While much has been written about the sacking of the National Prosecuting Authority’s Vusi Pikoli and the indemnities handed out to, inter alia, Mikey Schultz, Nigel McGurk and Faizel Smith, one important issue still has be clarified. Regardless of whether you feel the Scorpions were right or wrong in handing out these indemnities in terms […]
2007
Posted inSport
All Blacks suffering from IRB myopia
I was absolutely devastated by the All Blacks’ shock defeat against France on Saturday. I remember going to the bar for my fifth glass of champagne and thinking, “Isn’t this really all down to the IRB’s refusal to deal with reality?” Surely someone on the IRB board should stand up and be counted: Firstly, recognise […]
Posted inSport
A tale of two (very different) halves
So there we were, chatting away at half-time of the Bok-Fiji clash on the weekend, somewhat secure in the knowledge that we would be progressing to the semifinal. A try just before the break had done nothing to dampen this enthusiasm. It was probably just a matter of time before we completely imposed ourselves on […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Name changes: ‘Cost argument’ is nonsense
I’ve often thought that many name change critics approach the debate with a certain intellectual dishonesty. Most of the time I hear that South Africa should not change a name of a city, road, river or geographic region because of the “cost” involved. Critics will usually juxtapose the cost of the name change with how […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, Tech
What’s the frequency, Zuckerberg?
On Friday I read a rumour that Facebook would be launching a possible iTunes competitor. Since then the rumour has evolved and claims a more realistic scenario that Facebook will simply be implementing musician-friendly profiles — a feature that will compete directly with MySpace’s Artist platform (responsible for a huge part of their growth). Rafat […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
Subscription rage
Whenever I see a certain former editor of the Mail & Guardian (who may or may not have a missing tooth), a small shiver of guilt shoots up my spine. If, from a karma perspective, one’s bad behaviour comes back to bite one in the ass, then my ass has teeth marks. It started with […]
Posted inSport
A new national anthem
Rodrigo Orihuela’s recent post about the importance of national anthems in sports reminded me that we South Africans need a new national anthem. The swell of pride that I feel when I hear the opening strains of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika at a rugby Test match is replaced by intense shame when 35 000 white throats start […]
Posted inMedia
Gat is koning
On October 3, Ster-Kinekor released the good news about what I described in my review as the crassest comedy I’d ever seen: POENA IS KONING TICKLES SA AUDIENCES’ FUNNY BONE Laughing all the way to box-office success, Afrikaans teen comedy Poena is Koning, starring Robbie Wessels and directed by Willie Esterhuizen, is shooting the lights […]
Posted inMedia
Adding and subtracting value
Cinema attendances are down in South Africa (as they are in the US), but retail DVD has taken off in the most extraordinary manner. Whether or not these two things are connected, retail DVD in South Africa is now worth about R800-million per year, with an estimated further R100-million being spent on pirated products. And […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Whatever happened to ideology?
Back in the struggle days, delineations were political. The regime stood for racism; the white opposition for deracialised capitalism. There were the black consciousness people, the non-racial ANC, the workerists in the unions, and the commies who believed in delaying socialist revolution for a national democratic one. Politics was easy to explain. But it’s been […]
Posted inLifestyle
The Sumo, all cut up!
The team of surgical nurses and doctors that stood overlooking the hospital-gown-clad Sumo had looks of certain dismay on their faces as they contemplated how they would move the 147kg Sumo from his hospital bed-on-wheels to the operating table reminiscent of a butcher’s chopping board. As you can imagine, the Sumo, naked under the rather […]
Posted inLifestyle
Singing as we work …
I’ve been bedridden for two days with a delightful combination of flu and exhaustion. This has been an interesting experience for me not only because I’m usually (very) active, but also because my landlord and -lady (an archaic set of terms if ever there was one!) called in garden services to massacre my little garden […]