INSIG releases 200th edition on a high note

"For the last 17 years - or 200 issues of INSIG - Afrikaans music has been a form of creative expression that has gone from strength to strength," says Elmari Rautenbach, editor of INSIG. "Music has always captured the spirit of an era - be it the Voelvryers who opposed the government of the 1980s, or Fokofpolisiekar, who today represent the anti-establishment youth. For these reasons, we have chosen past and present representatives of Afrikaans music for our 200th issue cover feature."

Theunis Engelbrecht, a former member of the Voelvry movement, explores the work, issues and influences of Afrikaans musicians - from Anton Goosen, Amanda Strydom, Laurinda Hofmeyr and Karen Zoid to Francois van Coke and other rising stars. Also on the music front, Christien van Dyk goes on tour with Fokofpolisiekar and lives to tell the tale.

"INSIG has always explored contemporary people and issues, written by some of South Africa's most respected writers, which is why on the political front, we commissioned Frederik van Zyl Slabbert to disclose the intrigue behind the historical meeting between the ANC and a small group of white Afrikaners, which took place in Dakar in the late 1980s," says Rautenbach. Van Zyl Slabbert, the organiser of what became known as 'the Dakar safari', recounts how this handful of law-abiding professionals deliberately lied to the customs officials at the former Jan Smuts Airport and flew to London and Paris on 'business' and then to Dakar...

The 200th issue of INSIG will be available nationally from Monday 29 November.