In light of the matric report card of ANCYL president Julius Malema, it is easy to understand where the problems South Africans are experiencing with his leadership may have arisen. Let’s examine just a few of the areas that might be causing the problems: Report Card English C (HG) Afrikaans E (HG) Math H (SG) […]
2008
Posted inGeneral
The music lives again …
Fortunately, even at times when world events seem to point unequivocally to human qualities that are less than admirable – such as ineradicable greed, a craving for power at the cost of others, and so on – one comes across something which functions as a reminder that humans are also, simultaneously, capable of creating something […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media
Black buying power, white business and the politics of Nelson Mandela Square
In 1988 South Africa saw the launch of one of its fashion boutiques — a man’s shop called Aca Joe. I started buying from it and was one of its countless African male customers. I don’t exactly know why. Maybe I was hungry for something indigenous, street wise, which was also classy and stylish. Not […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Who pays when the revolution comes?
Determining who is responsible for the most frightening financial meltdown since the Great Depression requires some clarification of the facts. The first is this: blaming America’s housing collapse for the crisis is simplistic and deceptive. The Economist reports that by 2006 the total value of sub-prime mortgages amounted to $600-billion. That total had probably increased […]
Posted inMedia
Memories
Today I’m leaving the Mail & Guardian Online. I’m moving to London, for the adventure and the work experience. Don’t worry — I’m by no means a disillusioned South African. I love it here and I will be back. For the last Between the Pages podcast, Tony Lankester asked me to sum up my 10 […]
Posted inGeneral
Economic crisis — new thinking needed
Recognising that the world economy is in crisis, I quote an old truism that states “if you keep doing what you have always done – don’t be surprised if you get what you have always got in the past”. The logical extension of this is that we urgently need to review the very basis and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Motlanthe can take the Terror out of the ANC
Over the last year I’ve been looking at the question of a political solution for Jacob Zuma as a possible means of bringing about stability and avoiding conflict within the ranks of the ANC and thereby the country as a whole. As events have unfolded it would appear that whenever the pressure on Zuma in […]
Posted inLifestyle
Road Rage in SA blogs
We’ve all been hooted at by cars and motorbikes. Sometimes this happens when you are only a lowly pedestrian. All the commuting equipment I have in the world is my legs and shoes. But it’s a unique experience – the first hundred or so times in China – when you are walking on a sidewalk […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Of political somersaults and contradictions on economic policies
Jacob Zuma’s insincere economic mantra since Polokwane has revolved around providing contradictory assurances to international investors about the ANC’s position on economic policies. That Zuma and the ANC have been inconsistent in their messages to investors is an understatement. A conclusion that can be drawn from all these inconsistencies is that either Zuma is a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The fatcat and Bara’s broken lifts
Gauteng’s provincial health minister, Brian Hlongwa, has splashed out on renovating his boardroom with R1 million from the public purse according to this article in last week’s Financial Mail. This outrageous extravagance comes at a time when Gauteng’s hospitals are under more strain than ever, with vastly inadequate and ill-maintained infrastructure (such as broken lifts), […]
Posted inGeneral
Signs of hope for beleaguered Bafana
At a recent media briefing with FIFA Communications Director Hans Klaus, a journalist said (tongue-in-cheek, we hope) that the sport’s governing body should “fix” next year’s Confederations Cup to ensure that South Africa’s not-so-beloved Bafana Bafana won the tournament. That way, he suggested, the world would finally take the 2010 World Cup hosts seriously. This […]
Posted inNews/Politics
How should the government speed up land reform?
This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: How should the government speed up land reform?