Every year Women’s Day, Women’s Month and the 16 Days of Activism roll around and we hear some really great speeches from those in power. Every year, as these events tick by we see NGOs around the country rallying their troops to march, educate, inform and assist. Why? What are these days even about? Do […]
2010
Posted inNews/Politics
Sudan vs Sudan
At the 1870 Berlin Conference, Africa was divided up by the great powers of the day. The borders that were decided were arbitrary in their nature (to put it very politely). As the European powers began the process of decolonisation, so the arbitrary borders in 1870 were kept intact under the principle of International Law […]
Posted inGeneral
Rainer Zobel: The end is near
Moroka Swallows management have been patient enough with their German coach Rainer Zobel. The team has been on a downward spiral of late despite reaching the final of the MTN8 where they lost to arch-rivals Orlando Pirates. The Dube Birds have a rich history in South African football, they’re supposed to be challenging for top […]
Posted inLifestyle
It’s getting emoticon crazy out there
Last week I received no less than three yellow faces. Up from zero the week before. If Yellow Face Fever is sweeping the country, shoot me now. Nothing brings an email to its knees like a grinning yellow idiot at the bottom of it. I really can’t understand why grown-ups who sit in air conditioned […]
Posted inGeneral
Keeping your child safe, despite the digital generation gap
When we were children the standing joke was that the kids had to set the video machine for their non-technical parents. We’d grown up with video machines, while for our parents they were still new-fangled devices. Fast forward to today and consider cell phones, the internet, Skype, instant messaging, Facebook, Twitter, MXit, PVRs, Xboxes, e-books […]
Posted inGeneral
Hold my hand, I’m dieting
I received two birthday gifts this year. One was a fantastically constructed venison pie, which my wife had somehow gotten hold of through some mysterious housewifely process, either by swinging her magic wand, ordering it on Gumtree, or actually making it herself. Whatever the method entailed, it was surely a grand-looking pie, enormously big, and […]
Posted inGeneral
Doping will continue to be an SA problem until regulators wisen up
South African sport has never been difficult to satirise, considering how much mischief occurs in stadiums, the backrooms of stadiums, training fields and offices around the country. Rugby, fuelled by its soon-to-be-permanent 24/7 news cycle and the greatest moustached literary character seen in a Springbok tracksuit since Andre Markgraaff, managed to push the ante even […]
Posted inSport
Can we double the methylhexaneamine dose?
Drugs in sport are bad, unethical, unsporting, even dangerous to the athletes’ lives. But they are not as bad as losing to Scotland. They are the minnows of the six nations, the one team you can pretty much bank on beating. Well, that is if you’re a semi-decent team. But the Boks, at the moment, […]
Posted inGeneral
Springbok backline suffers an identity crisis
If the Springboks arrived in Scotland with any notion of superiority, they don’t suffer any fools now. Murrayfield was where the grit, mongrel and resolve shown against Ireland and Wales simply wasn’t enough. Those with a long view of international rugby would’ve expected this for some time. South Africa were lucky to beat Wales and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
ANC hogs civil society terrain
While constructive engagement with government is fine and dandy, NGOs very often need to give ruling parties a kick in the balls.
Posted inGeneral
Open source: It’s not all or nothing
Too often open source software is portrayed as an all-or-nothing option. In reality a mixed environment is the first step to a successful migration. Free and open source software is famously versatile. Think of just about any piece of software your business uses and chances are there is an open source alternative. And if there […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Murder mystery
With the arrest of a third man by Western Cape police on Saturday and the indication that the authorities have a state witness, the case of the honeymoon murder and hijacking of Anni Dewani, a British tourist, in Gugulethu is starting to come together. On Friday, the first man arrested, Xolile Mngeni, appeared in the […]