Julia Beffon CD OFTHEWEEK When Rod Stewart made Atlantic Crossing in the mid-Seventies he left Britain and the Small Faces behind and the music critics, too. Hollywood turned Rod the Mod into more than a tax exile. He became a musical outcast, wasting his gravelly, soulful voice on disco drivel that reached its nadir with […]
Robert Kirby CHANNELVISION Blessed are the meek and mild for they shall inherit the presidential television interview. Thabo Mbeki must have been well pleased e.tv sent along a pair of such vapid bojos with a set of such predictable questions. San Reddy and Debora Patta were a sort of clown duo doing a routine as […]
Publishing in South Africa suffers a number of vicissitudes. In a new book, publishers Nicholas Combrinck and Maggie Davey engage in a dialogue on the subject Combrinck: Rarely do trade publishers [publishers for a general retail market, as opposed to educational publishers and so forth] make a serious return on their publishing, and rarely in […]
Deon Potgieter boxing Two of South Africa’s most talented boxers come in from the cold this weekend. Following a 19-month absence from the ring, former two-time welterweight world champion Peter “the Destroyer” Malinga headlines a box-and-dine tournament at the Kopanong hotel in Benoni on Saturday. Malinga was stripped of his International Boxing Organisation (IBO) welterweight […]
Kuseni Dlamini, Greg Mills and Neuma Grobbelaar a second look Robert Mugabe confirmed last week, during Zimbabwe’s 21st birthday celebrations, what many have long presumed: that he intends standing in the 2002 presidential election. This and Zimbabwe’s deteriorating economic and political circumstances raise concerns about the policies pursued by South Africa and the options Pretoria […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni A senior member of the Zulu royal family and KwaZulu-Natal’s MEC for Welfare, Prince Gideon Zulu, has been accused of using a truck belonging to a centre for the handicapped for his personal business. Employees at the Osizweni Handicraft Centre in Newcastle claim Zulu has been ordering his provincial staff to […]
Providing anti-retroviral drugs and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV are not always feasible with South Africa’s health-care infrastructure David McCoy Now that we’ve celebrated a victory over multi- national pharmaceutical companies for access to cheaper medicines, what are we going to do about preventing mother-to-child transmission of Aids and access to anti-retroviral drugs? While activist […]
Khadija Magardie crossfire ‘Invisible politicians aren’t of much use to anyone.” Aptly said, by one of literature’s most acerbic characters, Jimmy Porter. Of course, the anti-hero of John Osborne’s play Look Back in Anger was musing about the talents of his aspirant politician brother-in-law and had not met the likes of South Africa’s own wonder, […]
At schools all across South Africa members of the Youth Enterprise Society are gaining the necessary business savvy to become entrepreneurs Roshila Pillay Kutlwano Phokojoe crochets tops, bags, Rasta hats and anything else customers need, by order. Last year she made more than R1?000, which she used to contribute towards her school fees, share household […]
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni The Gauteng Department of Housing is going ahead with a development project despite attempts by environmental groups to block the low-cost housing scheme on the grounds that it poses a threat to a rare butterfly species. The Heidelberg Town Council’s low-cost housing project, which will house more than 14 000 people, […]
Matthew Krouse THE UNFOLDING MAN: THE LIFE AND ART OF DAN RAKGOATHE by Donv Langhan (David Philip) ONDAMBO AFRICAN ART FORUM edited by Rolf Cusemann-Brockmann, Christoph Ludszuweit and Hans-Joachim Bogatzke (Gamsberg Macmillan) Dan Rakgoathe isn’t a great poet. But then it’s not his poetry that he’s famous for. If he is known, it’s for his […]
AT least 2.5 million people have died since August 1998 as a result of civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to preliminary results of a study to be released early next week. The study by the International Rescue Committee, a New-York based refugee relief organisation, examined five provinces in the eastern part […]
Authorities have been withholding evidence that schoolchildren have been fed sandwiches that could kill them, reports Khadija Magardie In a shock move raising serious ethical questions, health authorities in at least two of the country’s nine provinces have been sitting silently on information pointing to the long-term poisoning of thousands of indigent South African schoolchildren. […]
Paul Kirk At least two of KwaZulu-Natal’s most notorious prison bosses, who are under investigation for dozens of murders and organised crime activities, could have been fired long ago if the Department of Correctional Services had simply followed its own rules prohibiting prisons officials from holding two jobs. Both Russel Ngubo and his friend Thami […]
A second-place finish in Spain last weekend proved Juan Pablo Montoya has the cold-eyed confidence to trouble Michael Schumacher Richard Williams When he climbed from his broken car at Interlagos in Brazil last month, Juan Pablo Montoya displayed no outward sign of emotion. No tantrum. No tears. No march back to the pits to confront […]
Palesa Motanyane food Not so long ago I could buy croissants at the local bakery, a boulangerie in a village in the south of France. Back home in Johannesburg I’ve become a regular patron of establishments where I’m guaranteed to find delicious pastries that originate in a country famous for its culinary exports. Croissants have […]
Sipho Seepe no blows barred It would be tempting to dismiss outright the allegations against the three leading businessmen, Cyril Ramaphosa, Matthews Phosa and Tokyo Sexwale to oust President Thabo Mbeki from office as preposterous. Indeed, many organisations including the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the South African Communist Party and some members of […]
Adam Welz Celebrate South Africa is a high-profile festival of music, dance, film, theatre, technology, carnival and craft taking place in London. Most of the main events are still to come and the highlights include: l A film festival at the National Film Theatre, from May 4 to 31, featuring a broad range of South […]
Glenda Daniels Black empowerment has fared dismally in the past year, but its prospects could improve in 18 months’ time if certain conditions are met, according to a report released by BusinessMap this week. Deals have dropped dramatically, says the report, Empowerment 2001, and most sectors have performed abysmally. Reported new investments in established black-controlled […]
Stewart Bailey The numbers were in line with expectations, but the real story at AngloGold’s results presentation earlier this week for the March quarter was the company’s new look. For the first time, Anglo’s tried-and-tested troika of CEO Bobby Godsell, marketing director Kelvin Williams and financial director Jonathan Best was joined at the main table […]
‘We have not for some time seen anything like the Watergate caper now unfolding in weird and scarcely believable detail, right down to the taped locks, the rubber gloves, the tear gas pens, the array of electronic equipment and the crisp new hundred dollar bills in the hands of five men who stole into Democratic […]
Without a spotlight on sexual violence the treatment of victims of these crimes has slid into an abysmal state Charlene Smith In March 17-year-old Lydia Michaels gave evidence in the case of the Bonteheuwel gang that raped her. The next day she was shot dead. This week, two days before 14-year-old Nozipho* was due to […]
Jaspreet Kindra The investigation ordered into two of three senior African National Congress members named by Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete as part of larger drive to uncover a plot to overthrow President Thabo Mbeki appears to be based on hearsay. Former ANC Youth League leader James Nkambule, whose testimony prompted Tshwete to […]
Not long ago he was Stan the Man, England’s most expensive footballer and seemingly destined to become one of the greatest players of his era. Now, at 30, he should be at the peak of his game. Instead, Stan Collymore has retired after years of disappointment on the pitch and tales of depression and violence […]
SOUTH Korean Trade Minister Hwang Doo-Yun called in Pretoria on Wednesday for closer economic ties with South Africa, saying both countries could benefit from increased bilateral trade. He said South Korea suffered a $450m trade deficit with South Africa last year. In 1999, the deficit was $810m. “Certainly we wish this imbalance to be corrected, […]
Gerry Adams is one of the most prominent political figures of our time, yet the man behind the beard and spectacles remains an enigma. What did he actually do in the years before he swapped his Armalite for a negotiating suit? And will he ever be able to tell the truth about his past? asks […]
Senior officials in the province are accused of giving jobs to their relatives Nawaal Deane Staff members at the Department of Education and Culture in Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, are calling for action against what they call “rife nepotism” in their offices. Staff say they have been excluded from decision-making since last December when interviews for finance […]
The darling of the stands is back and set to get tongues wagging again Martin Gillingham Bob Skinstad, the glamour boy of South African rugby, has called on the sport’s top brass to drop their ban on overseas-based players representing the Springbok team. “I’m of the opinion that you should be able to play Super […]
Did the damp masses who attended last weekend’s South Africa Freedom Day Concert go to celebrate African democracy or were they just there for the stars? Adam Welz The South Africa Freedom Day Concert on the Square was the first major concert ever to be held in Trafalgar Square. The organisers made full use of […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday THE South African central bank’s net open forward position (NOFP) dipped $400m in April, buoyed by inflows from a E500m bond issue, figures on Thursday showed. The NOFP – a measure of the central bank’s uncovered exposure to its forward foreign exchange commitments – dropped to $9.0bn, beating market expectations […]
Khadija Magardie Body Language Allow me to admit it I’m all for a bit of role playing where members of the opposite sex are concerned. Not a tte–tte that may involve riding crops, or Superman capes, more along the lines of my liberated woman sensibilities giving way to a genteelness of helpless abandon; especially when […]
While children with autism require specialised teaching, huge demands on the education budget mean subsidies are woefully inadequate Barbara Erasmus As soon as you enter a classroom at the Key School in Johannesburg, you know these children are different. They don’t look different. Just kids busy with puzzles at their desks. But no one notices […]