runaway

Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene's inaugural budget, delivered in Parliament on Wednesday, was tight and conservative with the minister managing to balance the need for increased revenue without stifling spending, Citadel analysts concluded.

Among the criminals, gangsters, refugees and working people in Joburg's teeming inner city flatlands are many street children. Usually forced into prostitution and crime, there is often no escape, but Khanyisile Motsa offers a ray of hope.

Among the criminals, gangsters, refugees and working people in Joburg's teeming inner city flatlands are many street children. Abandoned, runaways, orphans or victims of child trafficking, they are usually forced into prostitution and crime. There is often no escape, but Khanyisile Motsa offers a ray of hope.

By Anne Taylor
14 August 2013

A wide range of South African productions are part of this year's Edinburgh Fringe – and are receiving rave reviews from critics, bloggers and audiences alike as they give audiences a crash course in the complexities of this country.

Chiminae Ball, Faniswa Yisa, Jennie Reznek in Voices Made Night UK company The Assembly cherrypicks productions from international festivals and presents them at four different venues in Edinburgh during the festival. This year sees its second "South African season". 

Last year, it kicked off with the runaway hit, Mies Julie – South African playwright and director Yael Farber's adaption of the Strindberg play, Miss Julie. She's back at The Assembly this year to stage another unflinching and challenging piece. While not set in South Africa, Nirbhaya (which means 'fearless' in Hindi) takes on the challenge of sexual violence against women.

A collaboration between Farber and seven Indian performers, it recounts the attack of Jyoti Singh Pandey, the young medical student who was gang-raped on a Delhi bus. Laura Barnett, theatre critic for The Telegraph has described it as "one of the most powerful pieces of theatre I've ever seen".

South African productions that are are in Edinburgh this year are there because of support from local institutions such as UCT's The Baxter and The State Theatre. The productions include:

Solomon and Marion
Solomon and Marion is a festival fringe sell-out. Starring Janet Suzman as an ageing South African divorcee whose only surviving child has emigrated to Australia, and Khayalethu Anthony, the grandson of her former housekeeper, this moving two hander was written by Lara Foot. Picked as a fringe top tip by The Guardian, the "refreshing" play also received four stars from The Times.

Professional golfers, celebrities, sports stars and business executives reached deep into their pockets at the 12th Gary Player Invitational to raise just over R2-million for a number of charities.

COP17 is unlikely to achieve a new binding international commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it should help map out the long-term transition to a low-carbon world.
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Hotel mogul Sol Kerzner is set to open the South African chapter of his One&Only international luxury hotel chain on 3 April.