Andrew Botha makes his directorial debut in Pro Musica’s production of Rigoletto. It won’t be ordinary, writes Paul Boekkooi After being involved in more than 60 opera productions in South Africa and internationally, Andrew Botha is confident of breaking with tradition in Verdi’s Rigoletto. “I know there’s a strong buzz around the fact that ‘here […]
A SECOND LOOK Belinda Beresford Poor South Africans can take anti-retroviral drugs to combat HIV as effectively and safely as patients elsewhere in the world, local researchers have proved. A study released this week flies in the face of local and international justifications for withholding antiretroviral drugs from South Africans. Such arguments have included cost […]
A SECOND LOOK Joachim Wehner In its latest submission, the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) presents some valuable recommendations on local government finance. At the same time, however, the commission fails to present concrete figures on the recommended slicing of the fiscal cake. The lack of specificity and seemingly dwindling commitment by the commissioners are […]
Sherilee Bridge Investors spooked by the bloodbath on the global equities markets are being forced to find safer havens for their capital. South African investors have taken so well to the lower risk of the Saitrix 40 a fund that tracks the performance of the JSE Securities Exchange’s top 40 stocks that the unit trust […]
Henrietta Mqokomiso is taking on the City of Johannesburg after she was evicted from her home Nawaal Deane The Legal Resources Centre is preparing a landmark legal battle on behalf of Henrietta Mqokomiso, who was evicted from her house in Alexandra township three weeks ago. The Mail & Guardian reported last month on Mqokomiso’s plight […]
Elvis and John Lennon have monuments, museums and disciples, but Bob Marley’s legacy is less clear. John Aizlewood travels to Kingston to ask his friends and collaborators: what does Marley mean now, 20 years after his death? Native Jamaicans call the administrative district of St Ann, north-west of King-ston, the “Garden parish”. They have a […]
ART Antoinette du Plessis Most frequently, academic literature on the subject of tourist art is concerned with aspects of the production of artefacts for sale to tourists. Less easy to research with any kind of pretence of academic rigour is the other end of the equation the tourist/traveller as patron, as consumer, as communicator. How […]
Thabo Mohlala State prosecutors are to receive huge salary increases backdated to January 1, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Penuell Maduna has announced. This year prosecutors protested against their salaries and working conditions by embarking on a series of go-slows, adding to an already deteriorating problem of a backlog of cases across South Africa’s […]
Ngwako Modjadji National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi is probing allegations of corruption, drunkenness, incompetence and maladministration at the Ennerdale police station, south of Johannesburg. The investigation was launched this week after Ennerdale residents forwarded a complaint to Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete regarding alleged corrupt practices at the police station. Police officials in […]
Ntuthuko Maphumulo “Every game that we play is about winning the three points, prestige and honour,” said Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Queiroz in announcing the squad to face Malawi this weekend in Durban. Since taking over the squad late last year Queiroz has taken every game seriously and he’s not about to change that for […]
In this special report Khadija Magardie opens a window on one of the country’s most dangerous occupations policing, where pressure to fight crime is coming at an increasingly heavy cost There is a claustrophobic yet expansive, rushed yet benign feeling to the onset of early evening in Johannesburg, almost a sense of foreboding. At best […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) this week delivered a scathing attack on one of Zimbabwe’s leading cabinet ministers. In Cosatu Weekly the federation accused Zimbabwe’s Information Minister Jonathan Moyo of being an “immature politician”. Moyo criticised Cosatu last week for supporting the two-day strike organised by the Zimbabwean […]
The tubers of the elephant ear plant might not look good, but don’t let that stop you from trying them, Andrea Burgener The appearance of the tropical-looking elephant ear plant is familiar to most of us, but less known are the truly wondrous edibles it offers. The populations of South America, West Africa, India and […]
The Australian team crushed England in style, proving Tests can be as much fun as one-day internationals Peter Robinson Just over a week ago England and Australia launched the 2001 Ashes series by scoring 427 for 12 in fewer than 90 overs on the first day at Edgbaston. Of the 12 wickets to fall, six […]
Sherilee Bridge Some bears hibernate longer than just the winter. This is the case in the South African bond market, with bonds constantly flirting with all-time best levels despite the weakness of the country’s currency against the United States dollar. Investors burnt by the sell-off in the equities market may only need to be reminded […]
Wilhelm Disbergen Party van Ons: Die Homeros Leesboek compiled by Danie Botha (Homeros) No story can grip the reader if there is no honest investment from the writer in the subject matter. With all the writers in this book openly gay and writing for a gay reader, most of the narratives seem at least semi-autobiographical […]
Few people or institutions come out of the Bredell confrontation well. The government and its policies, the Pan Africanist Congress and the ruling African National Congress and its allies have, each in its own way, demonstrated breathtaking disregard for the plight and purposes of the hundreds of families who settled on this stretch of vacant […]
channel vision Robert Kirby BBC Prime is running a repeat of a splendid documentary series called Peoples’ Century. This was first broadcast in the late 1990s and was an intriguing retrospective, presenting 100 years of history in thematic episodes. For anyone parent wanting to give the offspring a humanly intelligent overview of the last century, […]
A SECOND LOOK Mazibuko K Jara Last week’s interview with Tony Leon, the egoistic political representative of dark forces of reaction and backwardness in our society, exposes the real Democratic Alliance (“Leon and hungry”). Its agenda seeks to undermine fundamental transformation of society in favour of the impoverished black majority. For example, early in the […]
ART Chris Roper Interesting exhibition this, a mixture of disposable pop philosophy and nuggets of theoretical insight, grafted on to digital art of varying quality. Hard to tell what to make of it, sometimes. Hard to tell, at least initially, whether it’s worth the effort. There is ample evidence of some of the Warning Signs […]
The Coega project has been plagued with problems from the start. Now it may encounter legal troubles Stefaans Brmmer The Coega Development Corporation (CDC), the government-owned company driving the establishment of an industrial development zone and now evicting residents at Coega near Port Elizabeth, is alleged to have done both without legal mandate. And the […]
Paul Boekkooi This year transformation received a boost like never before in the National Youth Orchestra’s (NYO) 37-year history. This weekend’s concerts promise to represent a level of renewed thinking that hasn’t been experienced for many years in the areas of programming and the contracted soloist. It’s difficult to recall if the NYO ever performed […]
MG and Rover are officially back in South Africa and will soon be selling sports cars and luxury sedans from three outlets in Durban, Cape Town and Gauteng, writes Gavin Foster. Thanks to its backers boasting enough export credits to allow the import of fully built-up MGFs and Rover 75s at competitive prices, MG Rover […]
Why we must stop apeing our colonial masters analysis Anthony Holiday With this week’s decision by the Organisation for African Unity to transform itself into an African Union, in obedient mimicry of the European Union, this continent has taken yet another step in a flight from its authentic cultures, religious, artistic and political traditions in […]
THE World Bank has approved a $6,3-million credit for Tanzania to rescue a rare species of toad threatened by a hydropower station. The Kihansi spray toads’ survival depended on the spray of the Kihansi falls, but the delicate habitat conditions began to evaporate with the building of the 180 megawatt hydropower station in Tanzania’s southern […]
Khadija Magardie The CEO of the Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa), Steve Lepita, this week lashed out against his suspension, calling it an attempt to stifle racial transformation of the body. He also accused the association’s management of using Cansa’s name to line their pockets. Lepita heard of his suspension while abroad on business […]
Barry Streek A Western Cape development agency, Wesgro, has initiated a novel approach for providing would-be entrepreneurs with information on small enterprises by establishing “business corners” in local libraries. So far 24 business corners have been established in libraries in the Cape Town metropolitan area, and another seven are planned for other areas in the […]
Marianne Merten A Constitutional Court ruling has opened the way for a teenage Cape Town schoolgirl to claim damages from the Western Cape Department of Education because she was raped by a teacher. Last week the court declared invalid a law that allows aggrieved South African citizens only 90 days to give written notice of […]
PAUL KIRK, Durban | Friday The largest private detective agency in South Africa – so large that it threatens to eclipse the government’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies – is being investigated for fraud. More than two weeks ago one of the highest-level investigation teams ever assembled by the South African Police Service raided the […]
Proposals are in the pipeline to address the problems facing small businesses Barry Streek The government’s strategy to promote small business a key element of its economic policies is under review because of the failure of 117 246 small business enterprises, which cost the state R68-million. A key element of the revised strategy is likely […]
There were more animal lovers than hunters at an experimental hunt last weekend, writes Darran Morgan At first light in a valley in the foothills of the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal, a line of black men, each with a pair of leashed greyhounds, are advancing in search of prey. Just about anywhere else in the province […]
Gavin Foster BMW’s Z3, Porsche’s Boxster and DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes-Benz SLK have been around for a couple of years now, while Audi’s TT, a recent arrival, is also proving popular in South Africa. Now there’s a new wave of two-seater sports cars cropping up, headed by Toyota’s mid-engined MR2. Why be sensible? Most people are altogether […]