A thought for the day: When the First World War ground to a halt exactly 100 years ago, Germany was heavily penalised financially. Financial reparations to the Allies were set at 369-billion gold marks, equivalent to about 96 000 tons of gold, but after complaints that the payments were bankrupting a struggling nation the amount […]
Gavin Foster
Durban photojournalist Gavin Foster writes mainly for magazines. His articles and photographs have appeared in hundreds of South African, American and British publications, and he's also instigated and researched stories for Carte Blanche.
Winner of the Magazine Publishers Association of South Africa PICA Profile Writer of the Year Award in 2008.
South African Guild of Motoring Journalists Motorcycle Journalist of the Year (Magazines) 2015/16/17.
South African Guild of Motoring Journalists Motorcycle Journalist of the Year (Overall) 2015/16.
South African Guild of Motoring Journalists Motorsport Journalist of the Year (Magazines) 2017 - Runner-Up 2015/16.
Posted inBusiness, Gender violence, General, Health, Media, News/Politics
Tim Noakes vs Dr Ferdinantus Booyens – the curious machinations of the Health Professions Council of South Africa
It’s astonishing how much effort the Health Professions Council of SA has put into pursuing Tim Noakes, even to the extent of announcing a victory before judgment is handed down. They’re not usually that dedicated though. Take a look at the bizarre case of Dr Ferdinantus Booyens, who dominated the front page of Durban’s newspapers […]
Posted inGeneral, Health, Lifestyle, Media
Sophie’s Choice
Fathers’ Day is fast looming and for this first-time grandfather the excitement is overwhelming. Surely grandfathers deserve grand presents? How will little Sophie know what to get me? Will it be a loathsome pair of socks or a new laptop computer? If I’m disappointed, how should I react to avoid a repeat next year? Do […]
Posted inGeneral
A Buzz, a Whiz, a Cloud of Dust..
“A buzz, a whiz, a cloud of dust, A wild blood-curdling yell, A ghastly object floating by, Then silence – and a smell!” (Poem on the early days of motoring – source unknown) It’s sad how, as cars have become more sophisticated, motoring has become less adventurous. Modern cars are quiet, smooth, fast, comfortable and, […]
Posted inGeneral, Health, Lifestyle
On idiots and aliens
So, how many of you have ever been abducted by aliens? I first realised I might have been when I googled “aliens” after hearing that July 2 was World UFO Day. Up popped a story on Metro.co.uk headed “I was abducted by aliens — and they put a machine in my body” where a fellow […]
Posted inGeneral, Media, News/Politics, Tech
Homo naledi, Piltdown and a lesson in African prehistory
Professor Lee Berger and his team of scientists caused a huge stir when they unveiled the skeletal remains of not one, but at least 15 members of a previously unknown hominin species they’d discovered at the Cradle of Mankind. While the team had made no claim to have found the missing link between man and […]
Posted inBusiness, General, Media, News/Politics
Scotland 5. Donald Trump 0. What price America?
Author and humourist PG Wodehouse once wrote that “it is never difficult to distinguish between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine”. He was absolutely right when it came to American presidential hopeful and property mogul Donald Trump’s attempts to insinuate himself into the Scottish culture with his £750 million (R15.9 billion) golf estate […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, General, Health, Lifestyle
Give your car a hug
So here we are, little more than a century later, and the car is as welcome in every home as the chamber pot was before inside toilets arrived. It wasn’t always so, though. When the first adventurers took to the roads in steam and electric and clockwork and petrol-engined cars in the 1890s only the […]
Posted inGeneral, Health, Lifestyle
Lost causes
Okay, I might as well get it out in the open. I’m a loser. Luckily, most of the things I misplace turn up somewhere, sometime, and then it’s like Christmas at chez Foster. Some of my items that go AWOL are repeat offenders, and my bunch of house keys with the large magnesium and flint […]
Posted inBusiness, General, Lifestyle, News/Politics, Tech
Is the motor industry killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?
So there you are, an ordinary guy with an ordinary job who wants to buy the best car that you can afford. It has to be reliable and economical rather than have a “WOW” factor, so you’ve pretty well set your mind on a boring new 1.3-litre hatch for R160 000 when up pops a pristine […]
Posted inBusiness, General, Lifestyle, News/Politics, Tech
Goodness gracious! This Dacia is a Nissan!
So poor old Sydney Gordon (65) of Johannesburg is suing Nissan South Africa because he bought a Nissan NP 200 from them for R131 342 on February 22 2012 and a year later discovered that it had “Renault” stamped all over it. He must have gone to a lot of trouble stripping the bakkie to identify […]
Posted inBusiness, General, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Driven by necessity? You be the judge
It was interesting to note that at last month’s Judicial Service Commission interviews for the post of KwaZulu-Natal deputy judge president, Judge President Chiman Patel chose to grill Judge Isaac Madondo over the fact that he was the only judge in the division to enjoy the services of a dedicated driver. Judge Madondo responded that […]