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by Michael Trapido on September 2nd, 2010
Themba Maseko, the spokesperson for the Cabinet, today confirmed that the government is committed to accommodating the views expressed during public hearings on the Protection of Information Bill "as far as practicable and reasonable". Maseko told...
Comments: 0 | Rating: 4 / 5 | Views: 93

by Siyabonga Ntshingila on September 1st, 2010
You know something is wrong when Jackson Mthembu comes across as the reasonable voice in any debate. The media is its own worst enemy in this whole brouhaha regarding potential media freedom infringements in the Protection of Information Bill and ...
Comments: 0 | Rating: 3 / 5 | Views: 140

by Rod MacKenzie on August 31st, 2010
It was a sunny day in Shanghai on Nanjing West road, apparently the longest shopping road in the world. We ex-pats were doing what ex-pats do on a day off, sitting in a favourite pub, The Long Bar, fronting the Ritz-Portman hotel. While we sipped our...
Comments: 11 | Rating: 5 / 5 | Views: 988

by John Vlismas on September 1st, 2010
I'm between home and show and booked in for the night, but adrenalin has bled out, and the minutes feel skinned alive. Moments hang together, nerves exposed. I've chickened out and beat the last joke to the car.Drunk executives and their punch bags h...
Comments: 4 | Rating: 3 / 5 | Views: 636

by Bert Olivier on August 31st, 2010
Recent events in South Africa (like the looming attempts to control the media), together with a comment by "Maria" on one of my previous posts, have set me wondering if we are seeing the beginnings of what Arundhati Roy, Indian social activist and no...
Comments: 21 | Rating: 5 / 5 | Views: 1258

by Azad Essa on August 31st, 2010
In a dramatic turnaround, South African journalists have welcomed the proposed changes to the Protection of Information Bill and the Media Appeals Tribunal, as vetted by the national government last month. The South African National Editors' Forum (S...
Comments: 11 | Rating: 5 / 5 | Views: 690

by Koos Kombuis on August 31st, 2010
There are two words commonly used in South Africa which I really, really can't stand. The one is the word "comrade". The other one is the word "bokkie". "Bokkie" is often used in insipid Afrikaans love songs by commercial singers (presumably becau...
Comments: 21 | Rating: 5 / 5 | Views: 1425

by Adam Haupt on August 31st, 2010
Since 1994, there has been a lot of talk about South Africa's lost generation -- the Y generation that is apathetic, apolitical, consumerist and vulnerable to a range of social ills, such as substance abuse and Aids. More recently, we have heard ...
Comments: 16 | Rating: 4 / 5 | Views: 1037
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Pitso Mosimane announced a strong squad for the 2012 Afcon qualifier against Niger on Saturday. It is encouraging to see Jingles including youngsters like SuperSport United striker Kermit Erasmus, Daylon Claasen, Keegan Ritchie and Andile Jali. It sh...
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For those of you who don't know, the sequel to one of the biggest real-time strategy (RTS) games of all time, Starcraft, has been 12 years in the making. The game is made up of three races: Terran (humans), Protos and Zerg. The three races are...
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by Koos Kombuis on August 31st, 2010
There are two words commonly used in South Africa which I really, really can't stand. The one is the word "comrade". The other one is the word "bokkie". "Bokkie" is often used in insipid Afrikaans love songs by commercial singers (presumably becau...
Comments: 21 | Rating: 5 / 5 | Views: 1425

by Bert Olivier on August 31st, 2010
Recent events in South Africa (like the looming attempts to control the media), together with a comment by "Maria" on one of my previous posts, have set me wondering if we are seeing the beginnings of what Arundhati Roy, Indian social activist and no...
Comments: 21 | Rating: 5 / 5 | Views: 1258

by Adam Haupt on August 31st, 2010
Since 1994, there has been a lot of talk about South Africa's lost generation -- the Y generation that is apathetic, apolitical, consumerist and vulnerable to a range of social ills, such as substance abuse and Aids. More recently, we have heard ...
Comments: 16 | Rating: 4 / 5 | Views: 1037

by Rod MacKenzie on August 31st, 2010
It was a sunny day in Shanghai on Nanjing West road, apparently the longest shopping road in the world. We ex-pats were doing what ex-pats do on a day off, sitting in a favourite pub, The Long Bar, fronting the Ritz-Portman hotel. While we sipped our...
Comments: 11 | Rating: 5 / 5 | Views: 988

by Azad Essa on August 31st, 2010
In a dramatic turnaround, South African journalists have welcomed the proposed changes to the Protection of Information Bill and the Media Appeals Tribunal, as vetted by the national government last month. The South African National Editors' Forum (S...
Comments: 11 | Rating: 5 / 5 | Views: 690

by John Vlismas on September 1st, 2010
I'm between home and show and booked in for the night, but adrenalin has bled out, and the minutes feel skinned alive. Moments hang together, nerves exposed. I've chickened out and beat the last joke to the car.Drunk executives and their punch bags h...
Comments: 4 | Rating: 3 / 5 | Views: 636

by Siyabonga Ntshingila on September 1st, 2010
You know something is wrong when Jackson Mthembu comes across as the reasonable voice in any debate. The media is its own worst enemy in this whole brouhaha regarding potential media freedom infringements in the Protection of Information Bill and ...
Comments: 0 | Rating: 3 / 5 | Views: 140

by Michael Trapido on September 2nd, 2010
Themba Maseko, the spokesperson for the Cabinet, today confirmed that the government is committed to accommodating the views expressed during public hearings on the Protection of Information Bill "as far as practicable and reasonable". Maseko told...
Comments: 0 | Rating: 4 / 5 | Views: 93
more posts...
I find Umberto Eco's look at what he refers to as "Ur-Fascism" more revealing, and perhaps, more approachable. I don't know that it's descriptive of the ANC in particular, but certainly, there are aspects of South African culture which one cou...

You've summed it up quite nicely Bert. If one thinks of the different pieces of legislation (both passed and proposed), it's not difficult to pinpoint this phenomenon. Apart from the PoIB and MAT, we also have RICA which effectively allows the goverm...

Thank you this is a useful analysis. While not discounting Roy's observation it may be more useful to see these current trends in the ANC as representing more classic authoritarianism rather than the more restrictive version of authoritarian behaviou...

South African citizens already see more and more Chinese businesses opening shop throughout the country, and it is quite evident in the townships. E-TV reported yesterday about a textile factory in KZN where workers earn R120-00 per week. South Afric...

I might have to read this after my first cofee tomorrow morning because I see a whole lot of words but cant really hear anything....

Great article - I agree. It is important to point out that those two Chinese men in the photograph are Wen JiaoBao and Hu JinTao - the main leaders of China....

I may be wrong and ill-informed, but I’ve never agreed with the linear left/right political spectrum, but rather, a circular one. Fascism on the right and socialism on the left, at the edges of the spectrum is actually the same thing. They are in...

@blogroid "Dave Harris… You live in a strange world of paranoia and conspiracy" With your reasoning, I suspect your world is far stranger than mine! ;-)...
Dave Harris on Are CEOs overpaid?

This is absolute nonsense. What, now there is good corruption? Corruption will ultimately destroy China, just like it is at present eating away at the core of South Africa. This is because corruption encourages greed at the expense of honest hard...

You missed another slight difference between South Africa and China. Here, the cops generally don't pitch up until the protests are well under way and have already become violent. Thanks, Rod. That pic is something else!...

I wonder what would be left for debate if the race-centred terms like 'white' and 'black' were left out of this debate. Even if these terms, including 'transformation', had other meaning other than political, one would struggle to find 'black' or...

 
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Mail & Guardian comment & analysis
Of course public-sector strikes are political, argues <b>Khaye Nkwanyana</b>, the deputy national secretary of the Young Communist League of SA....
We, as the hosts, should get our act together before the next climate change conference, says <b>David Le Page</b>....
The contradictions were sharpened this week: President Jacob Zuma reviewing ranks of Chinese soldiers -- while at home strikers took to the streets....
Government suppression of the media is nothing new, but is harder to enforce in the digital era, argues Michelle le Roux. ...
ArcelorMittal SA's proposed BEE transaction with controversial company ICT has been called many things. But is it transformation?...
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Right now a tectonic shift is under way in one of the world's most important industries: information technology....
Mongrel political organisations are always likely to yield mongrel politics and policy, says <b>Richard Calland</b>....
Media tribunal aside, our vibrant landscape of opinions keeps politicians on their toes, says <b>Rapule Tabane</b>....
The media has cast itself in an adversarial role, out of touch with the experiences of the majority, argues <b>Monde Nkasawe</b>....
The ANC have been markedly quiet about successful examples of media tribunals. We thought we'd help their case with round-up of attempts in history....
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M&G 2010 Coverage
new posts
by Jeremiah Kure on August 30th, 2010
If a sliver of South Africa's future can be glimpsed through the prism of the current public-service protests, then the ...
Comments: 16 | Not rated | Views: 766
by Guy Berger on August 29th, 2010
South Africa's journalism schools have joined the movement to keep the country's media and information environment free....
Comments: 29 | Not rated | Views: 1253
by Rod MacKenzie on August 29th, 2010
So I have to change her name. Well, at least to the name I have chosen to use in a semi-autobiographical novel I am writ...
Comments: 8 | Not rated | Views: 1948
by William Saunderson-Meyer on August 28th, 2010
Expect President Jacob Zuma to return from China overflowing with enthusiasm for the developmental state. Expect his nep...
Comments: 20 | Not rated | Views: 1757
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