Before I begin, may I just say that over my bank manager’s dead body will I be fielding questions on this one. Good luck to you, sir. With the president’s return from the UN, the issue of the director of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Vusi Pikoli’s departure — allegedly for obtaining a warrant against […]
2007
Posted inGeneral
The big Zuma factor
The biggest political question hanging over all our heads at this critical moment in our history is that of Jacob Zuma. What will he do — or not — if and when he becomes the president; not so much of the ANC, but of the country? Cosatu and the SACP’s frenetic support for Zuma is […]
Posted inLifestyle
All of us are racists
Race is not a subject that South Africans talk about easily and readily, and I think that this particularly the case with white South Africans. The other day I was presenting a lecture on race at what used to be known as Pentech but now is known as the Bellville campus of the Cape Peninsula […]
Posted inGeneral
Who are the greatest South African villains?
Wizard magazine in the United States, which focuses on comic books, anime, gaming and such, last year compiled a list of the 100 greatest villains of all time from movies, comics, television, video games and so forth. Though many of the villains on the list will be known only to those with a fair interest […]
Posted inGeneral
House-proud homeless
I was driving along the freeway the other day (never quite sure which one, but one of those that take you out of the city) when I saw a homeless man, living under a bridge right next to the road. He had the obligatory shopping trolley, filled with tins and bottles and random bits of […]
Posted inGeneral
National interest versus public interest
Writing in “A decade of democracy“, published by the finance weekly Financial Mail, President Thabo Mbeki says: “Those who tell the story of the past decade must show they have assimilated the spirit of new times and can speak in its language.” For me, at least for the purposes of this blog, I will misinterpret […]
Posted inBusiness
Developing the developmental state
Get more specific than the broad macro-economics of the Washington Consensus, and look at how the state-market combo affects poverty and inequality. This was the view of Professor Murray Leibbrandt at the Rhodes politics teach-in on Thursday. Implementing his advice, he painted a picture of a South African imbalance: the market had generated an even […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Saddam offer of going into exile in return for $1bn was rejected by Bush
The London Evening Standard is reporting claims that a month before the invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein offered to go into exile in return for a billion US dollars. The details emerge from the transcript of a meeting between President George Bush and then Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Anzar, held at the president’s Texas […]
Posted inNews/Politics
A bit of leftist self-criticism
It is most unfortunate that while we on the left of the political spectrum have correctly criticised the failures of the ANC since coming to power in 1994, we have failed to turn our critical gaze inwards. This is often a historical failure of the left internationally, and is, I argue, a flagrant contradiction of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Cosatu and the ANC ‘top six’ nominations
The reaction to Cosatu’s decision to name its six preferred candidates for the top six positions in the ANC (actually eight candidates, as there are three names for the position of national chairperson) has been predictable. The ANC has described it as arrogant. Several pioneers of the union movement want to discuss the issue with […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Getting away with murder
My husband recently got a traffic fine of R1 500 for driving through a red traffic light. (Of course he insists it was dark orange!) Now, we all know that the law is the law and we have to take responsibility for our errors … but R1 500 is a bit steep, I think. Especially when compared […]
Posted inGeneral
Why satire beats debate hands down
Disclaimer: This is not a post per se, only a follow-up to my last piece, “Could Mbeki be too smart to govern?”. If you found that one mind-numbingly boring, sit this one out. I’ll post something tomorrow. The first time I heard about the existence of the worldwide web, my mind couldn’t even begin to […]