From the mid 1970s to the end of the 1980s the world was still in a Cold War, the final embers of the Vietnam War were extinguished (but not forgotten), apartheid was still in force and the Berlin Wall was still very much a barrier to entry. But within this seemingly politicised gloom, several individuals […]
2009
Posted inNews/Politics
Some of my favourite examples of the race card
Ah, the race card. Where would we be without it? Zapiro sums the latest up quite nicely here. Owing to my research for the insult books, I’ve been collecting fine examples of the use of the race card for years. Amongst my more recent acquisitions: “They want to undermine the African Union and (South African) […]
Posted inLifestyle
The future of The Silwane Files
I suppose it was always inevitable. Someone was bound to see my column in the Sunday Times, add one and one and get eleven. Look, I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a bunch of immature gits who find titillation in sordid tales about teenagers fornicating in public restrooms. But […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The curious case of the apartheid lawsuits
President Jacob Zuma is, as the cliche goes, the consummate politician. One of his most likeable qualities is that he is an instinctive politician. He feels it in the gut: his political antennae uncannily aligned to the electorate’s bandwidth. Clearly a “people’s person”, Zuma is an eminently likeable, charming, dapper dude. Refreshingly too, unlike most […]
Posted inGeneral
Scholars drive their own dialogues on Ethical Leadership
By Siza Ngxabi The conference of the Community of Mandel Rhodes Scholars (CMRS) has seen an amazing turn-out from the distinguished guests in the past two days who made their own presentations and dialogues on ethical leadership, the likes of Kojo Parris and others, to scholars sharing their own research projects and other initiatives they […]
Posted inGeneral
A R1000 fine for ‘smuggling’ one orange. Any takers?
“That will be 200 dollars New Zealand sir,” said the airport official at Auckland International airport, New Zealand. “Two hundred dollars for this naartjie, I mean orange, mandarin, whatever?” “Yes sir.” My wife burst into tears. I wanted to hit the smirking youngster in front of me. Let’s back up a bit. After Llewellyn Kriel’s […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Khulumani: Serving whose interests?
On April 8 2009 Judge Shira Scheindlin of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted Khulumani Support Group and others permission to proceed with litigation against corporations accused of aiding the apartheid government to perpetrate crimes against humanity. This non-governmental organisation is submitting claims against multinational giants such as General […]
Posted inLifestyle
Murdered by sex?
This morning, a popular radio DJ discussed a British HIV awareness campaign, which he felt was one of the hardest hitting campaigns he had ever seen. In the TV ad the television viewer gets a visual of a sex scene, where the camera is placed so that the viewer should feel that s/he is in […]
Posted inGeneral
Huntley, Paris Hilton’s dog and the awesome world we live in
The world is awesome. There are a million cool things to every bad thing. Like this giant rat they found in Papua New Guinea. It is 82cm long. It’s way bigger than a cat and most dogs for that matter. And it looks like a complete mate. It just sits there and lets the TV […]
Posted inMedia
The SABC’s turnaround strategy via Professor Pink and Snazzy
As Professor Pink, lead narrator on the SABC educational programme, Knock Knock, explored Galileo’s confrontation with power, the SABC was engaged in its own tryst with changing power. President Thabo Mbeki appointed the board of the SABC in a move interpreted as incongruous with resolutions taken by the ANC at its Polokwane conference. In possibly […]
Posted inGeneral
Our women: The gift next to the vase of flowers
Based on a true story. A young girl called Melissa stared at the house across the road. She knew her friend Melody lived there and they often played together. She preferred going there instead of her own home for reasons which would take many years to understand. Her home was a sad place and her […]
Posted inGeneral
The iPhone 3GS (from an SA perspective)
Vodacom launched the iPhone 3GS about a month ago on 28 July, but unfortunately stock was very limited — in fact, there is still a major shortage of the 3GS in South Africa. (you can read about my mission to get one here, and a bit of well-deserved praise for iStore here). To the untrained […]