After spending a Sunday with the Mud Ensemble, CHARL BLIGNAUT finds that Johannesburg’s musical underground is alive and rocking TWO weeks ago I spun out,” says Juliana Venter, the singer with Mud Ensemble. “I never realised I had so much evil in me … So much power to hurt other people …” “It’s been a […]
Angella Johnson Interpol has joined in the hunt for a British man who drove off with two customised Land-Rovers stored at a BMW showroom in Johannesburg. South African police would like to interview 23- year-old Danny Lydon, who was captured on video stealing the Camel Adventure vehicles a day before skipping the country. Lydon, who […]
Jon Swift EVEN now, the name Dennis Lillee strikes a chord as being one of the world’s great quick bowlers. Perhaps the great West Indian Wes Hall is a bit further removed from memory than the angular Australian. But Cedrick English is taking the thoughts of both these towering exponents of seam with him to […]
Nicola Byrne THE first time Olympic gold medalist Josia Thugwane received any support from South African sporting authorities was when he arrived at Johannesburg International Airport to depart for the Games in Atlanta. On that occasion he was given a kit bag which held two Springbok strips to add to the six pairs of running […]
After two years of political bickering over competition legislation, a quick settlement from Nedlac appears unlikely, reports Mungo Soggot A clash between old- and new-guard lawyers is set to hang over the latest round of the anti-trust legislation debate, which will soon be taken on by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) — […]
FW de Klerk’s testimony before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission this week was widely billed as an “apology for apartheid”. In reality it was less a case of mea culpa than J’accuse. The African National Congress, he suggested, was more a hindrance to reform — which was firmly on track from 1978 — than a […]
Eddie Koch and Marion Edmunds A SINGLE incident is missing from the ANC’s submission to the truth commission and it speaks volumes about why both the African National Congress and the National Party this week failed, essentially, to take moral responsibility for the abuses committed by their members in the apartheid years. In July 1988 […]
Jon Swift IT is of more than passing interest that Bruce Fordyce, the man head-hunted to become the first paid executive director of the Sports Trust, admits freely to coming from a “priveleged, white background” and attributes much of his sporting success to this factor. For Fordyce now has the task of administering the body […]
Martin Thorpe PELE missed and Alex Ferguson reckons Nayim’s was a miskick. It took one of Manchester United’s young pretenders to show the world how to look up, take aim and score with a dazzling lob from halfway. And it came as no surprise that that man was David Beckham. If life is sweet for […]
The Human Rights Commission has been hampered by red tape, finances and now the resignation of Max Coleman, writes Gaye Davis HUMAN Rights commissioner Max Coleman cites “personal reasons” for his decision to resign from his post. But the word in human rights and legal circles is that his action was prompted by disillusionment fuelled […]
Affairs and Tourism in The Mark Gevisser Profile Of politics and hairdressing On the passage wall of Peter Mokaba’s Italianate Sandton villa is a painting of a white baby suckling at a black woman’s breasts. It is shocking for two reasons. Firstly, because its rawness is so out of place with the anodyne designer feel […]
Martin Thorpe MARTIN THORPE of the Guardian,” you say, offering your hand. “Gianluca Vialli,” comes the reply. Perhaps he thinks people in England do not know who he is. Such modesty comes as a shock. The severe haircut and ferocious grimace that sears his face when he plays give the impression of a short-tempered big- […]
Marion Edmunds The dispute over privatisation has shifted to the Department of Constitutional Development, with labour determined to block the contracting-out of basic municipal services to large multinational companies. Sensitive discussions are taking place between the department, provincial and national politicians, the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and representatives of the multinationals. Lyonnaise des […]
Ministers still refuse to set a timetable for privatisation and the lifting of exchange controls, writes Lynda Loxton The government dug in its heels this week in the face of mounting criticism about its economic policies and refused to give firm timetables for the key contentious issues of privatisation and the lifting of exchange controls. […]
Joshua Amupadhi Mining giant Gold Fields has finally admitted its men’s only hostel system may be at the root of violence which left 28 workers dead in the past month on three of its mines. Gold Fields representative Marion Brower said the company has begun setting up forums — a move to integrate workers regardless […]
The latest team to tackle Mount Everest has faced a sponsorship storm, reports Tara Turkington After months of struggling to obtain sponsorship, five mountaineers and a cameraman left for Tibet on Sunday August 16, in South Africa’s second-ever attempt at scaling Mount Everest. The battle for sponsorship followed the recent Sunday Times-sponsored expedition which saw […]
CINEMA: Andrew Worsdale reviews Beautiful Girls EARLIER this year, “women’s movies” were a dime a dozen on circuit. From How to Make an American Quilt to Now and Then, their stories focused on women’s desires and dreams and how men messed them around. By the end of the ride you’d had a couple of chuckles […]
A former Catholic altar boy is conducting a reign of terror in northern Uganda, targeting civilians and specialising in mass abduction, reports Robin Denselow MAJOR-GENERAL Salim Saleh peered through his Ray- Bans and pointed out beyond the army base to the green plains that stretch northwards from the little town of Gulu towards the Sudanese […]
Brennon Marcano Over R100-million in assets is up for grabs as the government decides the fate of funds accumulated by the Wool Board, which is due to merge with the National Wool Growers Association (NWGA). Minister of Land Affairs and Agriculture Derek Hanekom has decided to postpone the planned merger until a special two-man investigative […]
Once hailed as a hero, former Chiefs star Shane MacGregor will be hoping to hand out a beating to his former team this weekend SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi SUPERSPORT UNITED player-coach Shane MacGregor, the forward who once starred for Kaizer Chiefs, will plot the downfall of his former club at the weekend. The teams clash in […]
SERJEANT AT THE BAR The Constitutional Court is taken to task for assuming an old-style, chauvinistic attitude to international law South African courts have a long history of hostility towards international human rights law. During the apartheid era this was unsurprising, particularly because it was impossible to reconcile our domestic legal order with international standards […]
The Virgin Group is looking to enter South African media by teaming up with local financiers, writes Jacquie Golding-Duffy Voice of Soweto, a local community radio station, has linked up with British billionaire Richard Branson in a bid to obtain a FM licence in Gauteng. The application for a Gauteng radio licence is part of […]
Pagad support appeared to be waning this week, though the organisation strongly denies it. Rehana Rossouw reports PEOPLE Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) called off a march to drug dealers this week, but the organisation said this was not evidence that it has run out of steam. Pagad representative Farouk Jaffer said the decision was […]
If Primus beer runs dry, Burundians will know the economy has collapsed, reports Chris McGreal from Bujumbura Perhaps the safest way to get around Burundi is to hitch a ride on a Primus beer lorry. While other vehicles run the gauntlet of Hutu rebels, and the army moves with trepidation in many rural areas, there […]
The Springboks are losing to the All Blacks and many people believe the black community in South Africa is also on the losing side, writes Nicola Byrne WHEN South Africa take the field on Saturday for their second match in the Test series against New Zealand, once again the only black players on the pitch […]
Tebello Radebe The meandering road leading to the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Midrand headquarters has changed little from the late 1980s. It is possibly the only thing that has remained the same about the bank as it faces the millennium with a new direction and mandate. This year has been characterised by instability, […]
Tebello Radebe Chairman of the Association of Mortgage Lenders, Duncan Reekie, says rising interest rates and growing unemployment are the main reasons why the banks have not financed as many houses as expected. Reekie’s response follows widespread criticism levelled against the government for failing to deliver on its promises for houses. “The view of the […]
South Africa’s feature-film industry may be in a slump, but short films are positively blooming. ANDREW WORSDALE on the latest crop MOVIE myth has it that Wim Wenders broke the display window of a photographic shop and stole a wind-up Bolex to shoot his first film. Stanley Kubrick, asked how to get into the movie […]
Proposals by the Department of Health to curb the dispensing of medicines by doctors will create all kinds of other problems, reports Rehana Rossouw SOME three million patients across South Africa receive medication from their doctors every month. By the end of September, the Department of Health will have changed this. Dispensing doctors have united […]
Beeld’s new editor, Johan de Wet, will not bow to politics, but claims he will be led by the news, writes Jacquie Golding-Duffy He is not arrogant, but soft-spoken, seemingly quite laid-back. As a senior managing director from a rival publishing house put it: “He was never a gutsy type of journalist; nor is he […]
BRITAIN is not the only country wringing its hands over its performance at the Olympics. The Kenyan government plans to set up an independent commission to determine why its athletes won only one gold medal in Atlanta, the worst return since 1984. “We must go back to the drawing board and find the root cause […]
Susannah Frankel The fashion world is buzzing with rumours that Vivienne Westwood — Queen of Punk, grande dame of British fashion and the woman most famous for parading knickerless around Buckingham Palace — looks set to take over at Christian Dior, France’s oldest couture house. Since Gianfranco Ferre announced his departure in July, speculation has […]