Go log into your internet bank account and have a look at your list of beneficiaries. Chances are there’s the story of your life, at least over the years you’ve been banking online. Mine go back to 2004 and they’re disturbingly revealing, mainly because I’ve never paid much attention to them before. There, listed in […]
2010
Posted inGeneral
Could Facebook be on the verge of pushing Google aside?
By Yoav Tchelet Last week at Facebook’s f8 conference in San Francisco, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced details of what may cement Facebook’s place as the de facto social operating system for the internet. Zuckerberg has had grand ambitions for his social darling, Facebook, for quite some time now. In 2007 he announced plans for the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SACP and Cosatu play a vital role in SA today
The joint statement issued by the South African Communist Party and Cosatu following the bilateral meeting held on April 26 demonstrates the continuing unhappiness being experienced by the left-wing elements of the tripartite alliance at the lack of direction and progress being made on socio-economic issues at present. It records that over the years since […]
Posted inTech
TEDx Soweto — a great day out!
The first TEDx Soweto happened on Freedom Day — April 27 in South Africa — appropriately held at the Apartheid Museum. The theme was “The Age of Participation”. It was a fun and interesting day, with lots of different perspectives and stories — less of a technology focus than the usual TED formula, which I […]
Posted inGeneral
Would he have disclosed his status if it were positive?
I’ve been told recently about how bold and inspiring a move it was for President Jacob Zuma to disclose his HIV status to the nation. Though I agree that this action is warranted by the president of a country with the highest prevalence of HIV in the world and a definite step-up from the I […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Pat on the back for Mthethwa
The minister of South African police, Nathi Mthethwa, has openly criticised those cadres who speak out of turn. On Wednesday, SABC radio news reported that the minister, who has been a member of parliament since 2002 and is a current member of the national executive committee of the African National Congress, said that: “There’s no […]
Posted inGeneral
A report to an asylum
I met Madiba the other day. It’s not a boast (although having one of the Jackson Five behind you in any queue does provide a warm throb) but the meeting provided stark views of how far we’ve come — the chasm twixt us and that golden honeymoon yawns like HIV wearing a kanga. The great […]
Posted inBusiness
Zambian farmers lead the way
In the US, it seems like we only hear about what’s going wrong in Africa. We see and read stories about famine, HIV/Aids, disease, or conflict. In fact, few Americans will ever step foot in countries like Malawi or Zambia, largely because our media often scares people away. As I travel across Africa, working as […]
Posted inLifestyle
On having a dog put down
Last night, when the rain returned and the light from the robots leaked into the slick dark streets, the dog took a turn for the worse. She was vomiting, her abdomen was distended; she balanced on trembling legs, her hind limbs extended like awkward props. “This dog needs medical attention,” my mother said. I phoned […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Freedom is coming tomorrow
“Get ready mama prepare for your freedom. Freedom is coming tomorrow!” So went the lines of one of the songs in the hugely successful Sarafina musical. It’s a catchy tune too. In terms of the imagery of this Mbongeni Ngema song, freedom comes hurtling towards us at the speed of light, unstoppable and inevitable. Yet […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mindless South African Jewish sheep mentality strikes again
Whatever the truth of the backward and forward between Judge Richard Goldstone and the Sandton Shul is, the heated words that have made it into the press speak of a major blowup behind the scenes. True to form, the community, in the guise of the Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, has made a belated attempt to […]
Posted inLifestyle
Languishing in the Valley of the Howzit Dolls
Having vowed recently never to write about he-who-shall-not-be-named and reflected on the kind of thing I do for a living (ie advertising), I thought it was high time, again, for the sort of post that takes blatant advantage of the fact that I have an audience on whom I can inflict gloriously masochistic inventories of […]