The Daily Dispatch, a daily newspaper based in East London, has been running articles about allegations of companies “fronting” to get government contracts. By “fronting”, what is generally meant is falsely claiming to be a majority black-owned company, having black economic empowerment ownership in your company, or having black staff occupying top management positions. This […]
2008
Posted inLifestyle, Media
An idea so good you can eat it
Anne Taylor blogs for Thought Leader from the Design Indaba in Cape Town. Dutch designer Marije Vogelzang laid out a feast of delicious ideas that the audience gobbled up at this year’s Design Indaba, now on in Cape Town: tablecloths of dough draped over shapes so it dries into edible bowls, revolvers made out of […]
Posted inBusiness, Media
The politics of media development
The term “media development” might remind many people in South Africa of the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA). Well, the term has become a buzzword in international media financing. My aim here is to draw upon a talk I gave in 2007 at the Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership/Konrad-Adenuer-Stiftung conference for media executives […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Separatism, federalism or multiculturalism?
Whatever disgust I felt at the conduct of the Forum of Black Journalists, it paled into insignificance when compared with the animals from the University of the Free State. Whatever drove those morons to carry out this latest outrage is irrelevant. They have to face criminal charges. Didn’t your mommies teach you basic human decency? […]
Posted inSport
A sign of things to come?
Last week, Peter de Villiers let the nation know that John Smit would continue as Springbok captain. As decisions go, this was a no-brainer, Smit being a well-respected captain, a great player and the man who led the Boks to World Cup glory.
Posted inLifestyle, Media
Playing designer dot-to-dot at the Indaba
Anne Taylor blogs for Thought Leader from the Design Indaba in Cape Town When you’re knee-deep in all that’s trendy and chic at the Design Indaba, there’s something deeply reassuring about a man who is totally unpretentious. Especially if he’s a world-class, world-famous designer. Ivan Chermayeff is clear and simple — and witty in an […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
New York is Nooit
This weekend I saw DJ Spooky take one for the team. It was an ugly but necessary procedure, and the kind of thing you never — but never — see happening to an artist at an exhibition opening. Especially an American one. We have a troubled relationship with all things international, we South Africans. On […]
Posted inLifestyle
Reasons to love freelancing
OK, so there’s no regular pay cheque; that’s pretty hard to deny. And there are no perks, like a free phone and internet connection, and endless supplies of tea and milk. BUT (and this is a big but), there are many, many things to love about freelancing … Although I’m pretty disciplined and like to […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Is there a coloured identity?
Some media forms work better than others for different things. For instance, it is difficult to describe a song in writing because one can only appreciate its nuances when one is listening to it. In the same way, it is probably impossible to try to have a debate about something as complex as “coloured identity” […]
Posted inSport
Butana Komphela and Arendse: Mutiny on the bounty
You put the slime in the coconut — you drink it all up … Sports and recreation portfolio committee chairperson Butana Komphela has demanded that any players who rose up against Norman Arendse’s insistence that the cricket squad to Bangladesh be more in line with transformation be given their marching orders. Once again I feel […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Minister loses children
“Where they are going we don’t know,” says the minister of education about the kids in grades 10, 11 and 12 missing from school. She lost them? Seriously? She should have a chat with the minister of finance. He knows why those kids are not in school. Many 14- to 17-year-olds are not school-goers precisely […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
Atonement and astonishment
I was in dire need of a leak the other day just after seeing Atonement at the Nu Metro at Canal Walk, the shopping centre near Cape Town which, in design, sits uncomfortably between Nataniël’s boeredoir and the visual riot going on in Sol Kerzner’s head at any one time. The gents’ loo at this […]