President Jacob Zuma has nominated Constitutional Court Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng to replace outgoing Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo as provided for in terms of Section 174(3) of the Constitution. The section sets out that the president as head of the national executive, after consulting the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the leaders of parties represented in […]
2011
Posted inGeneral
How Facebook can push your brand
Practically all companies, brands, products and personalities can benefit from a Facebook promotions or fan page that furthers their cause (commercial or non-profit) or raises their profile. The good news is that setting up a basic foundational Facebook page is simple and free. Facebook makes it easy for even the most technologically challenged person or […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The corrosive influence of unions on SA schools
The Constitution enjoins us to “heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights”. To “improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person”. In South Africa we have an excellent track record and capacity for developing innovative […]
Posted inGeneral
How to sell unified communications
Over the last decade, unified communications (UC) has grown from an exciting possibility to a must-have for organisations of all sizes. The underlying technologies have matured, a rich diversity of UC and collaborative applications has developed, and presence sensing has tied them together with great additional value. With the growth in UC adoption, organisations are […]
Posted inGeneral
Selfishness is a virtue
So recently I got to thinking about “altruism” … What left George Price utterly despondent and suicidal, Ayn Rand called self-esteem. While the former spent much of his later life trying desperately to prove that human beings were capable of truly selfless acts, the latter spent her entire literary career rejecting such notions outright and […]
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Inside the machine – taking stock of technology today
In an essay titled “Looking backward, looking forward” — in the volume, Globalisation, Technology and Philosophy (Tabachnik and Koivukoski, editors; SUNY, 2004) — Andrew Feenberg takes stock of where humanity has come from, where we are now, and where we are heading in an increasingly technologised environment. He compares two important, but divergent novels, both […]
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Women key to sustainable agriculture
Women account for 75% of the agricultural producers in sub-Saharan Africa, but the majority of women farmers are living on only $1.25 a day, according to researchers from the Worldwatch Institute. Despite the challenging circumstances that women in developing countries face, important innovations in communications and organising are helping women play a key role in […]
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My love for writing steamy sex scenes
The “juice” you will find below, excerpts from the erotic scenes in my unpublished novels, was at first a bit embarrassing to cut and paste into this column as I truly felt I was exposing myself in public. One reason for the initial embarrassment was the thought that some people might turn up their noses […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Dewani extradition still in play
British Judge Howard Riddle ruled last Wednesday that Bristol businessman Shrien Dewani, who is accused of murdering his wife Anni while on honeymoon in Cape Town during November 2010, can be extradited to South Africa to face charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and kidnapping. The decision is, however, not the final word on […]
Posted inNews/Politics
What do WE know about the London riots?
By James Duminy The recent acts of insurrection, violence and looting in London have drawn typically shocked and patronising condemnation from all corners of the newspaper-reading classes. “Isn’t it just shocking that people can behave like this? What must their parents say?” A particularly pernicious discourse has emerged to describe these events — the vocabulary […]
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Training? Not me!
The other side of the fence was where I ended up at this weekend’s 5150, which is a standard distance triathlon, part of the IronMan stable. Not where I wanted to be. I wanted to be racking my bike, pulling on my wetsuit and generally partaking. But the Gods of training let me down. I […]
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Does snot an African child maketh?
By Zamafuze L Ngcobo Not too long ago, a friend and I decided to explore the dreaded inner city. From the dusty streets of the commuting citizens to the retro city-renewal projects that boast city-living aesthetics. We arrived at another one of those city exhibitions that showcase art versions of the city you kind of […]