People in Bryanston, I have noticed, don’t pick up dog poo. The people in Parkhurst do. There, not picking up after your dog is considered highly antisocial and will earn you plenty of hipster opprobrium. No sitting at Vovo Telo sipping latte for you. Why do the residents of some suburbs pick up dog poo […]
2011
Posted inNews/Politics
Gaddafi’s gifts to Mozambique
By Luis Nhachote On Thursday, news of Muammar Gaddafi’s brutal end topped the news. In Mozambique, many people will remember the antics of the colonel and the times he spent there. Frequently during his visits, he nonchalantly shuffled the protocols of the Frelimo government to gain favour with the public. I remember the 2003 summit […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Tsvangirai naive but not lightweight
Despair at the failings of one leader should not blind one to the faults of his rival. That’s a political truism which is easy to forget when casting about for an alternative to a venal despot like Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. Some dismiss Morgan Tsvangirai as too intellectually lightweight a contender to land the knockout blow […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SA should acknowledge Kosovo’s independence
By Hannine Drake My recent announcement that I was planning to spend my upcoming vacation in Kosovo was mostly met with curiosity as well as some enthusiasm from the “developed countries are for the weak” crowd. One of the popular responses, apart from “why”, was: “Is it even a country?” But what may initially seem […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The price of no more Gaddafis? No more Mandelas
Gaddafi may have lost his final battle last night, but South Africa lost the war. As the last country to stand with the embattled “father of the nation” in spite of the West’s determination to get rid of him, South Africa’s international reputation was dragged through the mud as harshly as Gaddafi’s bloodied corpse was […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
New! Improved! Designer vaginas
Insecurity is big business. We probably wouldn’t bother with half the things we buy if we felt good about ourselves. Your breath isn’t fresh enough (that’s how Listerine got its big break). Your hair isn’t straight enough (cue GHDs and Brazilian blowouts). Your teeth aren’t white or straight enough (aesthetic dentistry). You’re too pale (fake […]
Posted inGeneral
Taking on ‘Gareth Cliff on Everything’
It is far easier to collect books than to actually read them. Recently, even the most bookish of my friends report some measure of difficulty in reading a book from start to finish. These are not people who have spent their lives eschewing books. Many of us spent our teenage years lapping up classics with […]
Posted inGeneral
Understanding the brand conversation
Successful migration to a consolidated communications infrastructure begins and ends with successful communication. This sounds like a simple statement, but it carries with it many layers of complexity. Internal communications, the lifeblood of any organisation, is the first mission-critical factor. It should incorporate staff at every level, from security workers through to maintenance, marketing and […]
Posted inLifestyle
The X Factor: Simon Cowell’s new TV tumour
By Alex Searle It’s all about the talent, as they say, and it’s out there. Somewhere in the dark cobwebs of the American landscape, the next big thing is waiting to emerge from the abyss. It won’t take long to find a plump, bleary-eyed, straw-eating teenage mother with crocodile skin and reedy hair to be […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Black journalists’ role in the struggle needs to be re-examined
It was 34 years ago that the apartheid regime mounted its assault against the freedom and integrity of so-called black newspapers. On October 19 1977, the government silenced the World and Weekend World publications, which were mistaken for revolutionary voices simply because of the skin colour of the staff and the racially segmented market they […]
Posted inLifestyle
Are horoscopes harmless nonsense?
“You’re in your element, especially as it seems things are coming together in your career,” intones the Your Stars section in my mother’s copy of You magazine. I like that. That makes sense, especially as I have just made some major changes at work. Pity then that this is for Capricorn, so doesn’t apply to […]
Posted inGeneral
Use French rugby form-book as braai paper
Any punter who suggests that the All Blacks beating France in Sunday’s Rugby World Cup final is a “sure thing” has obviously forgotten that if there is one thing that you can always bank on when it comes to Les Tricolores rugby, it’s that there is absolutely nothing that you can bank on. Every time […]