JOHANNESBURG BRIEFING

News this month

Flourishing culture

February brought good news for South Africa's arts scene. A local film, “U-Carmen eKhayelitsha”, won the top prize at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. This adaptation of “Carmen”, Georges Bizet's opera, is filmed entirely in isiXhosa, one of the country's 11 official languages, and was shot on location in a township near Cape Town. Meanwhile, in music, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a South African band, won the prize for best traditional album in the World Music category at America's Grammy Awards.

Another South African film, “Yesterday”, has been nominated for an Oscar in the category of best foreign film (winners will be announced on February 27th). Made entirely in isiZulu, another official language, it tells the story of a woman in a remote village who is struck down by AIDS. Its success is expected to boost South Africa's efforts to develop an indigenous film industry.

The nation's state

Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's president, delivered his state-of-the-nation address on February 11th, kicking off parliament's annual session in Cape Town. The event is largely ceremonial, with female MPs competing to wear the most impressive and colourful outfits, and the chamber often erupting into song. But Mr Mbeki outlined some useful policy changes, such as new rules designed to benefit small businesses, which many hope will help create jobs. Potential reforms include the lifting of burdensome labour regulations, the cutting of certain taxes and levies, and a simplification of the corporate tax system.

Mr Mbeki also announced plans to spur the wider economy: more state spending on roads, harbours and train lines to ease congestion, and new jobs, such as the 11,000 more police officers created since last June. The president's biggest challenge is to cut the country's unemployment rate, which is roughly 40%.

Gloomy news

South Africa's death rate is climbing fast, with fatalities from AIDS among young men and women soaring, according to a new government report on the country's causes of death. An earlier report by the independent Medical Research Council had already found that deaths from opportunistic diseases (which infect people with weakened immune systems), like tuberculosis and pneumonia, have risen fast in the past decade, especially among young people. This suggests that more people are dying of AIDS than is officially recognised.

But AIDS is still a politically sensitive issue, and the government is dragging its feet in response to these new findings. Perhaps 5.6m people in South Africa are infected with HIV, and many are developing full-blown AIDS. At least 500,000 are in desperate need of anti-retroviral drugs, which extend the lives of AIDS-sufferers, but only a handful of patients now take them in several of the country's nine provinces. An official target of putting 53,000 patients in state hospitals on anti-retroviral drugs was set for March, but barely half that number currently gets them.

Making mother proud

The long-running saga of Mark Thatcher and the bungled attempt to overthrow Equatorial Guinea's president entered a new chapter in February. Last month, Sir Mark admitted he had helped mercenaries subcontract a civilian helicopter, though he claimed he did not know its intended use. His reward was a suspended jail sentence and a fine. Sir Mark also agreed to co-operate with further investigations before leaving the country and selling his Cape Town house.

This month, however, he was back in Cape Town with plans to buy another house, and back in court to answer 43 questions posed by prosecutors from Equatorial Guinea, who are trying to establish exactly who funded the plot. Sir Mark admitted to knowing many of the plot's alleged financiers and organisers, such as Simon Mann, who was convicted and jailed in Zimbabwe, and Nick du Toit, who was convicted and jailed in Equatorial Guinea. But he denied knowing any details of the coup plot itself. That may mark the end of his drawn-out role in this tale.

Handling Zimbabwe

Ahead of Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections in March, South Africa is trying to encourage the tyrannical government of Robert Mugabe to abide by agreed electoral standards. As chair of the security organ of the Southern African Development Community, South Africa sent a team of lawyers to its troublesome northern neighbour, to check if basic election standards were being respected. They were turned away. Mr Mbeki and two other leaders from the region, Sam Nujoma of Namibia and Phakalitha Mosisili of Lesotho, were told that Mr Mugabe was “too busy” to discuss election standards with them. Teams from the South African trade-union movement, Cosatu, and South Africa's official opposition, the Democratic Alliance, were also rebuffed.

Meanwhile, in a sign of worsening repression in Zimbabwe, three journalists accused of working as spies and hounded out of the country. Mr Mbeki still talks of his hopes for a fair election, and even says he believes he has good relations with Mr Mugabe. He criticised America for labelling Zimbabwe an “outpost of tyranny”.

Catch if you can

March 2005

“Tshepang”

Until March 27th 2005

Watching this powerful play, about the devastation caused by the brutal rape of a nine-month old baby, is incredibly difficult. But the challenging subject is well-served by impressive writing and acting, and the result feels both important and compelling. This is a somewhat fictionalised account of a true story that startled and unsettled South Africa (the baby was known in the newspapers as Tshepang). Ultimately it is about love, forgiveness and coming to terms with an awful tragedy.

Barney Simon Theatre, Market Theatre Complex, Bree St, Newtown Precinct, Johannesburg. Tel: +27 (0)11 832 1641. Bookings via Computicket. See the Market Theatre's information about the show.