One person can’t make a difference. So my mother used to say, but being a parent, she was wrong, of course. But without misguided parents, there would be no psychiatric industry. Pharmaceutical companies would not earn zillions by persuading us that sadness and disillusionment are unnatural and if we only take a tab a day, […]
2007
Posted inGeneral
Knut? We’re Africa, FFS — Mathe the friendly lion
Knut, the baby polar bear, turned one year old yesterday and the Germans continue to make trillions selling photos, keyrings and any kind of merchandise you can think of. We’re Africa, FFS! We do animals … that’s our thing — that’s how we lure tourists down here for death and redistribution! What is the Johannesburg […]
Posted inLifestyle
Colouring outside the lines
Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike. — Theodore Roosevelt The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved. — Mother Teresa Recently, I was privileged to fly into Cape Town on a pristinely beautiful summer’s day. As we were […]
Posted inSport
Into the unknown
Don’t know about anyone else, but I’m actually looking forward to a bit of a break from all the rugby we’ve had this year. There’s been an absolute glut, and as South African supporters we couldn’t have asked for a better year: a World Cup win, two local teams fighting it out for the Super […]
Posted inLifestyle, Sport
Electricity for 2010? No worry!
TO: Mr Jacob Maroga CEO, Eskom CC: Mr Jacob Zuma Mr Thabo Mbeki (Please ignore if no longer applicable) December 5 2007 Dear Mr Maroga, RE: RELIABLE POWER SUPPLY FOR 2010 I see that Engineering News ran an article on July 13 stating that Eskom’s capital expenditure budget over the next 20 years is set […]
Posted inNews/Politics
A look at the leadership
Having gained notoriety last year for our fairly tame “unauthorised” documentary film on Thabo Mbeki, it’s a bit of an anti-climax to finish our most recent film on the ANC succession race, Through the Eye of a Needle, and to realise that there’s no one to ban us this time. Undoubtedly this film would be […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why those who want to lead must emerge from the shadows
It is more than a little ironic that ANC leaders who once fought so hard to ensure that all of us can vote freely have spent the past few weeks trying to convince us that those South Africans who actually belong to the movement should have far less of a vote than the rest of […]
Posted inGeneral
Sorry, Mr President, your position is redundant
Thinking about upcoming party leadership elections, presidential elections, ward and provincial elections, committee elections and, for that matter, any other elections — be they to the congregation’s koeksister committee, to the security complex’s trustee committee or to the local youth body — leaves me cold. How is it that so much emphasis is placed on […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Corruption House
A recent report in the Mail & Guardian on the largest contract Eskom has ever awarded is cause for alarm. Think Halliburton is corrupt? Wait until you meet the ANC’s very own Chancellor House.
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
FM’s dose of succession tabloiditus
Be afraid of the spectre of a President Zuma. Thus blares the Financial Mail on its cover last week. Inside the mag, you might find even more reason to be afraid. It’s an article about the present president, titled “Arms and the man”, written by editor Barney Mthombothi. Indeed, I’m scared. Some may say my […]
Posted inGeneral
A shift of emphasis?
The neoliberal economic option, in conjunction with a liberal-democratic political practice, appears to have been the direction in which the ANC government under the leadership of Thabo Mbeki has been going for some time. In my own view, this is probably the reason why, judging by the nominations of candidates for leadership positions within the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Gay abandon — don’t ask, don’t tell the US military
Twenty-eight retired generals and admirals have called upon the US Congress to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, which finds application in the American military. In terms of the law, which was signed off in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, servicemen and -women are required to conceal their sexuality or face discharge. These former […]