General

Now that we are almost 20 years into the new free and democratic society, perhaps it’s time we asked: who and where are the authoritative African voices in the arts, especially theatre? When the smouldering issues of content, style, meaning, relevance, presentation, design and other matters that pertain to the stage are discussed, there are […]

In the run up to the ANC Polokwane conference in December 2007, Jacob Zuma’s fervent supporters demanded that as deputy president of the ANC he was Thabo Mbeki’s natural successor. The ANC constitution is silent on succession but it has been accepted practice that the deputy is the natural successor. Zuma had criss-crossed the country […]

Wathint’abafazi, wathint’imbokodo! (Now you have touched the women, you have struck a rock.) This phrase has come to represent women’s courage and strength. Women’s Day is commemorated in South Africa on August 9 in memory of the women who marched in 1956 to protest against apartheid and has become a symbol of women’s resistance to […]

The greatest and most exciting league in the world will be kicking off this coming weekend and as always it will have its own twists, turns, lows and highs. How do you think it will pan out? Will Manchester United be crowned champions for the fourth time in a row without a certain Portuguese maestro […]

A flip through a KwaZulu-Natal newspaper the other day revealed former minister in the presidency Essop Pahad had been defending former president Thabo Mbeki’s legacy in front of a group of Durban students last week. Rather hard-pressed by, among other, a few combative researchers from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Centre for Civil Society, Pahad […]

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) kicked off this weekend with two wins and a few draws. There were some really good games I managed to get a glimpse of like the Free State derby between Bloemfontein Celtic and Free State Stars which ended in a 2-2 draw. This is going to be an intriguing South […]

On hearing about the journalist who was banned from attending Hillary Clinton’s SA visit the other day because of a quip about his bag containing an “explosive notebook” when asked whether it contained anything at a security checkpoint, I both giggled (yes, men do that too, it was a very strong manly giggle, I promise) […]

Performance-enhancing substance (PES) use in sport is most likely the chief source of distress 1 facing sport in modern times 2. According to Clisby 2, the use of drugs to boost performance is common among athletes, despite strong efforts to hamper its use by sports organisations. The Olympic Charter’s vision of “friendship, solidarity and fair […]

Just over three years ago, shortly after my agonising crawl towards formal employment ended, I acquired a winter sweetheart in one of the winelands’ politically more fractured enclaves. When spring finally sprung I found myself unready to let my winelands honey go — in fact, things became rather serious — so I took the plunge […]

A couple of weeks ago, the Mail & Guardian featured a “for” and “against” exchange on the subject of women going bare-breasted on public beaches. It virtually goes without saying that both viewpoints were advanced by women. What possible right, after all, would a man have to express an opinion in an area that is […]

John Hughes is dead. I have no idea about him as a man. What he liked to drink, whether he was into chicks, guys or fast cars or rock ‘n roll. In fact I am not even sure how he died. But this is a man who has informed every part of my life. A […]

This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: Police National Commissioner Bheki Cele seems to be wary of releasing crime stats. What do you think?