Later today, history will be made when, for the first time, a South African journalist will be punished for blogging. A hearing is due to be held at Avusa (formerly Johnnic Communications) at 3pm today (Thursday) to decide the fate of a Sowetan sub-editor, who has been found guilty of ”gross misconduct” for what he […]
2007
Posted inGeneral
There’s a Kindle on my wish list
There is a new technology in our midst, and once again old-school thinking is about to get a serious shake-up. Kindle is a new gadget, available from Amazon.com, that allows digital books to be downloaded and read on the go. The device is sexy, smart and intuitive. It also apparently offers a very good reading […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
There’s a Kindle on my wish list
There is a new technology in our midst, and once again old-school thinking is about to get a serious shake-up. Kindle is a new gadget, available from Amazon.com, that allows digital books to be downloaded and read on the go. The device is sexy, smart and intuitive. It also apparently offers a very good reading […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Danish cartoon II: A teddy bear named Muhammad
Gillian Gibbons is an Englishwoman who teaches at Unity School in Sudan. On Sunday, the Sudanese police arrested her on account of blasphemy arising out of her allowing her class to name a teddy bear “Muhammad”. This has caused a furore of note, with many, including the Muslim Council of Britain, saying that it is […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Aids denialist Brink’s loony letter to Mbeki
Here is the previously unknown text of a loony letter that the Aids denialist Anthony Brink asked me to deliver to Thabo Mbeki a mere three days after he introduced himself to me in a Cape Town book shop. The letter is so very obviously bonkers that I, of course, never gave it to the […]
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 inGeneral
OK, doctor, how are you going to spin this?
These are interesting times for those of us in the business of explaining South Africa to rest of the world. Here’s what our current politics look like to someone who reads the Washington Post or the New York Times and listens to National Public Radio (that would be your high-end United States news consumer): The […]
Posted inLifestyle
Don’t be bullied by traffic cops
So there you are, driving down the road, minding your own business, when you get snared by a roadblock. The traffic cop who comes to your window asks for your driver’s licence, checks your car’s number plates and licence disc, then goes back to his vehicle. When he returns he brusquely tells you that you’re […]
Posted inLifestyle
16 Days of Activism
Please accept my apologies for my lack of enthusiasm for activism this year. I am worn out, and have neither the energy nor the inclination to find out exactly what activism activities are happening in my part of the world. I also have no desire to wear a symbolic white ribbon. (I don’t do ribbons.) […]
Posted inLifestyle
Conned by a crooked, sweet, big old lady
Hailing from the once-great and still-proud Zulu nation, I was brought up in a home where good traditional values were taught and guarded jealously. Among these values was respect for your fellow man, in generally, but most importantly was respect for your elders. The matriarchal female in the traditional Zulu homestead was always the most […]
Posted inMedia
A world without sub-editors
I have, stored away safely in my head, a list of people who should be dragged into the street and shot. Don’t worry — I am not declaring war on women, Jews, lesbians, Russians, Republicans, rightwingers or communists. It’s simply a list of those around me who were seemingly born missing a significant quantity of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
On cacti and keys; memory and forgetfulness
Once upon a time, in the northern part of a land known as Palestine, there existed a village called Lubya. The village of Lubya is well-known among the people of that land as the hometown of one Abu Bakr al-Lubyani. Al-Lubayni was a prominent Muslim scholar of the 15th century who taught Islamic religious sciences […]