“The face of the other: Human dialogue at Solms Delta and the meaning of moral imagination” was the title of Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela’s inaugural lecture delivered at the University of Cape Town on November 11 2010. Gobodo-Madikizela is best known for her book A human being died that night: a story of forgiveness, in which […]
2010
Posted inNews/Politics
Jules High case: Should we be shocked?
When the National Prosecuting Authority decided against charging two boys aged 14 and 16 for the gang rape of a 15-year-old Jules High School girl the public were outraged. The general view being held was that the criminal justice system in this country had gone to hell and was a major cause of the unacceptably […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
Christmas is sick!
Christmas is sick. Based largely on sun worship and Scandinavian pagan ritual, Christmas in some form has been with us for thousands of years. Christians muscled in on an existing winter solstice festival, slapped their prophet on the front cover, claimed a rather unlikely virgin birth and beat up anybody with their large holy armies […]
Posted inGeneral
A journalist responds
By Mara Kardas-Nelson The below is in response to the comments received in response to an opinion piece published on Thought Leader on November 11 2010. This piece has obviously created a large amount of controversy, and so I feel it my responsibility as the author to respond. Firstly, it was never my intention to […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle
How not to network
I’m just sitting here cutting out business cards from this old Rice Krispies box. Last night was my first real networking experience at Cape Town’s One of Many & Only. Didn’t go too well. I pitched up at the event carrying a tent and a backpack; sweating profusely after a long walk from the waterfront’s […]
Posted inGender violence, News/Politics
Statutory rape screws the Jules case over
Hearing that the girl who was allegedly drugged, then gang raped, while being filmed by her peers had now been charged with statutory rape alongside her alleged rapists, I almost gave up hope. But then I realised that the sheer scale of this injustice is important because it will hopefully rally us to demand justice. […]
Posted inGeneral
Musona’s the real deal
In a league where goals are hard to come by, it is refreshing to have a player who can consistently find the back of the net and Kaizer Chiefs are the lucky team. In their striker Knowledge Musona, Amakhosi have the best striker in the league at the moment, he is indeed the real deal. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Government works for us and we should never let it forget that
By Candice Holdsworth As an avid politico I have in recent months been completely captivated by the run-up to the US mid-term elections. Political campaigning in the US is somewhat of a media spectacle, of which the candidates are acutely aware, and as such, usually perform accordingly. It’s often highly entertaining with classic soundbites such […]
Posted inGeneral
Think before you click: Shopping from your cellphone
While your cellphone has access to the same internet that your PC has access to, it also carries a link to your phone bill and this combination affords new billing mechanisms to content providers. This change can catch consumers unaware and could result in unexpected cellphone charges. With more and more South Africans accessing the […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media, Tech
Dear Telkom
By Danny Glenwright Dear Telkom, You dirty old monopoly, you. You really got me. I’m actually writing to congratulate you. You were in the running for a few weeks but today I made it official. You have taken the prize for the poorest service I’ve ever received. And considering I’m a journalist who has lived, […]
Posted inGeneral
Spin bowling: A look into cricket’s future
It’s June 4 1993. The first Ashes Test has entered its second day as Shane Warne steps up to bowl to Mike Gatting. The ball pitches nearly half a metre fair way outside leg-stump, bites, bounces and turns. The rest has now become folklore. The Ball of the Century was the threshold from which Shane […]
Posted inGeneral
The seductions of technology (1)
It has always been the case that technology is seductive — at least in the sense of persuading, without much effort, humans to yield to its power. And here power does not so much entail power over people, but also, especially, empowerment of people. In this sense technology is not simply a set of tools, […]