Poetry readings and techno raves put punch into an often predictable Fringe, writes Alex Dodd ONE flu-ridden Grahamstown local wildly theorised that the sewer system was under such pressure at this year’s festival that the purity of her drinking water had been affected. The festival’s outsize status similarly affected the art scene — although art, […]
The present public holidays system is messy and discriminatory. Ravi Naidoo discusses workable options A HASTY look at the calendar could suggest that South Africa was miraculously transformed into a workers’ paradise during the past months. Public holidays, it seems, were being handed out liberally. All the more surprising, therefore, that the new government chose […]
A trigger-happy ANC guard with a record of ill-discipline started the Shell House shooting in March, reports Paul Stober THE Shell House shooting _ in which 11 Inkatha Freedom Party supporters died _ was the result of a panic by ANC guards who had been warned by state security officials to expect an attack on […]
Farouk Chothia `WATCH out! My hit squads will come and get you!” an affable Harry Gwala joked with an aide this week. The Natal Midlands firebrand was unconcerned about his six-month suspension by the South African Communist Party but his manner belied the maelstrom in SACP and ANC ranks following allegations that he was running […]
Dance theatre is a popular innovator amid the anguish and protest that dominate the festival, writes Mark Gevisser THE photograph shows a man and a woman jiving in a shebeen; mugging, minstrel-like, at the camera. It could be a publicity pic from any one of a number of productions at Grahamstown this year _ Barney […]
Native tongue Bafana Khumalo THERE is another Dorkay House launch on the cards. This place has to hold the record for the highest number of attempts at resurrection and the highest number of failures at it. This is the place where the best black creative talent was nurtured and sometimes came to fruition. Sometimes, like […]
Ray Nxumalo AN INSCRIPTION on one of the faded shipping containers standing on Kliptown’s historic Freedom Charter Square _ where the Freedom Charter was adopted in 1955 _ declares war on hunger, poverty, disease and ignorance. The war has taken a small step towards being won … thanks to an initiative by the National Consumer […]
Vuyo Mvoko HOISTING _ the ostensibly mundane business of transporting mineworkers to the surface in cages _ is a growing flashpoint in South Africa’s mining industry. At least four major strikes this year are linked to conflicts arising from hoisting practices. The most recent, by white miners, erupted two weeks ago at Goldfields’ Kloof mine […]
BALLET: Stanley Peskin IN several ballet and film versions, the story of Spartacus and the slave rebellion has been mythologised, canonised, museumised, reorganised and overworked. This dehydrating process is equally apparent in Youri Vamos’ Spartacus (1989), presented by the Basler Ballet at the Civic Theatre in Johannesburg. The ballet shows the intersecting destinies of the […]
Guy Willoughby joined a motley crowd of punters to watch the Durban July _ in a Pretoria bar-cum-tote IT’S Durban July day, folks, and I’m down at the Assembly Hotel in Sunnyside _ Mecca of Pretoria’s blue-collar punters. Look, it’s the biggest event in the local racing calender, and I couldn’t get to Durban, okay? […]
Vuyo Mvoko THE Azanian People’s Organisation faces sharp internal conflict with the imminent return from exile of its sister organisation, the Black Consciousness Movement of Azania. A well-placed source has revealed that fears of a leadership wrangle “similar to that of the United Democratic Front after the return of the ANC” are mounting. The BCMA’s […]
Jacques Magliolo INSTITUTIONAL portfolio managers across South Africa are unprepared, confused and in for a rude awakening if they do not change their portfolios to reflect rapidly changing political and market trends. Says one head of research: “I’m concerned that many portfolio managers do not realise that this is a new game, with new and […]
A putsch by charismatic Christians has led to bitter conflict in the African Christian Democratic Party, reports Stefaans Brummer A STRUGGLE for the soul of the African Christian Democratic Party culminated this week in two founder members breaking ranks and threats of further defections. The party did surprisingly well in the April election, returning two […]
You know how irritating it is when you’re trying to explain something complicated and your victim’s attention … hey! I’m talking to you! … begins straying. Well, there’s bad news. According to a study published in Nature, the International Weekly Journal of Science, attention span is even more fragile than previously thought. John Duncan and […]
Gilts & greed: A Boere mafia accused and dealer denials of insider trickery Jaques Magliolo Stockbroker James is a broken man. His hands shake, he chain smokes and his memory falters repeatedly. There is no doubt that he is also scared and financially bankrupt. He is now, indeed, a far cry from the stockbroker I […]
FROM this distant democracy, I, South African by birth, acclaim the exhilarating events that have regenerated South Africa and electrified the world. I recall with enormous sadness those who fell, or were thrown, from the windows of Marshall Square and elsewhere, down staircases and on to concrete floors, in stultification of their brave bids to […]
Moveable Feast Guy Willoughby SITUATED as the hadedah flies between the chaste Presidensie and the showy American Embassy in Pretoria, the Gerard Moerdyk restaurant is a favourite meeting-place for governmental and diplomatic movers and shakers. Since its opening two years ago, the GM has hosted all manner of mandarins and diplomatic bigwigs; once a favourite […]
IN the matter of prisons and prisoners, a sense of paralysis appears to have gripped the newcomers to government. All sorts of people were released as “political prisoners” while common law prisoners are given six month sentence reductions. We cannot accept this hypocrisy and injustice. The public, the prisoners and their families are tiring of […]
TENNIS: Paul Martin LAST Sunday, exactly 38 years after the Wimbledon Centre Court had first acclaimed the 21-year-old Golden Boy as their champion, the great Lew Hoad suffered a heart attack in Spain. He died hours later. In that year, 1956, he had so nearly clinched the Grand Slam _ wins successively at the Australian, […]
Thokoza was in flames again this week and most reports blamed `disloyal’ self-defence units which had turned against the ANC. Philippa Garson returns with a very different version of events EVERY night as Thokoza SDU members patrol the cold winter streets, they are reminded that _ despite a change of government _ not much has […]
The RDP means too many things to too many people, argues Reg Rumney HOW does a new roofing system fit in with the ANC’s Reconstruction and Development Programme? Or brick-building? Or the electronics industry? Answer: All ways and not at all. Not a day goes by without Business Mail receiving a press release that drags […]
Court documents have for the first time put a figure on Armscor’s illicit deals with Saddam Hussein _ an amount valued at more than 18 times this year’s total official arms exports. Stephen Laufer reports DETAILS of South Africa’s illicit arms dealings with Saddam Hussein are emerging for the first time in a Pretoria court […]
Stefaans Brummer ANSTEY’S building, a 1936 skyscraper that is to be the soul of residential redevelopment in Johannesburg’s inner city (see M&G, May 27), is caught in a controversy between its tenants and a non-profit developer. Anstey’s tenants, who have received two-month eviction notices or notification of often substantial rent increases, are critical of the […]
Should people be allowed to die if they have been declared brain-dead? Sean Badal looks at the some of the issues behind living wills REMEMBER Nancy Cruzan, voted one of the “25 Most Intriguing People of 1990”? An American woman who was irreversibly brain-damaged in a car accident, she survived eight years in a coma […]
Gabriel Seeber SOUTH African history has for decades been viewed through a peephole, the only visible aspect being the Great Trek. The history workshop and cultural day at Wits University next weekend will open the door on South African history, and present its working face in a feast of popular culture. With the theme Democracy: […]
Nannie de Villiers was a late starter at tennis, but she’s quickly catching up with the mini-prodigies WIMBLEDON: Paul Martin QUESTION: When was the last time a South African held up a Wimbledon winners’ trophy? Answer: last Sunday. Nannie de Villiers, a bubbly 17-year-old from Somerset West won the girls doubles title, alongside England’s Miss […]
DEREK KEYS’ untimely departure from the finance ministry is unfortunate. But poor handling made it more of a disaster than it should have been. Therein lies an important lesson for government advisers. Journalists dealing with the new government have discovered that official spokesman often do not know what is going on in their departments and […]
If the need for computers and software has contributed to the mind-boggling cost of the RDP, maybe the new finance minister can already look to making a few savings here and there: computer companies are lining up to give their support to training and development. And it’s not just Microsoft, Lotus and Wordperfect, with their […]
Mark Andrews, the young South African lock, is the new rugby sensation RUGBY: Barney Spender HE has only played one test, against England and Newlands last month, but 22-year-old lock Mark Andrews is already being touted as the hottest thing to come off the conveyor belt of South African rugby talent, a potential matchwinner against […]
There is no sign that Derek Keys was anything but genuine in his reasons for resigning. Chris Louw, Anton Harber and Jacques Magliolo report CABINET sources confirm that Finance Minister Derek Keys’ sudden resignation is genuinely for “personal reasons”. Keys had won the respect of the most left-wing of his cabinet critics and there was […]
Sibusiso Nxumalo When a small group of Zaireans marched through central Johannesburg this week _ protesting against the pending visit of their country’s leader, President Mobutu Sese Seko _ they showed they had adopted not just South Africa as a refuge but also its culture of protest. Shouts of “amandla ngawethu” from the Zaireans greeted […]
A bright future is predicted for All Black wing Jonah Lomu _ and the South Africans will have a tough time stopping him RUGBY: Barney Spender `THEY’VE picked who? Joe. Joe who? Nolomu? Never heard of him. What? Oh, sorry, Joan. (Cough, splutter) Joan? Joan Olomu? You mean the All Blacks have picked a female […]