Today I’m leaving the Mail & Guardian Online. I’m moving to London, for the adventure and the work experience. Don’t worry — I’m by no means a disillusioned South African. I love it here and I will be back. For the last Between the Pages podcast, Tony Lankester asked me to sum up my 10 […]
Riaan Wolmarans
Riaan Wolmarans is a former editor, reader liaison, spell checker, general mechanic, morale officer and journalist at large at the Mail & Guardian Online.
Posted inGeneral
And then the racists came …
Not long ago I remarked to a colleague that I had not run into much trouble while moderating reader comments on Thought Leader. Apart from the occasional personal insult or such, readers were mostly contributing well-reasoned and interesting comments, putting forward their views without attacking Thought Leader bloggers or other readers unfairly. Sadly, in the […]
Posted inMedia
A world without sub-editors
I have, stored away safely in my head, a list of people who should be dragged into the street and shot. Don’t worry — I am not declaring war on women, Jews, lesbians, Russians, Republicans, rightwingers or communists. It’s simply a list of those around me who were seemingly born missing a significant quantity of […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
May these sheep all run off a cliff
I hate sheep. Afrikaans sheep, to be exact, and more specifically, Christian Afrikaans sheep. Some excellent thoughts have been shared on Thought Leader in the past week on Rapport editor Tim du Plessis’s firing of columnist Deon Maas for sharing his thoughts on satanism, resulting in a vehement SMS and email campaign by readers that […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Spend the night in Kliptown
The historic area of Kliptown in Soweto was in the news on Monday when a swanky four-star hotel opened its doors — the first such establishment in Soweto. The Freedom Charter was signed in Kliptown in 1955, and the area — which includes Freedom Square — is now one of the attractions helping Soweto grow […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
‘My, Professor Dumbledore, what a big wand you have!’
So JK Rowling has outed Albus Dumbledore, wizard supreme and mentor of Harry Potter, as being gay. She admitted this last Friday at Carnegie Hall in New York City when a young fan asked her if the headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy had ever fallen in love. “My truthful answer to […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
New weapon in traffic cops’ arsenal
The Sunday Times this week reported on the long-promised demerit scheme set to weed out South Africa’s worst drivers. Habitual offenders will rack up points depending on the severity of their traffic mishap, thus risking the suspension or cancellation of their driver’s licences. A pilot project to test the system will be launched in Pretoria/Tshwane […]
Posted inGeneral
Who are the greatest South African villains?
Wizard magazine in the United States, which focuses on comic books, anime, gaming and such, last year compiled a list of the 100 greatest villains of all time from movies, comics, television, video games and so forth. Though many of the villains on the list will be known only to those with a fair interest […]
Posted inLifestyle
Pop career or public torture?
I’m not an Idols fan. The seemingly endless weeks of elimination rounds, public voting frenzy, teary-eyed wannabe pop stars going back home to whatever little dorp they came from … it leaves me cold. However, I must confess to being fascinated by the initial auditions — the ones that are replayed incessantly on the Idols […]
Posted inMedia
New Zealand — the capital city of Australia
The capital city of Zimbabwe is Kinshasa, and the capital of Australia is either New Zealand or Lisbon. Budapest is the capital of the Republic of Ireland, and Rwanda is the main city of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Oh, and in South African politics, the tripartite alliance comprises the Democratic Alliance. These are just […]
Posted inGeneral
Service, please
It’s sad to see how little our public servants care about their jobs. And here I’m specifically referring to the little people, not the ministers or heads of department. These are the men and women who man counters, operate cash registers, print licences and take thumbprints. I recently had the misfortune of having to renew […]
Posted inMedia
The spokesperson you have called is not available at present …
Sonia Gandhi — president of the Indian National Congress and the leader of the ruling Indian Congress Alliance — is planning to visit South Africa. Obviously, the Mail & Guardian would like an interview. So a colleague phoned one Manusha Pillai, the Department of Foreign Affairs employee who had sent out the press release on […]