So, one would hope that after years of struggle, the oldest liberation movement in Africa would have learnt from all the others gone before it. Well, it did not! Why would a liberation movement have such difficulty to move to the next stage ie political party? Why indeed? When I talked to a friend about […]
2010
Posted inLifestyle
The real zoo city
I live just down the road from the Joburg Zoo. Close enough that on quiet nights you can sometimes hear the lions roar. At first the thought of lions caged-up in the city seemed sad; now I’m not so sure how I feel. Perhaps it’s because I like the thought of the pandemonium that would […]
Posted inGender violence, General, News/Politics
School sexual bullying: Where do we begin?
Education is one of the key Millennium Development Goals and it is critical to the development of South Africa’s democracy. The recent Jules rape case has brought the idea that our children aren’t safe in their schools to everyone’s attention. This case is particularly complex and horrifying because of the reported reactions of other learners […]
Posted inGender violence, News/Politics
Femicidal South Africa
The maximum sentence for femicide is only half the maximum sentence for fraud, yet 1 400 women die every year because they are murdered by their intimate partners. Powa brought this to our attention earlier this year with their video showing how people would respond to loud drums late at night, but they would not respond […]
Posted inGeneral
First impressions and SA’s culture of mistrust
“Hiya, do you mind just looking after my handbag?” the stranger, a pretty twenty-something woman in a bikini asked us as we lay on the beach in Long Bay, Auckland. “No problem,” I replied, looking around to see if there was a camera filming this for some Leon Schuster film. I looked at Marion in […]
Posted inGeneral
A bigger, better, more bonkers future for all
Joyful news for all our ANC alliance-phobes. Good tidings for those sick to death of ANC incompetence, corruption and maladministration. Hope for those despairing over our so-called monocracy. We’ve been saved. The South African Community Government Union (SACGU) has heard our anguished cries for a party that can actually take on and beat the ANC […]
Posted inGeneral
Bok supporters keep shifting the goalposts
Four weeks ago, if you had asked Bok supporters what they expected from the 2010 Grand Slam Tour given: 1. A rancid Tri-Nations; 2. An under fire coaching team; 3. Thirteen top internationals missing; 4. Key players at the end of a gruelling season; and 5. The usual game-changing matter of Northern Hemisphere winter conditions. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The ANC’s homeopathic tincture for the media
The media legislation that eventually emerges from Parliament will, much like a homeopathic tincture, be efficacious only in the minds of true believers.
Posted inGeneral
Stalking the sun on the island of Crete
The golden blue waters of the Aegean sea were not seeing this face of mine for the first time. Chania of Crete — one of the Greek Islands — is out of this world. I guess that’s why they call it an island. With the sea hedging one in at every turn, one needs little reminding […]
Posted inGender violence, News/Politics
Rape culture — bad for you, bad for me, bad for everyone
I would argue that most South Africans have endured rape culture which allows violence to persist with little resistance. It’s undeniable that things aren’t right in South Africa when it comes to sexual violence. Last year’s crime stats show 68 332 reported “sexual offences” and this doesn’t account for the many offences which aren’t reported. There […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
The soul of Seoul
By Philippe Orliange There was some gloom in the South African papers about the outcomes of the Seoul G20 summit — “G20 summit did not fail those with low expectations … ” (Sunday Times), “G20 a colossal failure” (Sunday Independent), “Much ado about nothing” (Business Day). Beyond SA, the view in many places was that […]
Posted inLifestyle
Mud on sticks
“Let’s talk as painters,” he clasps my hand in a warm, knotted ham and we circle the room. He is hilarious, warm and furiously alive. Pausing at each picture; he animates — gestures uncommon of a man his age, swear words and spittle pass messages from fierce and funny blue eyes. An imperial under bite […]