I was encouraged and puzzled by Khadija Sharife’s recent post, simply one of Rumi’s stunning poems. The poem is beautiful, the lack of commentary and any particular reason for posting it, rather odd. I know the poem speaks for itself, but … I was encouraged because, though I have published bits and pieces of my […]
2008
Posted inGeneral
In tackling service delivery, skills challenges, skin tone matters … not
Skills wise, what have you really given to your country lately? Are you the serving or the grabbing kind? How would you know? What is the little voice inside telling you? Next time you turn on a light, a water tap, flush the toilet and take out the trash, remember this: you are part of […]
Posted inMedia
Sunday Times: Could it be the real ‘Train o’ Hope’?
It’s been a dismal December so far for our news media, hasn’t it? The paucity of strong local news stories has been reflected in generally pedestrian media content, presentation, insight and originality. The movie circuit has been pretty similar. The most riveting regional news reports we’ve had have been the spread of cholera, rather half-hearted […]
Posted inGeneral
ANC Zanufication of the media is a non-starter
Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota — addressing journalists in Bloemfontein — has warned that the media would come under pressure from the ruling party in the near future. In response to questions about who would be the leaders of the new party, he advised that this was a work in progress but that of greater concern […]
Posted inGeneral
Interstitial reading: The new cereal-box moment
What do you do with those wasted minutes in a queue, waiting for a train or a meeting, or staring at the cereal box wishing there was something new to read there? I usually reach for my phone to read, in an activity that’s come to be called “interstitial reading”. Over at Tools of Change, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Rwanda and DRC: UN debate bloodbath by proxy
On Wednesday this week a UN panel of experts delivered a damning report to the security council outlining the involvement of the Rwandan and Democratic Republic of Congo governments in supporting the Hutu and Tutsi militias in the ongoing conflict in the eastern DRC. The report confirms that Rwanda has been sending officers and units […]
Posted inBusiness, Tech
Google, the bumbling behemoth.
Google’s presence in SA is marked by controversy and confusion as its commitment to equity, skills transfer and development is questioned.
Posted inNews/Politics
Comparing blacks and Chinese: SA’s leadership and Zimbabwe
I confess I felt like a Ryland Fisher when I wrote my previous blog Time for SA to invade and occupy Zimbabwe about SA invading Zimbabwe. I was testing the waters to see what the response would be. You know, to get out a referendum on the radical, perhaps impetuous idea of invading Zimbabwe. While […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
How credible is the cut?
For those prepared to listen, it was a mini-lecture on monetary policy. And more entertaining than lectures on monetary policy tend to be. The occasion was the press conference the Reserve Bank governor gives to explain the reasons for decisions of the committee that decides on interest rate policy. Tito Mboweni was explaining on Thursday, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zimbabwe: it’s the Bobby Mugabe Show
South Africa’s foreign affairs team must come clean and admit that the reason why we have refused to send Mugabe into oblivion is because they’re hoping to turn his stand-up routine into a commercial venture. Given Wednesday’s performance during a nationally televised speech Mugabe will have them rolling in the aisles down on Broadway and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Was Motlanthe wrong in rebuffing calls for an arms-deal inquiry?
This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: Was Motlanthe wrong in rebuffing calls for an arms-deal inquiry?
Posted inNews/Politics
Cope and the Democratic Alliance — the new wind of change?
“The wind of change is blowing through this continent and, whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept it as a fact and our national policies must take account of it. (Harold Macmillan – February3 1960) When I met with Mbhazima Shilowa he advised […]