While South Africans anxiously await the beginning of Polokwane to see who will come out tops — Mbeki or Zuma — the rest of the world equally holds its breath. Especially the African continent is concerned about the outcome of the presidential battle. African countries know too well that their own political (and economical) fate […]
Kristin Palitza
Kristin Palitza is an award-winning, independent journalist, editor, media consultant and trainer. She is writing in-depth African features for the South African, German and UK print media and has worked within the newspaper, news service, online and magazine sectors in South Africa, Germany and the United States for the past 15 years.
For more info on Kristin's work visit www.kristinpalitza.com. She also writes a literary blog on http://kristinpalitza.wordpress.com.
Posted inNews/Politics
JZ ≠ democracy?
Since Jacob Zuma has come out tops in most provinces in the nomination race for the ANC presidency earlier this week, many of my colleagues, relatives and friends have voiced their concern about what will become of this country. Some said they will leave the country if JZ becomes president; others decided they will not […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Lives less valued
About a week ago, a baby with two heads was born in Maputo. Its parents are young, in their early 20s, poor and little educated. After the birth, mother and baby were placed into separate wards in Maputo’s central hospital — a public hospital with few facilities and even fewer experts. While the mother was […]
Posted inMedia
Ethics? Sold out
Imagine this: a news presenter is being offered a sponsorship deal worth half-a-million rand by one of the broadcaster’s advertisers. In exchange, one of the station’s DJs (not the news presenter) would read out the company’s ad during an entertainment feature shortly after the news bulletin. Kosher or not? The news presenter, perhaps understandably, finds […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Hidden from sight
Have you ever asked yourself where South Africa’s disabled are? According to the Casual Day Welfare Organisation, 3,5-million people in South Africa are disabled. That’s almost 8% of our total population. But where are they? Apart from the odd person in a wheelchair or on crutches, our streets seem to be surprisingly empty of anyone […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The truth about Eskom
Last Saturday morning, at about 8.30am, I drove past the Durban cricket stadium. It was a relatively sunny day and the stadium stood in silence, yet its four high-powered floodlights were shining brightly, eating up hundreds of watts per second. I was outraged. How can electricity be wasted in such a shameless manner while South […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Will a single African currency succeed?
There has been much talk recently about creating a monetary union within the African Union that would lead to all members having one single currency. The question is: Would Africa benefit? I must be honest. I don’t think so — at least not right now; not within the next decade or two. There is a […]
Posted inLifestyle
Voda … please go
Earlier this year I moved house and went to the nearest Vodacom shop to change my billing address. I filled out the required form, signed it and had them make a copy of my ID, which was then faxed to the Vodacom head office. It’s now several months later … but I still don’t get […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Getting away with murder
My husband recently got a traffic fine of R1 500 for driving through a red traffic light. (Of course he insists it was dark orange!) Now, we all know that the law is the law and we have to take responsibility for our errors … but R1 500 is a bit steep, I think. Especially when compared […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
The cut-throat method
In an attempt to rein in critical media, the government has embarked on a new trend: the withdrawal of advertising, an important avenue of income for most media. If we don’t like what you write, we’ll suspend some badly needed cash. Within the past few months, at least three South African newspapers have found themselves […]
Posted inMedia
Give us a break, Snuki!
The SABC celebrated itself, and only itself, at the 11th SABC Highway Africa new-media awards last Tuesday night in Grahamstown. It used the one-hour-long awards ceremony to promote shamelessly its new News International service and brag about its apparent excellence and professionalism in journalism. The mere fact that the SABC found it necessary to abuse […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Media beware!
It doesn’t look too grand for media freedom in South Africa. I recently surfed the net on the search for some facts on how well we’re doing in growing our child, the new democracy with all its newly won freedoms, into a healthy teenager (now that we’re 13). What I found was a blow: according […]