Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
Niren Tolsi

Creator

Niren Tolsi

Niren Tolsi is a freelance journalist whose interests include social justice, citizen mobilisation and state violence, protest, the Constitution and Constitutional Court, football and Test cricket.

Paddy Harper. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Paddy Harper: A reporter’s reporter

Harper’s colleague and friend Niren Tolsi remembers the inimitable, eccentric, principled and much-loved storyteller

Msaki performed a series of concerts at the festival.  (Photo by Gallo Images/Oupa Bopape)

Arts fest is duct-tape for our broken times

This year’s National Arts Festival provided alternative light in a gloomy time

Thami Majela presents ‘Don’t Let the Sun Set On You Here’ at the National Arts Festival. (Mark Wessels)

NAF: The hub of creative talent in SA

The festival provided a space for artists to meet and mingle

Koleka Putuma’s psychedelics, indigenous plants and history

Kholeka Putuma’s exhibition includes poetry titled “MDMA” and “Myrrh”

The King of Broken Things takes a poignant approach to being broken in a one-hander full of wonderment.

Theatrical bonanza at the National Arts Festival

In these broken times, the superb pieces being showcased provide an essential reminder that human good and hope can prevail if we remember how to dream

Gregory Maqoma. Photos by Mark Wessels

Gregory Maqoma’s emotional last dance

This was his faultless dancer’s farewell to a festival which he has also graced as a choreographer and innovator

Ters Ehlers: One man, two crimes against humanity

Ehlers was in the apartheid government’s inner sanctum. By 1994, he found a new source of income in the killing fields of Rwanda

Last year, former police minister Bheki Cele tabled an amendment bill meant to enhance the operational independence of Ipid and broaden its mandate to investigate serious crimes committed by police officers, regardless of whether they were on duty. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Failure to boot Cele betrays public safety

Ramaphosa will continue to mouth platitudes and leave the police minister to his empty promises

Having become one of the country’s greats, Hasim Amla announced his retirement from the Proteas on August 8 2019. (Isuru Sameera Peiris/Gallo Images)
Video

From the archives: The meaning of Hashim Amla 

Before he earned legend status, Proteas’ legendary batsman had to endure being reduced to an ‘outsider’

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu calling for peace in Katutura, Namibia in 1988. Photos: Rashid Lombard

The Rashid Lombard Archive is where it’s happening

With the induction last week of the Rashid Lombard Archive at the University of the Western Cape his photography and stories will soon be accessible to a new generation.

The president’s tendency to avoid confrontation with his own party means we must maintain public outrage to ensure an end to state capture(Photo by Papi Morake/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Ramaphosa’s Zondo nomination unpacked

The president took his time to announce the country’s new chief justice. What took him so long, and did he make the best choice?

Legislation aimed to kickstart the commercial recreational cannabis industry will not benefit the rural communities who have been cultivating the plant for generations.

Legislative change brings pain for Pondoland cannabis farmers

Legislation aimed to kickstart the commercial recreational cannabis industry will not benefit the rural communities who have been cultivating the plant for generations

Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma (Vice Captain) of South Africa celebrates winning the match and test series during day 4 of the 3rd Betway WTC Test match between South Africa and India at Six Gun Grill Newlands on January 14, 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Proteas’ hungry young lions drive SA to Test victory over India

But black players have to battle the opposition as much as racist sections of South African media and fans — whose expectations demand they fail

United in opposition: An anti-Shell protest at the Mzamba Estuary united protesters across race and class. (Photos: Paul Botes/M&G)

‘Times are urgent, let’s slow down’: The groundswell against Shell

Even a country with citizens as fractious and fractured as South Africa is showing signs of unity to save the sea off the Wild Coast.

South Africa’s Temba Bavuma (R) hugs South Africa’s Dean Elgar (L) after South Africa won the second Test cricket match between South Africa and India at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on January 6, 2022. (Phill Magakoe/AFP)

Defiant Elgar leads Proteas to Test victory over India

Captain anchors crucial partnerships to snatch historic win in breathtaking yo-yo of a match

In Paternoster, a sense of the old South Africa is always lurking. (Photos: Getty Images)

Paternoster’s palatable (and unpalatable) fare

A gastronomic road trip to the West Coast fishing village uncovers new flavours

Sustainable kitchen: Chef Johannes Richter is a partner in The LivingRoom. Proteins such as meat and fish are from local or regional sources. (Photos: Rogan Ward)

Fine-dining in Pinetown: It’s all in the timing

Sustainability and care feed into every aspect of the high-end meals at The LivingRoom

Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse. Photo: Lindo Mbhele

Hotstix’s  hug a celebration of survival

The Jazz Expressions concert in level one lockdown was a reaquaintance with friends, music and jazz photography

Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. (Judges Matter)

JSC lets politics trump conscience and excellence

The sense that the commissioners who nominated five candidates for appointment to the Constitutional Court voted for their constituencies, rather than with their conscience, is…

Cynthia Mavuso’s daughter Sithembile Mavuso, pictured below in the 90s, loved taking photos would say: ‘When your mom is a photographer, you don’t need a special occasion to take photos.’ The brooch on her shirt was a photo she used as an accessory. (Cynthia Mavuso)

The darkroom process of Black Photo Libraries

A book of photographers with no photographs highlights the ownership battles black lensmen are still battling