Although Sky New’s Emma Hurd’s figure of 10 000 Zimbabweans crossing into South Africa every month is yet to be confirmed, it will certainly be in the ballpark as disease and starvation grips our northern neighbour. Their towns and cities are becoming more of a death camp than a place fit for human beings to […]
2008
What would Isabel do?
(This piece originally appeared on tonylankester.com) South African blogger Donn Edwards is being sued for libel by a timeshare company called Quality Vacation Club (QVC) after he wrote of his experience with the company. I have no axe to grind with the timeshare industry. But if they bend the rules and dupe people into buying […]
Caught in a leadership crisis — blue light bullying on our roads
Much has been said recently about our political leaders using threatening blue light police escorts. The blue light scandals have left KwaZulu-Natal reeling from the shocking behaviour of our political elite that has become a predatory and reckless burden on society. This clearly leads us to question the quality of our leadership. We all know […]
Love begins, friendship ends – the catch 22
Trying to cope with the debacle of Cope? Here is a respite from that political nothingness – a human piece for a change on Thought Leader; we all need a break from stories about the defenders of freedom with super-human power and squeaky voices. Love, why must it be this way? I have been inundated […]
Why I’m endorsing Cope
As an official blogger and egomaniac I thought that it was incumbent upon me to make my position clear given the current state of our nation. The desire to write this endorsement is also driven by the false notion that people might take what I have to say seriously. As the title suggests, I fully […]
Obama, Zuma & Mugabe
I followed the US presidential election about as closely as anyone living outside the United States could. There were many highs and lows along the way, but in the end, team Obama prevailed. When it was all over, commentators the world over gushed with praise for the progress America had made. And rightly so. I […]
President Motlanthe has failed in his constitutional duties
The constitution of the Republic of South Africa makes no provision for election of a ceremonial president; but we have observed in the last few months that the country has no executive head of state. Since being sworn into office after the unceremonious departure of Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe has been pandering to the whims […]
Anti-corruption campaigners tackle Bongo, Nguesso and Obiang while Tutu and De Klerk call for arms deal probe
What is the world coming to when African leaders can’t take their hard earned money and pop over to Europe for a spot of rest, perhaps purchase the odd car or two and pick up a decent bit of property? Dear oh dear oh dear. It seems that the French chapter of Transparency International (headquarters […]
The deranged musings of a police spokesperson
Geez. The life of a police spokesperson, I tell you. I thought I was getting a cushy desk job. I should have known better when I was the only one to stick up my hand when they asked for volunteers. Now I sit here taking the heat for everyone else’s f***-ups on a daily basis. […]
Mumbai terror: the bigger picture?
The recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, have done more than just expose the difficulty in containing and responding to global terrorism. They have also exposed a fair amount of limp and shallow journalism, dished up in large swathes by local and international press. Upon hearing about the attacks, my first reaction was to try […]
The de-commodification of energy?
Submitted Anton I. Botha If Cope, or even Obama, is serious about radical change (as promised) and thereby improving the lives of all people, they should not have to look beyond the reform of our current energy supply paradigm. One could go so far as to ask “why don’t both of them offer the people […]
How Afrikaners, coloureds and blacks are abandoning their native tongues for English
The last 15 years have introduced two fundamental changes that have, inevitably, radically shaken South African society, language and culture. This is a not a new phenomenon where, perhaps for the first time in the 21st Century and its African modernity, parents are raising children who do not speak or understand their native tongue. In […]