My best friend lives in Australia. This mattered today, a lot, because I was utterly miserable and wanted to confide in him. We chatted on Facebook for half an hour or so, but he had to go out, or go to bed, or whatever it is that people who live on the other side of […]
2009
Posted inNews/Politics
What have the bloody savages done now?
There’s a scene in the 1995 Jock of the Bushveld* film that has been seared into my memory. A messenger comes running up to the governor of the Cape and says, “News of Shaka, sir!” The governor then says, “What’s the bloody savage done now?” When I first heard of the interdict against umkhosi wokweshwama […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Simelane is just the man as judicial janitor
Leaders come into power vowing to keep touch with the common herd and to listen to dissenting voices in pursuit of statesmanship, but the unguent of flattery is irresistible.
Posted inGeneral
Ukweshwama: What is all this bull?
The Scramble for Africa which began in the 1880s has been largely blamed for disrupting and eroding the cultural practices and traditions of Africans. Africans have maintained that colonialism and imperialism served to entrench Western values while undermining their way of life. The rise of African nationalism since the end of colonisation imbued those who […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Simelane’s rule of law
At a press conference to explain his response to the Ginwala Commission, a journalist asked then-president Kgalema Motlanthe to elaborate on what he meant by referring the matter of the director-general of the department of justice and constitutional development, Menzi Simelane, to the minister “in accordance with the law”. Simelane had, according to the Ginwala […]
Posted inGeneral
Africans do not (often) keep dogs as pets
Actually many Africans do keep dogs and it is not just the white Africans that do so. There are stereotypes that abound, but like many stereotypes they do not exist in a vacuum. Many Zulu people do not have dogs as pets. Some of the rural peoples do have dogs that they keep for hunting […]
Posted inLifestyle
My advanced girth — a serious safety threat
It was a normally lonely Wednesday evening for me as I sat on the couch rapturously gulping down a dozen Castle Lagers in order to be drunk enough to pass out and fall asleep some time before midnight. I have a problem sleeping, you see, and since I think sleeping tablets are the preserve of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Blame Canada!
Oh Canada, how could you? To me, you were always a byword for decency, for niceness. For reason in a world torn apart by madness. You were Colin Mochrie and Mounties and caring about the Queen (except for the Quebecois, who were so rude to poor Prince Charles recently). You managed to combine diversity and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The Swiss ban on minarets and why it should concern us
Although little reported on in our press, a firestorm of controversy has been unleashed by the result of a Swiss referendum at the end of last month banning the construction of new minarets — the distinctive tall spires attached to Islamic mosques — 57.5% of the participating voters supported the proposal. Incongruous though this may […]
Posted inTech
Copy me, copy you
Is it just me, or is there a need for a new debate about copyright? The Copyright Act that is on the statute book at the moment was passed in 1978 and has been updated several times since then. But in essence, we are dealing with a piece of legislation that was passed when the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
A bad year for African governance?
Is Africa advancing? This was the crisp question we asked ourselves at the Mo Ibrahim shindig in Dar es Salaam two weeks ago. The Prize Committee had been unable to select a winner this year. Time magazine put it succinctly last month: 2009 has been a bad year for governance in Africa. The prize is […]
Posted inGeneral
Culture can and does change
The words custom, culture and tradition are often invoked to shut down debate and discussion instead of used as a meaningful way of explaining a practice, belief or to understand historical events or legacies. The furore surrounding the feast and celebration known as Ukweshwama has raised some interesting points about the sanctity of culture and […]