Isn’t it ironic that the United States, thought to be at least a couple of elections away from being ready to accept its first black president, stands on the brink of doing just that while South Africa, with its 70% black majority, is sweating on the candidate chosen by the ANC for our next president? […]
2008
Posted inLifestyle
Counting riches
Eyes that once turned green with envy now turn jaundiced at the flaunting of wealth in an increasingly superficial consumer society; the way success is measured by the sports car you drive and your designer sunglasses, loft apartment and chic choice of pretentious restaurant or coolest possible bar. South African urbanites are visiting New York […]
Posted inMedia
A new dawn
I suppose one could say notoriety has its own rewards or one media’s waste is another’s windfall, but that would be self-indulgent codswallop. The fact is I start off on a new road today — television journalism — as I join what looks like an outstanding team of journalists at e.tv in the sub-editing and […]
Posted inLifestyle
Design Indaba favourites
I’ve spent the past two days wandering around the Design Indaba at the Cape Town ICC, amazed by the ingenuity of South African designers. There is some seriously interesting stuff on display. Here are a few that stood out for me: Egg Design (www.eggandmilk.co.za) makes things of beauty. Its stand is an interlocking wooden puzzle […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Zuma FBJ briefing: The row should be about secrecy, not race
The Forum of Black Journalists is welcome to choose whoever it likes to attend its meetings. Black, white or blue. It’s a free country. But no journalists, of whatever hue, should be in the business of organising off-the-record briefings with political leaders. Wasn’t anything learnt from the infamous 2003 Bulelani Ngcuka briefing that caused enormous […]
Posted inSport
Who’s judging the judges?
While a previous blog dealt with the issue of the judiciary, this one should not be seen in tandem. And let me also clarify that this is a question, not an attack on anybody or any institution. I am just crazy about sport and do not like to see the image of the game (any […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Cognitive dissonance of Chancellor House audit
Jon Qwelane’s column of February 18 2008, “Batten the hatches of escape”, expresses his concern — and no little anger — at the number of people, particularly those with skills, who are leaving South Africa. He asks whether it is not possible, on the one hand, for the government to make it more difficult for […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Sex, morality and mortality
I don’t care how famous or infamous somebody is, what they do in the privacy of their or other people’s bedrooms, or for that matter on beaches, kitchen tables or in the loos on jumbo jets, ought to have no bearing on their ability to star in a movie or run a country. But it does make for great reading.
Posted inGeneral
Mentoring and coaching in diversity
Different versions of mentoring and coaching have been around for centuries as forms of skills transfer and passing along valuable trades from older members of society to the younger generation. Experiential on-the-job training comes a long way as a form of education and skills transfer. It is only recently, as late as the 1960s, that […]
Posted inMedia
Zuma and Forum of Black Journalists disgrace South Africa
There is no nice way of saying this, but those black journalists who chased away their white colleagues at a function attended by Jacob Zuma should not be allowed to continue in this profession. If they are to provide a safeguard against political abuse and report on the moral well-being of this country, then I […]
Posted inGeneral
4,2-million cameras
One of my immediate impressions of Britain has been that there are an awful lot of CCTV cameras about. And not just on the streets where you might expect them, but also in B&Bs, cafés and shops. I have since been astonished to learn that there is, in fact, one for every 14 people and […]
Posted inGeneral
Thin end of the pledge
Having withheld from commenting on the pledge issue, I ask myself if such a thing could help heal my country as it gets sicker by the day. Friday was one of lowest points this year, as members of my profession, our craft, exposed their racist hearts and were endorsed by an amoral autocrat thug who […]