Recently a friend asked me what I, as a former member of the organisation, now make of the ANC Youth League. Her question resulted in me googling the names of my former comrades, who in the early Nineties had been activists in a range of Congress-aligned associations at the formerly named University of Port Elizabeth. […]
2008
Posted inLifestyle, Tech
Is piracy immoral?
In a time when the latest album or movie is available, for free, to anyone, from your desktop, where is the incentive to hand over money for the identical item? Is it a moral imperative? And what is the moral issue? The line that we’re constantly being fed by the copyright folks is simple: piracy […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mugabe’s bitterness driven by jealousy of Mandela?
Christopher Hitchens in a recent article in Slate magazine entitled – “Mandela Envy” — postulated the following — “But I have a theory of my very own: I believe that Mugabe was also driven into a permanent rage by the adulation heaped internationally on Nelson Mandela, an accolade of praise and recognition that he felt […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Letter about Lhasa
I remember a time not so long ago when one could pick up T-shirts in the markets of cities in India and Nepal embossed with a very colourful flag and the words “Free Tibet”. The markets are still there, as is the clothing and the flags, but the word “free” seems largely to have been […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Tired of being tired
It was a Friday afternoon in Manesar – about an hour southwest of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport – and I was filled with dread at the thought of another two days of conferencing. It was day one of a “Global South Dialogue” on access to essential medicines, one of my areas of expertise, and […]
Posted inGeneral
Yay we’re all rich! Oh no wait, that’s just you guys
Tighten the belts! Batten down the hatches! Scream! Kick! Go mad! Seemingly everywhere you look, the cost of living is rocketing. Interest rate hikes, higher food prices and yup, petrol is jumping yet again next week (the consolation here is of course that while petrol is going up 18-24c, all the people who bought awful, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Hypocrisy rules again
I do not really want to pick a fight with Helen Zille because I do not have the time. But as she has now also attacked me because I criticised her actions around the appointment of the Erasmus Commission, I guess I’ll have to jump in. When President Thabo Mbeki told religious leaders that they […]
Posted inLifestyle
New York, New York, here I come!
Uh huh. I just signed an international book deal with St Martin’s Publishers in New York (Fifth Avenue, nogal!) Strange Nervous Laughter will be published in the USA next year! I am so excited! St Martin’s (http://us.macmillan.com/SMP.aspx) is apparently quite a big deal… They publish Jeffrey Archer. And Augusten Burroughs. That’s enough of a big […]
Posted inGeneral
Age of Aquarius
There have been many attempts to put a date to the start of the Age of Aquarius. Proponents of some dates include Carl Jung, Sir Isaac Newton and of course the self proclaimed initiator of the Age, Aleister Crowley who couldn’t bear the thought that this Age would post-date his colourful existence. Estimates range from […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SA civil society triumphs
Amidst all the gloom and doom nowadays, one or two bright spots stand out. Firstly, whatever one thinks of the ANC’s new team, Polokwane demonstrated that democracy is alive and well in our “liberation” ruling party. Contrast what happened in the ANC with what has not happened to Zanu-PF and Swapo, for example. Secondly, civil […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Ukhahlamba massacre: Arrest the bastards from the municipality
When 80 children die because municipal authorities neglected, failed or just point-blank refused to issue warnings against drinking tap water, in the face of compelling evidence to do so, then those concerned must be arrested and charged with culpable homicide. When the municipal water-purification plant broke down in October, the Ukhahlamba district municipality received a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma vs Mbeki
Submitted by Muhammad Karim I feel every South African has this going through their minds, consciously or subconsciously. We’re all witnessing the effects of Mbeki’s passive leadership. He seems to be making some serious faux pas when it comes to current issues such as Zimbabwe (“There is no crisis” and giving the green light to […]