By Tshepo Mogotsi “You speak English so well, where did you go to school?” That could easily rank in the top five annoying questions asked to products of the “Model C” system. And when I answer “Hillview High” (a name that has never and will never feature in any Easter Rugby tournament) a dense cloud […]
Reader Blog
On our Reader Blog, we invite Thought Leader readers to submit one-off contributions to share their opinions on politics, news, sport, business, technology, the arts or any other field of interest.
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Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
Why are (black) men silent on the war on queer bodies?
By Gcobani Qambela and Thoko Sipungu Toni Morrison says “evil has a blockbuster audience, goodness lurks backstage. Evil has vivid speech, goodness bites its tongue”. It is not difficult to remember these words when looking at the peculiar silence from heterosexual black men when it comes to issues of LGBTI and queer individuals. Writing for […]
Posted inLifestyle
Hunger pains and the Thursday meal
By Khanyo O Mjamba Excluding Phuza Thursday, I had other reasons for liking the 5th day of the week. The most important of these being that of my municipality’s sanitation services’ weekly collection visits. Every Thursday morning, bearing the formidable mass of black plastic, men and women of complex odours and bright orange overalls hop […]
Posted inNews/Politics
We need a lasting solution to the Walter Sisulu University debacle
By Olwethu Sipuka The current calamity at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) has taken me back to my times at the university. Some of the memories are permanently embedded in my mind and continue to be my reference points towards humanity. In 2002-2003 I served as the president of the Student Representative Council at Border Technikon […]
Posted inHealth, News/Politics
Urban circumcision, it’s not a bad thing
By Phozisa Mkele Every year there are fatalities of young boys in illegal initiation schools. This traditional practice is treated by some as a money-making scheme. With deaths and botched circumcisions on the rise, parents are opting for other alternatives. One such option that has become common in urban areas is having the circumcision undertaken […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle
Bye-bye 132 000 Chinese tourists
By Michael Jones “I’m sorry, I simply do not see them” is an often-quoted response I hear when talking to high-end South African tourism brands about marketing their products in the China outbound travel market. Strange considering that official government statistics are adamant that South Africa received 132 334 Chinese tourists in 2012 making it our […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
FHM: When a rape joke trumps the news
By Vincent Clery For a long time I have been sitting on the sidelines of an issue that has really irked me. Like most people I am a poor conscientious objector, I keep my opinions to myself, I cowardly express my grievances in safe, dim-lit places. Bars and dinner parties, the occasional early morning coffee […]
Posted inGeneral
You don’t build a family with a stick
By Lorenzo Wakefield The title of this column is taken from a Zulu saying that contradicts Khaya Dlanga’s defence of the manner in which black parents discipline their children. Corporal punishment is a concept that was brought to Africa and South Africa by the British colonialist in the form of a common law defence of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The arms trade treaty: Panacea or paradigm-shift in addressing mass atrocities?
By Clare da Silva and Sara Kendall The arms trade treaty, which was adopted during the United Nations General Assembly’s session in early April, opened for signature on June 3 at the organisation’s headquarters in New York. Already 73 states have signed the treaty. After years of negotiation and drafting, the treaty represents the first […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
The hidden food security crisis in South Africa
By Refiloe Joala As a nation I believe we have made a concerted effort of doing away with the overplayed notion of an Africa that conjures up images of hungry children with flies around their faces staring blankly into a camera lens. Although in the case of South Africa, one would imagine images of endless […]
Posted inNews/Politics
For the love of Mandela
By Derek Hook How should one approach the obsessive media speculation concerning Nelson Mandela’s declining health and approaching death? Such commentary as a rule wavers between requests that we respect Mandela’s privacy, honour the appropriate cultural customs and an unrelenting — and at times prurient — hunger for ever more details pertaining to Mandela and […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Mandela – what lies beneath?
By Sipho Singiswa It may be hard for many to gracefully accept or admit, as has been an African tradition, that when Madiba has decided he is ready to go meet his ancestors or when they call him, only he will know when best to go. I am writing in response to all the liberal […]