1. Cool Linden
The Joburg suburb of Linden is hardly Camps Bay, yet it has been named one of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods. It’s 17th on a list by TimeOut, the London-based cultural and entertainment listings publication. Neighbourhoods are evaluated on culture, community, nightlife, food and drink and street life. It described the suburb as “leafy, laid-back and quietly cool”. Other featured neighbourhoods include Barra Funda in São Paulo, Camberwell in London and Ménilmontant in Paris. Linden was one of two African suburbs to make the global list, with Labone in Accra taking the 10th spot.
2. Stopped in their trucks
The N3 highway between Joburg and Durban can be tedious or hair-raising along the section from Pietermaritzburg to the coast. Provincial authorities are now trying to address the latter with a police blitz aimed at curbing truck mayhem. Officers have so far stopped 260 trucks, charging 13 drivers with traffic violations. KwaZulu-Natal transport MEC Siboniso Duma says the crackdown is to prevent trucks turning roads into high-accident zones. The province has also appointed 177 new traffic officers.
3. Making Darcy wet
Andrew Davies, who writes TV adaptations of old novels, tells The New York Times he’s “not brilliant at writing original plots” but good at adding to them. He’s best known for Mr Darcy (Colin Firth) emerging from the water in a wet shirt in an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and introducing seductions and duels that author Jane Austen (now in her 250th year) tended to refer to only obliquely.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.