My best friend, a man of great wisdom, extraordinary intellect and awesome talent, in asking about my plans for the months I will be spending in the United States soon, said, “Well, Kriel, just make sure you don’t go over there and trash this country”. He went on to explain how so many ordinary South […]
2009
Posted inNews/Politics
Cope best thing to happen to the ANC and Democratic Alliance
If Judge Chris Nicholson was the primary catalyst, which occasioned the recalling of president Mbeki and flowing therefrom, the formation of the Congress of the People Party, he may one day be regarded as one of the brave, if somewhat misguided, “warriors” of South African history. Moreover, and herein lies the irony, his judgment, which […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Xenophobia and denialism
Denialism no answer to xenophobiaBy Imraan Buccus Imagine if, in 2009, an armed white mob chanting racist slogans stormed a building known to house mostly black people and proceeded to hurl people to their deaths. If local officials and politicians tried to deny that the motive had been racism and said that the mob was […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Two-year-old child tortured in notorious Zim prison
There are no limits to the brutality that Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF government is prepared to employ in ensuring its continued grip on power. Recently, human rights activists and opposition supporters were abducted and thrown into the notorious Chikurubi Prison. Here they have been subjected to torture and beatings. Very little food has been provided. They are […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Clinton hints at Obama’s policy on Africa in confirmation statement.
Hillary Clinton’s statement to the senators at her confirmation hearing, required for appointment as the next Secretary of State in the Barack Obama presidency, gives a sneak preview at the direction that US foreign policy will take over the next four years. While the transcript sets out her overview of the global approach and is […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Noseweek: essential reading for the cynical
I’ve been a fan of Noseweek for years. It has consistently picked up stories others wouldn’t touch and followed them with dogged persistence. Occasionally, as in the case of Brett Kebble, a Noseweek story will eventually enlarge into a national saga that runs and runs. But for the most part, you’ll find things in here […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Christmas in Cuba
Being extremely risk averse, I seldom stray beyond the bounds of the law. Granted, I once had sex with another man just north of the Limpopo. It was consensual and, to be frank, quite delicious. But unlawful nevertheless. Luckily, however, the privacy of our coupe on the night train to Mutare secured our liberty. Steamy […]
Posted inGeneral
No. Pedestrians are not like gemsbok
I have a morbid fear of being run over by a car. The fear is a little on the irrational side. Even if someone assured me that there were no vehicles within a 5km radius I would still cross the road the way I usually cross roads i.e. head swivelling left-and-right 60 times a second. […]
Posted inGeneral
A great read about techno-geek rebellion
My best read of 2008 was Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, sci-fi writer, co-editor of Boing Boing and general good guy. San Francisco is hit by a major terrorist attack and the US Department of Homeland Security goes bezerk. In the war on terror all basic human rights are hung out to dry and no […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
The need for belonging: on being displaced South Africans
Helloooo … comes the weird, atonal, semantically disjointed noise, shouted at me from the construction sites in Shanghai: constructions sites as numerous as anthills in the veldt in Boksburg on the huge plot, virtually a farm, I grew up on. Those plots and smallholdings are gone now. I last visited the place more than 10 […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SCA overturning ruling on Zuma neither vindicates nor incriminates Mbeki
Yesterday’s decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal has overturned the September 12 2008 decision of Judge Chris Nicholson in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, in terms whereof he had held that the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions were obliged to afford ANC President Jacob Zuma the opportunity of making representations before a decision was taken […]
Posted inGeneral
Time to get the quota monkey off Smith’s back
WHAT a time it is to be a South African sports fan and even more so to be a follower of Graeme Smith and his burgeoning troop of talented cricketers who can now lay claim to being the finest Test outfit in world cricket. That they are not nearly the finished product only serves to […]