The 2010 Tri-Nation has been a disappointment. Some would even call it a disaster, and I would not disagree with them much. See for me it’s not that the Boks surrendered their crown to the All-Blacks. Or that we lost so heavily in the Antipodes. John Smit losing his 100th Test in such heart-breaking fashion […]
2010
Posted inGeneral
Word vomit, a disease that strikes us all
Its symptoms are quick, tricky to pick but all hope is not lost. After my crack squad of praat kak scientists and I dug into this terrible malaise (research actually began in earnest before the public-servants strike [who are they serving neow?] began … hence the delay in publishing) affecting society, these are some of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Amend the Information Bill
The debate about the Secrecy Bill has shifted a little, from “OMG, what were they thinking” to a more nuanced discussion about what outcomes the civil-society coalition really want on the bill. This is less fun than the first debate, which was a love in where everyone agreed with everyone else, that something must be […]
Posted inNews/Politics
It’s not just the government that’s guilty of secrecy
By Ilham Rawoot While big things are happening on the media freedom front, it seems that some of the people on the inside of the SABC are the ones blocking the news themselves. This doesn’t make things any easier in a tense atmosphere where journalists still have to deal with difficult spokespeople who think that […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Prosperity or plunder? Nigeria slipping at an oily crossroads
“Disaster” doesn’t begin to describe the troubled oil scene in Nigeria. Last June, in the immediate wake of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the New York Times ran an article exposing a crisis in Nigeria that should have been capable of piquing the conscience of even the most hardened oil barons. It […]
Posted inBusiness
Tripartite alliance on the rocks?
The biggest public-sector strike since Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi is nearing its end. Nay, I dare say, do not be fooled by the fiery utterances of the union leaders; the end of the strike has begun. Fighting on several fronts at the same time, the government has been both tactical and brutal with the unions. We saw […]
Posted inGeneral
Lessons from ‘The Nanny’
I was lucky enough to be invited to the US Embassy in Cape Town last week to meet Fran Drescher of The Nanny fame, and to hear her speak. Yes, she does sound like she does in the show, and yes, she does laugh like she does in the show. But, what I didn’t know […]
Posted inLifestyle
Our happy (sp)ending
I’m interested in the story we tell about ourselves in 2010 South Africa – because I don’t think it has a happy ending.
It’s a story like many of the fairytales we’ve heard before. It tells us that we are all special individuals capable of achieving anything we can imagine if we just work hard enough. Yes, regardless of where you come from or what your background, you can have a happy ending — a Tuscan-like villa, flat-screen TVs, a flashy car, and lots of branded goodies.
Posted inNews/Politics
Secrecy bill: Why bother salvaging a draconian piece of legislation?
Themba Maseko, the spokesperson for the Cabinet, today confirmed that the government is committed to accommodating the views expressed during public hearings on the Protection of Information Bill “as far as practicable and reasonable”. Maseko told a media briefing — following Cabinet’s regular Wednesday meeting — that they welcomed the representations received from interested parties […]
Posted inGeneral
SA media hardly the ideal poster boy for press freedom
You know something is wrong when Jackson Mthembu comes across as the reasonable voice in any debate. The media is its own worst enemy in this whole brouhaha regarding potential media freedom infringements in the Protection of Information Bill and the mooted Media Appeals Tribunal. It should not ever be the most difficult thing to […]
Posted inLifestyle
Midnight in the backyard of have and have-not
I’m between home and show and booked in for the night, but adrenalin has bled out, and the minutes feel skinned alive. Moments hang together, nerves exposed. I’ve chickened out and beat the last joke to the car. Drunk executives and their punch bags heave under the weight of free buffet. Young do-goods shake jowls […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Corruption works in China, not in SA
It was a sunny day in Shanghai on Nanjing West road, apparently the longest shopping road in the world. We ex-pats were doing what ex-pats do on a day off, sitting in a favourite pub, The Long Bar, fronting the Ritz-Portman hotel. While we sipped our beers a small body of citizens gathered outside the […]