Staff Reporter

A frustrated new minister of water affairs warns his civil servants that he expects attitudes to change, or else reports Paul Stober THE first clear sign of problems between new cabinet ministers and old-guard civil servants has emerged in a scathing speech by Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Kader Asmal to his department. The Weekly […]

THEATRE: Guy Willoughby Put together by its six creators for a frankly polemical purpose, Manje (“Now”) protests the harsh and sordid conditions that women in South African prisons have had to endure. If that sounds a rather daunting drawcard for an outing to the Civic Theatre, rest assured that this montage of mime, song, dialogue […]

Annie Mapoma MILLIONS of South Africans have taken the chance of winning big money for the cost of two or three rands since organised lotteries began two years ago, generating more than R80-million for welfare trusts and even bigger profits for the lottery companies themselves. The popularity of the lotteries has led to the launching […]

Cosatu and the ANC are determined to stem the rising tide of xenophobia, reports Drew Forrest RESISTANCE to hardline Home Affairs Ministry policy on illegal immigration is crystallising in both the ANC and its trade union ally, the Congress of South African Trade Unions. This week Cosatu’s Neil Coleman hit out at “the narrow chauvinism” […]

Native tongue Bafana Khumalo MOTHERS of the world, a terrible thing is about to happen to your sons, again. The Seventies are coming back! The fashion — flared jeans and high-heeled shoes for men — and the music. Those were terrible times. The best we could do for intense entertainment was to listen to some […]

ROCK: Elizabeth Williams WITH the hippie era now the focus of one-generation-on nostalgia, it was to be expected that someone would tackle Janis Joplin. Like contempories Jim Morrison and Cas Elliot, she epitomised the late Sixties — the Summer of Love, flower power and drugs — and their deaths marked the end of the era. […]

Pat Sidley THE new unity within the black churches of the Dutch Reformed family is being beset with bitter claims by black congregants for the land their churches have stood on for decades. The issue of land in the church rose after the Dutch Reformed Mission church (coloured) and Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (black) […]

Former SADF soldiers are training their old enemies in Angola. To counter accusations of being mercenaries, they are expanding into civilian operations, reports Stefaans Brummer FROM the hilltop an ex-South African Defence Force soldier gave the order. On the dusty plain below a ragtag bunch of adolescent Angolan army recruits advanced, artillery rounds bursting metres […]

A drama is unfolding at Argus Newspapers, where a top business consultant has been brought in to streamline the corporation. Drew Forrest reports A TOP Australian business consultant is at the centre of a convulsion in Argus Newspapers that has already brought job cuts at the Pretoria News, the axing of the group marketing team […]

Myra Alperson reports on the formation of a new grant- making group A NEW acronym has recently entered the local business vocabulary: Saga, the Southern Africa Grantmakers Association. If you think this doesn’t quite sound like a business activity, it’s in part because Saga represents what many in corporate South Africa still won’t admit is […]

Secret documents reveal a conflict between the various intelligence agencies — and that it will take an extra R152-million to bring the government’s secret service up to scratch. Chris Louw reports SECRET cabinet documents obtained by the Mail & Guardian reveal that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) has been hit by a huge exodus of […]

After severe disappointment at the Commonwealth Games, Okkert Brits has soared back to his best and is aiming even higher next year ATHLETICS: Paul Martin FROM shattering humiliation to glorious victory in the space of a fornight: it’s a Boys Own success story for the pole-vaulting African record-holder and now World Cup gold medallist Okkert […]

Shadley Nash THE Labour Party of South Africa will hold a special congress on Saturday where it is likely the party will dissolve, ending 30 turbulent years. For one of the party leaders, Peter Hendrickse, son of LP leader Reverend Alan Hendrickse, the dissolution of the party will be met with mixed feelings. “It will […]

A major symposium at this year’s South African International Film Festival will bring leading African filmmakers into contact with their local counterparts. William Pretorius reports HISTORY will be made at the “Across the Continent” symposium when, for the first time ever, filmmakers from all over Africa get together in South Africa. Hosted by the South […]

Eric Naki Karl Zimbiri, an Azanian People’s Liberation Army fighter often cited as responsible for terror attacks in news reports, claims he is being defamed. Or, at least, someone claiming to be him claims this is the case. Apparently there’s an imposter out there making the real Zimbiri out to be a bad guy. The […]

Gaye Davis investigates the roots and the immediate causes of the latest education crisis RAP artist Snoop Doggy Dog booming from an upper-storey classroom appeared to be the only source of enlightenment for pupils at Fons Luminis High School in Soweto’s Diepkloof Extension on Wednesday this week. “We’re relaxing,” a pupil shouted through a broken […]

Humphrey Tyler EVERYBODY interested in drama, arts and music is being asked to help raise funds to restore the 1820 Settlers National Foundation Monument building in Grahamstown in time for the Standard Bank National Arts Festival next July. The building was almost gutted by fire last month. The luxurious 920-seat Monument Theatre, heart of the […]

STREETBALL: Mapula Sibanda IT was more than passing ball at Bruma Lake when the first of the four Nandos countrywide Streetball Challenge tournaments kicked off last Sunday. It was also a day of fun and festivities for the whole family. Parents acting as coaches for the day shouted and cheered for their young ones, as […]

Eric Naki THE French car giant, Peugeot Motor Company, is considering opening an assembly plant in the Eastern Cape. The move — which would add another competitor to the club of South Africa’s already arguably overcrowded vehicle manufacturers — was confirmed by Eastern Cape MEC for Economic Affairs Smuts Ngonyama this last week. Ngonyama, who […]

NEUROLOGICAL disorders spotted among Unita soldiers in the late 1980s and described at a conference in Pretoria this week have given rise to suspicions that chemical weapons were used in the Angolan war. Dr Brian Davey told the first Africa regional seminar of the Chemical Weapons Convention that he had seen several patients after 1986 […]

Pat Sidley I OWN no property, says PWV premier Tokyo Sexwale. What he doesn’t say is that his wife has bought three flats in a large Johannesburg block. Sexwale recently told a newspaper which raised questions about his new Houghton home: “This house is 60 years old and it’s not even mine. I am renting […]

Arts Alive visiting pianist Jon Jang unites West and East in his music. He spoke to Gwen Ansell DUKE ELLINGTON, as usual, got there first with his Far East Suite in the mid-1960s. Since then, enough jazz musicians have looked East to staff a big band, from John Coltrane to John Zorn. United States West […]

Michael O’Reilly SOUTH AFRICAN troops may have pulled out of Namibia years ago, but deep in the Angolan bush, Rocco de Wet — Grensvegter — battles on. Clad in the brown South African Defence Force uniform and sporting a butch moustache, the photo-comic hero is still waging his one-man war against the likes of the […]

Tough competition between cell phone companies is resulting in cheaper rates for customers, writes Annie Mapoma A PRICE war is raging between South Africa’s cellular phone giants, with both Vodacom and MTN planning cheaper rates and package deals. MTN began the fight for consumers’ cash with price cuts planned for October; Vodacom swiftly followed suit, […]

Richard Calland PRESSURE is growing within the Department of Foreign Affairs for the government to abandon its pro-Cuba policy. Specialist policy advisers at the department have advised that South Africa’s policy against the United States blockade of Cuba is likely to damage relations with the US and that a shift is “necessary” to avoid antagonising […]

RUGBY: Jon Swift THE thing you have to admire most about South African coach Kitch Christie is that in his own quietly determined way he gets what he wants. Evidence enough of this is Ray Mordt’s inclusion as his deputy — no matter what title the former union test great and rugby league star carries […]

THERE is a real danger of the reconstruction and development programme becoming a holy cow, with no criticism being brooked, say the editors of new publication focusing on the RDP. Centre for Southern African Studies consultant Gavin Lewis and Centre for Developing Business consultant Mel Brooks note in RDP Monitor that the ANC’s grand plan […]

FINE ART: Ruth Sack `METALS seem to have been in fair supply for weapons and tools, but perhaps not in sufficient quantity to allow for much ornamental use, as only one bangle was found, and no other ornaments, of iron or copper …” So wrote archaeologist TM Maggs of findings from the Iron Age in […]

The bond and capital markets still doubt the government’s ability to control its spending. Jacques Magliolo reports TRADERS in the bond or capital market remain pessimistic about the ability of the government to control inflation. This is the meaning of the continuing high interest rate of long-term bonds, the IOUs whose interest rate reflects expectations […]

An exhibition running in Johannesburg rediscovers six `lost’ South African photographers, writes Hazel Friedman `WITHIN the black zone, every square inch is occupied … It’s like being buried in people. Their shoulders, hips, bellies and buttocks press against yours. You cannot shift your weight or raise an arm or turn around without displacing the various […]

Wine snobs can be pretty boring, debating years and cultivars. Scotch snobs are a different breed entirely, writes Justin Pearce IT was one of those perfect spring evenings, the sunlight casting a golden sheen on the waters of Table Bay. Suddenly the peace was ripped by a sound normally associated with mists and soggy heather: […]

Art critic Ivor Powell is about to launch a glossy magazine of his own. He spoke to Ruth Sack A STRONG gust of air is about to blow through our art world. It’s called Art Ventilator, and it’s the inspiration of Jeff Chandler, president of the South African Association of Arts, and Ivor Powell, who […]