ROCK CDs: Shaun de Waal CHRISTMAS looms, and thus it is the time of the greatest hits compilation. There are various straightforward collections — Simply Red, Fine Young Cannibals, Van Halen, Queen, Roy Orbison, even Boney M — and then there are variations on the theme. Rod Stewart, for instance, has followed the […]

Angella Johnson THOUSANDS of people in Mpumalanga and the Western Cape have lost millions of rands following the collapse this week of a Cape Town pyramid investment scheme which targeted born-again Christians. Liquidators are to be appointed to deal with the Two H Group: they estimate that more than R100-million is involved. A police docket […]

Commentators believe Cosatu’s latest document is out of step with the ANC and worldwide economic trends, writes Madeleine Wackernagel THE latest submission to the economic debate by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) – A Draft Programme for the Alliance – has been largely ignored by the business community, but not for very […]

Angella Johnson IT was a Friday evening when “Joseph” and “Sinah” settled their two youngest children into bed and retired to their room. As was their custom, they made tea with a herbal concoction bought from the local sangoma. This time, unknown to them, it had been spiked with a deadly poison. On drinking the […]

Mail & Guardian Reporters FRANOIS PIENAAR’S agent, Zimbabwean businessman John Bredenkamp, has dismissed as “lies” the allegations that he was a top arms dealer. Bredenkamp said the Mail & Guardian in its article last week had repeated “lies” aired by Britain’s Channel 4, which broadcast a programme two years ago claiming he had conducted a […]

A secret memorandum reveals details of Project Natural, the latest weapon in the beer battle, reports Stefaans Brmmer A LEAKED internal memorandum shows how brewing giant South African Breweries (SAB) went on a near-war footing – in a multi- million rand campaign dubbed “Project Natural” – which enforces a company line on its products in […]

The new student leader aims to introduce a code of conduct that will clean up campuses, reports Joshua Amupadhi THE new president of South Africa’s leading student body is determined to end the widespread perception of his organisation as a trasher of campuses. Andile Sihlahla, elected last week to lead the South African Students’ Congress […]

case… admit guilt Mungo Soggot SAFETY and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi has ordered the police to bow out of a case brought against them by three widows of the victims of the 1989 Motherwell car bomb. He has instructed them to admit guilt for planting the bomb and to make an out-of- court settlement. Mufamadi, […]

The collapse of Mobutu Sese Seko’s control in Zaire has highlighted declining French influence. Chris McGreal in Kigali and David Harrison in Cameroon report ZAIRE’S cancer-ridden president, Mobutu Sese Seko, was carried to his latest television interview on a stretcher. Propped up in a chair in the plush French villa he may never leave, Zaire’s […]

Sometimes an unbeaten record can be as much of a burden as a bad run of losses CRICKET:V Roger Prabasarkar LIKE painters, musicians and sculptors, cricketers are very often not appreciated until they are dead – or at least retired. India seems to be full of “former greats” at the moment, many of whom were […]

A Cape Town conference last week pondered the impact of science and technology on culture, writes Lesley Cowling THERE’S a story of a Western explorer in Africa whose bearers sat down at the side of the path after carrying his goods for some hours and refused to continue the journey, despite his urging. They were […]

Until now, Home Affairs has not had to explain its decisions to refugees. It now must do so, writes Marion Edmunds FOUR Angolan refugees and the Human Rights Commission (HRC)have won a decisive legal victory over the Department of Home Affairs, forcing officials to explain why they accept some refugees as legitimate asylum-seekers, and reject […]

Hazel Friedman The Cape Town Symphony Orchestra (CTSO) will close unless R2-million is found before next Tuesday. This is the warning of CTSO publicist Shirley de Kock, who has embarked on a desperate rescue mission to save the beleagured orchestra. If the 82-year old veteran goes under, De Kock says, the future of the SABC’s […]

FILM: Derek Malcolm ‘SHE’S not far,” Mr Knightley tells Emma, when she complains that the marriage of Harriet has robbed her of her friend. “Almost half a mile,” complains her father in complete sympathy. Things that go on in the small town of Highbury indeed appear to be “of greater interest than the movement of […]

Denise Louw WRITTEN by talented young musician and composer Bongani Ndodana, South Africa’s first Xhosa opera, Temba and Seliba, premiered at the 1820 Settlers National Monument in Grahamstown on December 7. Nederburg Opera Prize-winner Gwyneth Lloyd researched and wrote the libretto for Temba and Seliba, a love story based on a conflation of two Xhosa […]

Bafana Khumalo ONE of the most enduring images I have of Hugh Masekela is that of stocky man surrounded by a band, hand raised and confronting an audience of rowdy revellers who would rather be sitting at a shebeen regaling each other with stories of sexual conquest than listening to jazz music. This would sometimes […]

Marion Edmunds THE National Party is not interested in recruiting African National Congress renegade Bantu Holomisa, says NP deputy secretary general David Malatsi, as he is on his way down. “He is not on our recruitment list,” he told the Mail & Guardian. “Personally, I am suspicious of his staying in power because to be […]

The bail system being applied by KwaZulu- Natal courts is contributing to a rise in political tension, reports Ann Eveleth INKATHA Freedom Party leader Biva Nkwenyana appeared in court last month in connection with three separate murder cases – including one allegedly committed after his first court appearance – but he is still out on […]

African radio is switching from being a vehicle of the state to one of commercial enterprise. Peter van den Akker reports A TAXI driver called Antwi, in Ghana’s capital Accra, roars with laughter. “She is a sugar mammy herself!” he exclaims, and to get his message across to his passengers, he points repeatedly to the […]

Controversy surrounds the killings at a platinum mine near Rustenburg last weekend. Joshua Amupadhi reports EVERY man was “a potential corpse” when violence spread last weekend near a Rustenburg platinum mine, resulting in the death of 32 men. Mine worker Solly Kokone, who was enjoying a mug of beer when the fighting began, told the […]

Tic Tic Bang has shown that there is room for competition in the local music industry. Glynis O’Hara reports TWO idealistic young men, who loved what South Africans might call alternatief (alternative) music, have proven that being big in the distribution business is not necessarily better. Anybody who knows anything about the music industry will […]

Applications for amnesty from the the PAC and ANC are pouring in to the truth commission, and with a likely extension of the cut-off date right-wingers will also be able to apply, writes Eddie Koch PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela is expected to cap a week of dramatic developments around the truth commission by announcing on Friday […]

Pro Sano, the third-largest medical aid scheme in the country, has run up R90- million losses and now faces serious charges of bribery and corruption. Marion Edmunds and Mungo Soggot report A TOP medical aid scheme for public servants is on the verge of collapse, racked by financial mismanagement and corruption allegedly involving leading insurance […]

Can a picture sell a thousand songs? GWEN ANSELL reports on the makeshift state of South African CD cover design, and some fresh new ideas ITS enemies claim that South African mass- market pop all sounds the same. Even its fans can’t deny that it all looks the same. Check out the serried ranks of […]

Mail & Guardian Reporter IT appears some unusually colourful curricula vitae have been thrown at the Judicial Services Commission which is selecting new permanent judges in Cape Town this week. In his enthusiasm for a seat on the Bench, one of the applicants, Solly Sithole of the University of the North, apparently flagged some of […]

Jacquie Golding-Duffy scrutinises the credentials of the newly appointed South African Broadcasting Corporation board members THE appointment of members to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board has been finalised, with President Nelson Mandela rubberstamping 16 of the 21 names submitted. But only five of the successful candidates seem to have specialist media experience, while […]

Lynda Loxton THE increased globalisation of the world economy is expected to have wide-ranging effects on both investors and consumers, Old Mutual International Asset Managers economic strategist Nigel Morgan said this week. Briefing journalists on his latest Market Focus, Morgan outlined why the kind of “neo- liberal” policies detested by Cosatu and others were needed […]

Former Robben Island prisoners are bitter at not being consulted about its development, reports Rehana Rossouw FORMER Robben Island prisoners have slammed their leadership for excluding them from plans to transform the island into a monument celebrating the struggle against apartheid. They claim promises that they would benefit from the island’s development have not been […]

Many South African companies still appear to be awarding their executives increases way above the rate of inflation. Max Gebhardt reports SOUTH AFRICAN captains of industry have yet again rewarded themselves pay increases far above the rate of inflation. While calling on unions and employees to “take the pain” for the good of the economy, […]

A retrospective of Jrgen Schadeberg’s work over the last 40 years confirms his enduring photographic eye. HAZEL FRIEDMAN spoke to him IT takes a strange kind of eye to be able to see life constantly through a lens — a kind of nomadic outsider-looking-inside perspective and a remarkable degree of detached curiosity. Not to mention […]

Contenders for Gauteng’s only medium wave licence are eagerly awaiting the IBA’s decision, reports Jacquie Golding-Duffy THE Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) faces a tough decision as the time draws near for it to award the single medium wave (MW) licence up for grabs in Gauteng. According to an IBA representative, the licence for Gauteng will […]

ART: Suzy Bell THE entire Victorian and Foreign collection should be sold,” said Andrew Verster with panache. “What?” shrieked the British Empire, “Has the man gone quite mad?” Certainly not. But have you walked into The “Pink Victorian Room” or “The Circular Gallery” lately? It reeks of colonialism — and we’re not just talking about […]