Despite being prone to regular attacks of the giggles, President-by-Omission Jacob Zuma is an astute guy. In fact, the giggles are all part of the show. The appointment of Mac Maharaj as his spokesperson shows he’s still on top of his game. The media speculate that this move is all about former presidential spokesperson Zizi […]
2011
Posted inNews/Politics
Who belongs here?
By Athambile Masola I recently witnessed a disturbing incident: while walking through a parking lot in the shopping complex here in Grahamstown I noticed a young man approach a woman driving a Mercedes Benz with his hands cupped as though he were asking for something. The woman was already in her car and she rolled […]
Posted inLifestyle
Don’t take breathing for granted
As I type this on my phone, I’m using a borrowed nebuliser, waiting for the Ventolin to take effect. The steam is fogging up my glasses, making it hard to see what I’m doing. Autocorrect is having a field day: when I make a typo, leaving out the l in “bronchodilator”, it offers “neon Jedi […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The silence of the academic lambs
For those depressingly few academics who still clamber into the trenches when democracy’s alarm bells ring, South Africans owe a great debt
Posted inNews/Politics
Bill extending Chief Justice’s tenure still in conflict with Constitution
By Loammi Wolf On July 6 2011 the Cabinet issued a statement in which an amendment of the Judges’ Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act 2001 has been announced. The envisaged amendment Bill has been published on July 7 and is currently open to public comment. In terms of the Cabinet statement, the Bill seeks […]
Posted inGeneral
Lessons from Mexico’s drug wars
The drug wars, or massacres, in Mexico seem interminable, and irresolvable. The subject of a recent (11 July) TIME magazine’s cover story, details about the nature and extent of the human cost accompanying this apparently ineradicable scourge of Mexican society are almost too horrific to register consciously. (I know what some readers will say: so […]
Posted inGeneral
We’ve earned our Spurs
The Vodacom Challenge is well underway with the pre-season visitors on our shores – the English Premier club Tottenham Hotspurs. They have not been so hot here in SA though. I naturally expect to hear that this is their pre-season tour but when you get paid what these guys get paid, there is no such […]
Posted inNews/Politics
No new Mandela on the horizon
What do South Africans have in common today? Only one answer can be given with certainty. Nelson Mandela! If there is a message that comes out of the International Mandela day which the world celebrated on Monday July 18, that message is the extent to which South Africans unite around the person of Nelson Mandela. […]
Posted inGeneral
Why are we complaining about Smit?
In 2004 a young John Smit is appointed Springbok Captain under new coach Jake White. The South African Rugby world is somewhat stunned and surprised because they know little of this new Bok captain, the 50th in history. The Boks win the Tri Nations and there no complaints, just compliments. In 2008 our longest serving […]
Posted inLifestyle
Five trees helping to end hunger
We know that trees can help mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide from the earth’s atmosphere. But what is less widely understood is how many of these trees can also help to bring an end to hunger and poverty. Today, Nourishing the Planet takes a look at five varieties of tree that you have […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
The horror of chav brands
I was mortified. Utterly mortified. I’d gone along to the excruciatingly charming wedding venue in Oxfordshire – not far from where Rebekah Brooks and David Cameron live – to see how my brother was doing with preparations for the reception the following day, and the moment he spots my shoes, he bursts out laughing. They […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The characteristics of a true leader
By Sam Bradley Many studies have been done on leadership and, countless philosophers and theorists have attempted to discover its secrets. Following suit, I submit this list of characteristics that I believe make a great leader. Confidence A leader is a person with confidence in him/her self and their ability. They cannot be one dimensional, […]