Media

Charlize Theron has become the first South African to win an Oscar, scooping the coveted Academy Award for best actress for her searing portrayal of Aileen Wournos - executed in 2002 for murdering six men - in Monster.

South African hit movie White Wedding is now showing in the US to rave reviews. Jann Turner, who directed and jointly wrote and produced the film, writes about the place that inspired it - South Africa.
• Movie draws public - and pirates

Artists across Africa are set to strengthen their grip on the US-dominated international music market with the inaugural MTV Africa Music Awards, to be held in Nigeria later this year.

French President Nikolas Sarkozy has awarded respected South African choreographer Robyn Orlin his country’s National Order of Merit in the class of Knight for her services to the arts.

John Kani speaks of how he came to the realisation that he could use the arts as a "cultural AK-47" in a short film that forms part of 21 Icons, a nation-building project honouring extraordinary South Africans.

South Africa's fight against crime is getting positive results thanks in part to initiatives such as Crime Stop and Crime Line. The latest quarterly report to the end of June shows that tip-offs from the general public are resulting in the arrest of suspected criminals.

Music, art and film will feature in a three-week long festival focusing on South Africa at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York City. It will feature renowned artists like Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim, as well as sopranos making their New York debuts.

Uganda’s Vision Group is planning to overhaul the process of printing newspapers in the East African country following the acquisition of a high-capacity R65.6-million (US$9-million) printing press.
• Google’s SMS internet for Uganda

Cape Town-based Echo Horticulture has acquired sole rights to distribute Harte Peat mushroom casing soil from Ireland in the sub-Saharan African region, with the company also hoping to supply a third of South Africa's mushroom market.

"Too fast? Too bad. I was born to do this." This is the message gold medallist Caster Semenya conveys in her latest ad.   This year...