Staff Reporter

THEATRE: Hazel Friedman Those who are unacquainted with Greek tragedy may yet be vaguely familiar with the myth of Medea — the woman who murdered her sons when her husband dumped her to become king. But even audiences who were struck by Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1970 film version — with its bizarre exploration of Freudian […]

CINEMA: Andrew Worsdale HUEY NEWTON, one of the founders of the Black Panther movement, was a great fan of Melvin Van Peebles’s 1971 movie Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss Song. He even analysed that funky box-office smash, writing that its tale of a hustler who evolves into a revolutionary was an allegory of a `street brother who […]

Pro-democracy strikes brought Swaziland to a standstill. But the grip of the monarchy is a strong one to break, reports Stefaans Brmmer `PATIENCE pays’, the inscription on the back of the bus admonished would-be overtakers as it rambled over Swaziland’s hills. The legend might as well be a national motto: it would explain why Swaziland […]

Preserved heads found in a British museum are set to stir up a diplomatic controversy, reports Eddie Koch Hard on the heels of well-publicised plans by Chief Nicholas Gcaleka to set off for Scotland in search of Xhosa warrior king Sandile’s skull comes news of another grisly discovery: five dried-out `bushmen’ heads stored in cardboard […]

Dirk Hartford It was reminiscent of the heady mass struggles of the Eighties. For four hours last Sunday, several hundred trade unionists listened to fiery speeches from workers and trade union leaders denouncing the government and its policy of national reconciliation as a `national disaster’ between songs praising socialism as the only road to liberation. […]

The Nation of Islam leader spoke during his vist to South Africa this week of creating a homeland for more than a million black American convicts, report Vuyo Mvoko and David Beresford Louis Farrakhan, the Black American firebrand who is trying to fill the shoes of Martin Luther King, has dreamed an extraordinary dream — […]

Gaye Davis and Rehana Rossouw THE policeman at the centre of the row over allegations that the National Intelligence Agency was spying on top policemen will not be undergoing a lie-detector test, police said this week. Crime Investigation Service spokesman, senior superintendent Faizel Kader, said superintendent H Moodley had volunteered for a polygraph test, but […]

Thabo Mbeki has accused the print media of a go-slow on affirmative action. Jacquie Golding-Duffy surveys the industry to see if this is true On a head count, local newspapers have not done particularly well in furthering the cause of affirmative action. With more than 80% of the local media controlled by four players, namely: […]

South African import duties are preventing the sounds of music from reaching the man in the street, reports Jacquie Golding-Duffy The South African company which manufactures wind-up radios has appealed to Deputy President Thabo Mbeki to lift crippling import costs which have scuppered local sales. Cape Town-based BayGen Power Manufacturing, which launched the radio last […]

Philippa Garson To pay or not to pay? That is the politically loaded question. Whether school fees should be compulsory is being hotly debated in government circles and is holding up the implementation of new education policy for schools. If the government goes for minimum free education for all it risks losing wealthier parents — […]

Stefaans Brmmer A late-night visit by Mpumalanga Premier Matthews Phosa has failed, for now, to steer Swaziland’s young monarch towards democracy, but diplomats believe the steady application of `friendly’ pressure from, among others, President Nelson Mandela, will bear fruit. South Africa’s Foreign Affairs Department remained adamant this week it would not `interfere’ in Swaziland’s domestic […]

THEATRE: David Le Page KAFKA Dances is not an attempt at dramatic history. That the character Franz Kafka is obviously based on the well-known writer is no more important than that entirely fictional characters may be born of the real experiences of those who create them. As Australian playwright Timothy Daly writes: “Better to try […]

The apartheid state’s most efficient killer wants his murder trial put on hold so he can tell all to the truth commission, writes Eddie Eugene de Kock is ready to talk. The former Vlakplaas commander — dubbed “Prime Evil” by former colleagues because he is reputed to be South Africa’s most effective assassin — will […]

CABARET: Malu van Leeuwen ‘DOES anyone have a serviette? I’m doing what ladies do — glowing.” A napkin makes its way to the stage; Irit Noble delicately wipes the dewy pearls from her face and neck. “If anyone wants this they can have it for five bucks.” No takers, but a generous round of applause […]

Mail & Guardian Reporter There has been a shake-up at Independent Newspaper’s golden egg, Natal Newspapers. Loss-making Natal Mercury editor John Patten has suddenly taken early retirement. It is due to be announced next week that his place has been taken by David Wightman, editor of the massively profitable Sunday Tribune, which went down-market in […]

THEATRE: Matthew Krouse IF, in some afterworld, the great muralist Diego Riviera were to see Helene Lombard playing his wife in Frida Kahlo’s Eyes, he’d probably fall in love all over again. Her dark, angular features are so similar to Kahlo’s, it makes you wonder whether playwright Harry Kalmer created the role especially for the […]

Too little, too late was the response to the announcement that the Transitional National Development Trust is finally to begin work, Rehana Rossouw reports MILLIONS of rand earmarked for education programmes have been held up by the failure of the Transitional National Development Trust (TNDT) to set up shop. The TNDT was established in October […]

Karen Harverson South Africa’s first national lottery — expected to generate billions-of-rands in turnover a year — should begin operating by Minister for General Services Chris Fismer will appoint consultants before the end of February to advise on the format of the lottery as well as to make changes to the National Lottery Act to […]

Soccer fever has gripped much of South Africa but in Port Elizabeth the sport doesn’t rate that highly SOCCER: Andy Capostagno and Mark Lamport- PORT ELIZABETH has never seen anything like it and has been largely underwhelmed by the dubious honour of hosting Group D of the African Nations Cup. Football has been front and […]

SOCCER: Lungile Madywabe HIS shots at goal probably travel at about 200km an hour, and his team-mates tease him that one of these days he will break the posts if not the goalkeeper’s hands. So one would think that Eric Tinkler has scored many goals, but he is still looking forward to scoring his first […]

KwaZulu-Natal’s embattled monarch finds himself between a rock and a hard place as negotiations for an imbizo gather momentum, writes Ann Eveleth There are few indications that the multi-party imbizo (mass gathering of the Zulu nation) planned for KwaZulu-Natal will achieve its nominal purpose of promoting peace and reconciliation in the blood-soaked province. Strategically planned […]

Racial divisions rocked the latest financial hearing on taxation for the future, reports Lynda Loxton The wide economic divide that still separates blacks and whites in this country was highlighted during this week’s parliamentary joint committee on finance hearings into the Katz Commission’s proposals on taxation. On the one hand, there were the multi-billion rand […]

In any other country hurdler Tony Jarrett would be a star, but in England he has always played second fiddle to champion Colin Jackson ATHLETICS: Julian Drew WHEN Britain’s Tony Jarrett settled into the blocks for the final of the 110m hurdles at last year’s world championships in Gothenburg many people fancied his chances. Having […]

High-heeled boys are Hollywood’s new rage. But, asks ERIKA MILVY, does today’s fetish for drag really mean the coming of a new LARGER than life and sashaying soon to A Theatre Near You, the drag queen is having her day. More and more, Hollywood stars are sporting high heels and hairy chests. Outrageous, outlandish and […]

interest rates fall Simon Segal This week saw the launch of a 100-million 10- year Eurosterling bond issue at 9,38%, 190 points above the equivalent British benchmark It is the government of national unity’s third foreign loan. In June government raised Y30- billion in a Japanese samurai bond at 5%. In December 1994, $750-million was […]

development linked to Davis Cup TENNIS: Jon Swift IMPORTANT though next month’s Davis Cup tie against Austria on grass at the Wanderers undoubtedly is to the immediate future of tennis in this country, it is interesting to note that the glitz and glamour are not the only points of focus for the game’s new “Tennis […]

Justin Arenstein As anti-monarchist and labour protests in Swaziland continued this week, a prominent human rights campaigner claimed the country’s ruler, King Mswati III, appears to have been sidelined in a palace coup. Ironically, although the protests are directed against Swaziland’s Tinkhudla traditionalist system of government, the 27-year-old absolute monarch remains popular with the Swaziland […]

CINEMA: Andrew Worsdale LET’S get one thing straight. Amblin Entertainment, those nice guys who gave the world ET and have now brought us To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, will never, ever, make a good movie about drag queens. They may have enough money to secure the most fabulous outfits in the world, […]

GOLF: Jon Swift IT is a distinct measure of the worth of the tournaments which now make up the FNB Tour that Ernie Els can fly into the country and fly out with the South African Open title and second spot on the Order of Merit after earning R118 500 for his victory at Royal […]

FINE ART: Hazel Friedman FOUR Young Artists, at the Newtown Galleries, is more than a showcase for new kids on the block. Consisting of works by artists with little prior exhibition experience, it successfully creates a series of correspondences and juxtapositions based — refreshingly — as much on serendipity as on artistic intention. And the […]

In the dangerous game of media-bashing, in which some elements of the ANC have recently been indulging, the charge has been levelled that the press has failed to discharge its responsibilities. This week the cry was taken up by President Nelson Mandela who reportedly criticised the South African media for failing to expose the role […]

Labour wants a greater say in the decisions made on the mines, report Karen Harverson and Vuyo Mvoko No one is arguing with Anglo American Corporation’s call last week that cost and productivity changes are needed at Free State Consolidated Gold mines (Freegold) to avoid the threatened closure of five of its shafts and the […]