In September 2005, Mark Scott-Crossley, a farmer from a province that has gained notoriety in respect of relations between farmers and farm labourers, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the callous murder of Nelson Chisale, who was fed to the lions. The community and Nelson Chisale’s family found consolation in what appeared to have been […]
2008
Posted inNews/Politics
Sell a submarine, save the Post Office?
As an infrequent but dedicated purchaser of books from Amazon.com, I was surprised to read a number of articles claiming that the company would no longer be shipping goods to South Africa because our Post Office was infested with thieves and nogoodniks. Customers of Amazon who still wanted to acquire their products were, according to […]
Posted inGeneral
It could be quite a race!
With Liverpool suddenly finding a knack of winning ugly, Chelsea mixing style at home and strife on the road, and Man United – with Fletcher as leading scorer?! — still getting the engine started, this league race may yet match last season’s for nail-biting finales. If nothing else, it will be fascinating to see how […]
Posted inBusiness, Tech
One step closer to Paypal
As any South African who has tried to make money online undoubtedly knows, Paypal does not allow us to receive funds via its system. We can only use it to spend money at other merchants, most often via our credit card. This has been a huge bottle stopper in the e-commerce climate in this country. […]
Posted inGeneral
What ‘revolt’ today?
The term ‘revolt’ is usually given a broadly political meaning, related to ‘revolution’ and ‘rebellion’. In the work of Julia Kristeva it is radicalised, however, and shown to be integral to the lives of all people who can claim to be autonomous ethical beings. This may not be immediately apparent, but the following excerpt from […]
Posted inNews/Politics
USA applying double standards on South Ossetia and Abkhazia
America, Nato and the European Union might want to rethink their approach to the issue of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. As things stand now they are, in condemning Russia for recognising the two breakaway former Georgian territories, practising double standards. Correct me if I’m wrong but weren’t the USA and her mates the same […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Is the Thabo Mbeki era under historical revision?
It is often noted that for as long as lions do not learn to write their own history, tales involving lions and hunters will always be about the heroism of hunters. Or something along those lines. I’ve been thinking about this phenomenon quite a bit lately, as I frantically scour the length and breadth of […]
Posted inGeneral
Olympics: every clown has a silver lining
I just love watching Sky News commentators waffling on about how well their guys did at the Olympics and how you can figure out exactly how much money each medal costs by taking the amount spent on a particular sport and dividing that by the amount of medals won. So I figured that seeing as […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Glimpsing the true greatness of Nelson Mandela
In 1996, a South African court formally ended the 33-year-old marriage of Nelson and Winnie Mandela. More than anything else he did, it was President Mandela’s behaviour during this time that left the most lasting impression on me. At no stage did he display anger, bitterness or vindictiveness, so common in marital break-ups. Dignified, sad […]
Posted inGeneral
National Association for the Advancement of White People
I have a question. Why is it that we would find it offensive if white people had organisations like the White Lawyers’ Association and not for black lawyers, for example? Why is it racist to have representative white groups? I understand that the black groups have been created to safeguard the gains that black South […]
Posted inLifestyle
What if the world …
It’s very likely that much of the rest of Cape Town has known about the Whatiftheworld / Gallery for ages now. I just discovered it. And what a discovery! Apparently it’s one of the Top 50 Emerging Galleries from Around the World. Check it out at www.whatiftheworld.com It’s a big, old warehouse in the slowly-becoming-hip […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Madiba, FW — this one’s from the heart
As South Africans ponder the future of our multiracial democracy I asked my readers to go back to 1993 and tell me what they thought would have happened, had we turned right towards war, instead of left towards a negotiated settlement. The relevance of that question in assessing our current situation and the way forward, […]