2008

It was with no little anger that I read New Zealander John Minto’s open letter to President Thabo Mbeki. In it, he outlines his reasons for refusing to accept the OR Tambo Award on behalf of Halt All Racist Tours and the anti-apartheid movement of New Zealand — an honour given to non-South Africans in […]

Could the planned disbanding of the Scorpions successfully be challenged in the Constitutional Court? I was gently taken to task this morning by Paul Hoffman of the Centre for Constitutional Rights because I told the Mail & Guardian that I do not think there is a constitutional impediment to disbanding the Scorpions. It is clear […]

Post-Polokwane, our country has lost its standing. I realised this as ANC president Jacob Zuma fell backwards on his arse during his fourth wedding celebrations. He laughed good-naturedly, as he does, as his loincloth rose to reveal a set of legs toned by his dance routines. This view is reinforced by the corruption charges against […]

Sometimes, progress can look like a mess — particularly for those who prefer not to see it. An excellent example is the current state of African politics. As it often does, the continent is offering Afro-pessimists — a long, fancy word for people who don’t believe black people in Africa can run anything — no […]

While Charles Taylor was pondering his future in court in The Hague, I was sitting in the back seat of a 4×4, speeding along one of Monrovia’s main boulevards while dodging the Liberian capital’s potholes, squashed between three of my gracious hosts from the National Drug Enforcement Authority, with Boney M booming. As we passed […]