South Africans take words like bakkie and doos and tsotsi for granted. We say things that make no sense to anyone else on the planet, like, “I’ll be there just now. No, not now-now, just now.” Similarly, while Australians might speak English, they have a vocabulary all of their own; one which may be quite […]
2008
Posted inNews/Politics
NPA decision on Zuma is right
In light of the judgment of Judge Chris Nicholson in Pietermaritzburg on Friday the National Prosecuting Authority was left with little choice but to appeal the decision. As things stand a prima facie case on the merits exists against the ANC president and if the NPA were to fail to proceed with it, it would […]
Posted inMedia
Loving MK to protect the African male image
The much vaunted pseudo political thriller Jerusalema on circuit should teach Africans to do their own movies themselves. You see, as long as the hunter writes South African history, the lion will always be a victim. It is the same case with the portrayal of Africans in movies, literature, theatre and, of course, film. After […]
Posted inGeneral
Blatter’s common touch strikes a chord
FIFA is fond of reminding the world that it has more member states than the United Nations and that it wields far greater influence. So when its bosses drop in for a visit, everyone takes notice. And so it was this week when the governing body’s President Sepp Blatter, Secretary General Jerome Valcke and other […]
Posted inLifestyle
Envying Australia makes a lot of sense
I was struck by a lot of things about Australia on my visit there a couple of years ago. Such as the fact that it took only fifteen minutes from my arrival for someone to call me “mate”. Then there was the bus driver who brusquely refused my offer to give him a hand in […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
White people can be among the most racist
The response to my last blog on black racists proves what I have known for a long time: South Africans are still heavily divided along racial grounds and they find it difficult to have a discussion on the issue without losing their tempers. I have never had so many white people agreeing with what I […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Zapiro, Zuma and us – Part 2. Using rape against rape
Recently Dr Mamphela Ramphele astutely observed that the problem with African leaders is their inability “to envision their roles as agents of fundamental transformation of their societies”. I want to extend her point to those in the business of manufacturing public opinion, in particular journalists and cartoonists. Ramphele uses the example of Zimbabwean President Robert […]
Posted inLifestyle
‘The ovary and digestive gland of a crab digs up the cabbage’ and other menu conundrums in China
As you browse through a menu in China, sometimes courteously translated for you into a version of English we all fondly know here as Chinglish, imagine savouring “ants climbing the tree” or “seafood custard”. (“Ants climbing the tree” is tasty, spicy fried vermicelli with finely chopped pork; I haven’t tried the seafood custard.) Either you […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
The day Percy pitched me onto the street
I’m pretty damn sure I was the first white person in South Africa to be fired by a black person. I am revealing this little-known truth now in the hope that such credentials might earn me a place at the back of the queue behind those gay, disabled, half-Chinese women standing in line for some […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Our councillors: the Champagne-glass-toting illiterates
It has always been difficult to understand why our local government structures have performed so poorly over the past decade. Sure, re-building a country on the micro-level is no easy task, but the rate at which things happen and the attitude with which local municipal councillors have approached improving their designated wards has left much […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, News/Politics
In memory of Deon Basson, a great forensic business journalist
South Africa lost one of its greatest investigative journalists and a fine thinker when Deon Basson died this week. What endeared him to me, aside from my admiration of his understanding of insurance companies and the determination that made him one of South Africa’s finest investigative business journalists, was a lack of obvious vanity. The […]
Posted inGeneral
Do we really need wikis when we’ve got online docs?
A wiki is a cute concept still hunting for proper application. Sure, it has a rocking video, poster child and its fun to say “wiki” three times in rapid succession, but is it really satisfying any organisational (business or informal) need? Collaboration We all like to collaborate. We even prefer saying that we want to […]