By Anayo Unachukwu While I was writing this piece, I received a news alert from the Washington Post, about the arrival to the US of Dr Kent Brantly, an American doctor, who was infected with Ebola while working in Liberia with a Christian missionary organisation — Samaritan’s Purse. His repatriation to his country was not […]
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Posted inEquality
Rethinking ‘townships’
By Lucille Dawkshas What are “townships”? I’ve often thought of them in terms of the visual meaning of outlying “ships” to the central harbour of a CBD, but what makes suburban areas any different? Wikipedia’s contributors tell me “townships” are: “the (often underdeveloped) urban living areas that, from the late 19th century until the end […]
Posted inHealth
The hospital has left the building
By Dr Shahra Sattar On Duinefontein Road in Manenberg there is a building that used to be GF Jooste Hospital. This building is not beautiful by any stretch. There are no glittering mosaics or eco-friendly manicured lawns greeting you at its entrance promising a fantastic service. No, this building is surrounded by a train track, […]
Posted inEquality, Media
I’m a Jew, not a pig
By Caryn Gootkin Today’s Mail & Guardian carries the following (what appears to be a) plea to Pick n Pay to stand against cruelty to pigs. It is supposedly an advertisement, because the newspaper apparently knows nothing about it. Chris Roper, the editor, placed an apology on their website. In it he states: ”Owing to […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Confessions of a not-so-proud Capetonian
By Nicola Soekoe Okay, I said it. I’m from Cape Town and, sure, I love the place, but still my reply to the come-from question usually takes the form of: “My family is from Joburg, but I live in Cape Town.” Four years ago when I first went abroad alone Cape Town wasn’t the sexy […]
Posted inNews/Politics
MPs’ behaviour eating away at Parliament’s credibility
By Mukoni Ratshitanga The debate on the State of the Nation address in the national assembly last week illustrated concerns and evinced valuable lessons and reminders which our public representatives across the party political divide ought to be attentive. The endless points of order, genuine and some not, interjections and heckles clearly intended to stop […]
Posted inGender violence
The Cape Flats’ gangster women
By Dariusz Dziewanski Gangsterism on the Cape Flats is typically thought of a man’s game. But women have always played an important role in gangs — in the Western Cape and elsewhere in the world. Victimisation surveys estimate that 60% to 70% of serious violent crime on the Cape Peninsula may be gang-related. Authorities approximate […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Are today’s secularists really secular?
By Ryan Peter Yesterday my Twitter feed went crazy after Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng’s speech “ Law and Religion in Africa” was posted on the internet. In it our chief justice talks about “how the interplay between law and religion could yield a product that is for the common good of all in Africa’s pluralistic […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
‘Whites don’t care about blacks’
By Lucille Dawkshas I’m the only white teacher in an all-black township school. Teaching the philosophy of Steve Biko has been quite interesting, given the context. I can relate to Athambile Masola’s “atmosphere of exclusion” in her article “A Biko moment”, where “there are no words or signs declaring the exclusion”. I’ve had several “Biko […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Reducing Zille-Mazibuko saga to race a dangerous game
By Kameel Premhid and Dan de Kadt In a recent article for the Mail & Guardian, Verashni Pillay, an associate editor, argues that “white mentors need a wake-up call”. Her central thesis is that white mentors are prone to feeling a sense of ownership over their “black protégés” and that they struggle to cope when […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
What Lindiwe Mazibuko means to me…
By Lindelwe Dube While there might be some merit in the speculation over Lindiwe Mazibuko’s reasons for departing, it’s important the impact she’s had on young, black women is not lost in the noise. Politics is often thought of as a business for old men. Her entry into and triumph in a male-dominated environment, which […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Nzimande’s ‘white people’s lies’ shows anti-black prejudice
By Aidan Prinsloo Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande had said the Nkandla furore was the result of “white people’s lies”. Many were quick to point out how he was scapegoating white South Africans for his president’s own shortcomings, and some noted that Thuli Madonsela is hardly pale. But I think we have […]