A Quena woman who was shown in Europe as a circus freak last century is to be the subject of a documentary reviving the memory of South Africa’s aboriginal people, writes Eddie Koch IN 1815 George Cuvier, surgeon general to Napoleon Bonaparte, was given the body of a Quena, or Hottentot, woman called Saartjie Baartman, […]
Sam Ramsamy is likely to be invited to become a member of the IOC — a just reward for his long battle against racism in sport, writes Julian Drew ON a weekend when the Springboks and All Blacks will be battling it out for the right to face each other in next Saturday’s Rugby World […]
A decision will soon be made on the fallout of the Greg Blank case, reports Jacques Magliolo THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) will decide within the next few weeks whether to charge stockbroking firms and individuals implicated in the well publicised 1991 R35- million scam, say two reliable sources within the exchange. These insiders say […]
Peter Marais, Western Cape MEC for Local Government, in The Mark Gevisser Profile I will testify, before a court of law, that Western Cape MEC for Local Government Peter Marais was stone- cold sober when, at the end of our interview, he launched into a serenade that included a hip-rotating Elvis impersonation, some Johnny Mathis […]
Guns and soldiers will not stop taxi violence, but proper public transport and careful regulation of the taxi industry might, argues Peter Marcuse THE deadly competition among taxi services has a cause, and it has a cure. The cause is not that suddenly taxi owners, taxi drivers, or people in their employ, have turned into […]
The violent Hillbrow vibe inspired South Africa’s first industrial CD, conceived and executed by Paul Riekert. He spoke to FRED DE VRIES TO reach Paul Riekert’s home, you used to have to shake off the skinny prostitutes who positioned themselves in front of his Berea flat. Riekert also advised one to avoid Soper Road, “because […]
Lynda Loxton reports from Cape Town on the reaction to the far-reaching proposals to shake up the motor, textile and clothing industries When Trade and Industry Minister Trevor Manuel met the captains of the textile, clothing and automobile industries and unionists this week, many expected a fair amount of blood letting as these fractious industries […]
Justin Pearce Sixty-five-year-old Koos Joubert locked horns with the mighty Anglo American Corporation — and lost. After an out-of-court settlement this week, the Eastern Transvaal farmer faces the prospect of having to destroy his own home at his own expense. Joubert owns the farm Spitskop in Steelpoort, but Anglo owns the mineral rights. The land […]
Rehana Rossouw CENTRAL government has intervened and promised to resolve a dispute between the South African National Defence Force and three communities who were forcibly removed from their land to make way for a battle Advocate Patekile Holomisa, chair of the parliamentary Select Committee on Land Affairs, said after a fact- finding mission to the […]
Oh, dear. Rusty Evans, dinosaur-general of the Department of Foreign Affairs, is upset with the Mail & Guardian. Did we get the facts wrong? Did we not do our homework? No, it’s much simpler than that. We reported on a conference and workshop where his department came under attack. But listen to his words. “I […]
Justin Pearce South African aromatherapists have approached the Constitutional Assembly to try to gain official recognition for their profession. A submission to the Constitutional Assembly made by Moyra Metcalfe, chairperson of the Association of Aromatherapists Southern Africa argues “that each individual has a right to choose and maintain natural, holistic health. “He should be given […]
Shadley Nash The greasy details of rivalry between two take-away pizza traders emerged unwittingly in an unlikely place this week — the rape trial of a self-confessed The Port Elizabeth Supreme Court — sitting for the rape trial against satanist Frans du Toit who, in a third rape confession, admitted to raping a 20-year-old woman […]
A new chain of bookshops is due to start up soon, with its first stores in the Gauteng area. Shaun de Waal A NEW bookshop chain is to open in South Africa, run by three former employees of Exclusive Books. To be called Facts & Fiction, it is just getting off the ground, with the […]
South Africa’s semifinal opponents, France, have power and flair, but they don’t always seem able to use these RUGBY: Jon Swift IN many ways the World Cup semifinal facing South Africa on Saturday will be something of a relief. Against the French at Kings Park in Durban there is the first real chance, since the […]
The Life Offices Associations’ Paul Truyens responds to Cheryl Carolus’ criticisms of the industry’s policy on HIV testing THE insurance industry is very aware of the whole issue surrounding Aids and the plight of HIV positive people. In order to put the industry’s dilemma into perspective though, it is necessary to go back to the […]
Kiri Te Kanawa is visiting South Africa at the height of her ability to draw crowds. Coenraad Visser reports IT was with a sense of relief that one greeted Dame Kiri Te Kanawa at her first encounter with the press shortly after her arrival in Johannesburg. She currently limits her public appearances to about 18 […]
ALTHOUGH many white farmers have reacted with outrage to Derek Hanekom’s new Land Reform Bill for labour tenants, the draft law is neither new nor revolutionary. It is, in fact, based on regulations that are common in free market societies, writes Andra The Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Bill, published in the Government Gazette this month […]
WITH regard to your two excellent articles (M&G May 12 to18), “Abortion — A Test for Women’s Rights” and “Miscarriage of Justice”. It is estimated that over 200,000 illegal abortions are performed in South Africa each year — many of which are unsafe and even result in death. Three black women die every day due […]
Jan Taljaard TRUE to his nickname, “Kaalvoet” Thysie de Villiers, the former Recce linked to the assassination of Professor Johan Heyns, appeared in court this week in a pair of shorts and bare feet. De Villiers, who had also been sought in connection with three other murders and a massive arms theft from a Voortrekkerhoogte […]
Movable Feast Humphrey Tyler THE first thing you do when you arrive at the Imperial Hotel in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu/Natal is wonder why on earth you didn’t bring your horse. This has nothing to do with the food. It is the early colonial atmosphere. (Actually, I don’t ride horses. Horses give me hay fever.) But […]
BALLET: Stanley Peskin IN Marius Petipa’s Paquita, Roland Petit’s Carmen and Mikhail Fokine’s Firebird, Pact Ballet presents three works that are luxurious and richly satisfying in quite different Paquita (1881), originally a three-act ballet which has survived as a series of divertissements, has been given a new production. An impressively ornamented archway (designed by Riaan […]
Mick Cleary predicts that Will Carling’s side will adopt a sober approach to halt the All Blacks in their semifinal on ROB ANDREW’S kick fell to earth immediatley. Quite how long it takes England to come down to earth is probably the key to whether they can beat the All Blacks in Sunday’s The team […]
Office of the President Dear Walter, How the world is changing. The thought struck me last week, when I was delivering the Bram Fischer memorial lecture and Joel Joffe presented me with my papers from the Rivonia Trial that he has had in safe-keeping for all these years. There, among them, were my notes for […]
Iron-age sites reveal some astonishing artefacts — and shatter some dearly held beliefs, reports Bruce Around the time William the Conqueror was gloating over his victory against Britain in 1066, Iron-Age communities on the banks of the Limpopo River were bartering gold and ivory with Swahili traders for glass beads from Egypt, cotton from India […]
In the hardest game, a soft voice of seasoned humanity shines through: Eddie Futch is 83 and still punching his BOXING: Kevin Mitchell A LITTLE over a month after he accompanies Riddick Bowe to the ring for his world heavyweight title fight against Jorge Luis Gonzales in Las Vegas on June 17, Eddie Futch will […]
Justin Pearce Kathy Berman, producer of NNTV’s youth magazine programme The Works, is to conduct her own defence when the SABC appears before the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) today. The SABC has been summoned before the BCC in connection with an insert entitled Sex and Romance in the Nineties which was broadcast as part of […]
Lynda Loxton reports on moves to make the public service more creative and efficient More than a year after the first democratic elections, South Africa’s previously mainly white civil service has started to reflect the new South Africa. But if the recently released draft white paper on the transformation of the public service is anything […]
Reg Rumney Like decrepit old age, the end of a marriage through death or divorce is painful to contemplate, but in the long run it could be more painful not to contemplate it. That is where a booklet such as Options at Marriage, recently published by insurance giant Old Mutual, comes in. The booklet spells […]
Ann Eveleth The Wildlife Society of Southern Africa has called for the creation of an environmental court to hear cases involving environmental disputes. Wildlife Society representative Jeremy Ridl, who made the submission to the first public hearing of the KwaZulu/Natal Constitutional Committee in Durban this week, said the multi-faceted nature of environmental disputes requires people […]
M-Net corporate affairs manager Cawe Mahlati, tells Aspasia Karras how she hopes to see M-Net become the frontrunner of global broadcasting in Africa Articulate and determined, Cawe Mahlati is a force to be reckoned with in private broadcasting. Not only does she have a vision of what broadcasting can become in the future, but she […]
Views on where housing prices are headed are mixed — but economic growth and the RDP hold the key, reports Reg House prices are still set to show real gains this year, according to property economist Erwin Rode. He is still forecasting a 15 percent average increase this year. This is despite what Absa Bank’s […]
THEATRE: David le Page THE spirit of Roy Campbell currently haunts the Alexander Theatre, in writer and director Anthony Akerman’s play Dark Outsider. But it is not the robust and extravagant ghost we might expect. In the second act Uys Krige, played charmingly by Alex Ferns, hails in a splendid bon mot the experience of […]