After the Springboks’ overwhelming 53-8 victory over the Wallabies, the question must be asked: Why did it take so long? Why did they wait till their last match in the Tri-Nations competition to dish up such outstanding rugby and inflict the biggest losing margin to date on the Wallabies? And how was such a sudden […]
2008
Posted inLifestyle
The power of deep listening
“Listening shapes culture locally and universally.” -Pauline Oliveros
Posted inLifestyle
Of umbrellas and Jewish refugees in Shanghai
Slowly, purposefully, I point my finger upwards at the dripping umbrella above my head while staring at the umbrella seller. She is young; her two black pigtails are tied with simple red cotton and she is trying to sell me an umbrella. It has not quite occurred to her that, although it is raining, I […]
Posted inGeneral
Was Moses high on drugs on top of Mount Sinai?
Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has written a very provocative article in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy. In his article the professor claims that the biblical Moses was high on drugs when he sat on top of Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments “from […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Sound monetary policy post-Mboweni under threat
Tito Mboweni, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, has indicated that he has no desire to serve beyond the two terms as chief of the bank. It is a decision that feeds conspiracy theories, especially when the end of his term almost coincides with the beginning of the new populist government of the ANC. […]
Posted inBusiness
SA within Southern Africa: Regional economic integration for poverty reduction?
A couple of years ago in a radio interview on South Africa and Africa, my response to a question on how well was South Africa doing compared with the rest of the continent was that “although there are broad areas where one can safely argue that South Africa is doing relatively well compared with other […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zimbabwe’s answer lies beyond MDC, Zanu-PF
Disclaimer: This is a reprint of an article I wrote in 2005 and was subsequently published by an online newspaper, NewZimbabwe.com. In re-reading it, I noticed that it still applies to the current situation surrounding negotiations. One needs only replace a few words such as “elections” with “negotiations” and everything will read as if it […]
Posted inGeneral
What is reconciliation? Animal, mineral or vegetable?
Submitted by Anton I Botha I thought I knew — after all, I live in a country that practically defined the term. Like many, I believed that South Africa showed the rest of the world what “true” reconciliation was, and that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was a model […]
Posted inGeneral
Why Santana will fail in South Africa
As Bafana Bafana approach what might turn out to be the most defining game of the progress made (or lack thereof), more doubts have been cast about the man at the helm, Joel Natalino Santana. He will face the biggest game of his coaching career when Bafana take on the Super Eagles of Nigeria in […]
Posted inGeneral
Forget about sardines and trawlers; it’s about donkeys and Jesus
I haven’t laughed as loudly, or for as long, as I did on Sunday morning when I read Clinton van der Berg’s “Twakkie’s wit and wisdom”. It’s a collection of Peter de Villiers’s quotes that are finding a home not only here in South Africa but also wherever rugby is played the world over. If […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Palin will reopen the great gender and race debates
There can be no doubting the fact that Republican presumptive nominee Senator John McCain’s selection of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate owes a lot to the decision of Democratic nominee Senator Barrack Obama’s decision not to invite Senator Hillary Clinton to the party. If Denver showed anything, it was that there is […]
Posted inLifestyle
Be more careful when taking on the train, my China
After dinner in summer the subway stations in Shanghai, like Dong Chang Lu, fill up with families and friends who come here to sit and chat, most of them wearing pyjamas. These are the real dandy jarmies, with red and blue stripes; the dads look like walking rock candy sticks. Many grandfathers prefer old green […]