There seems to be a problem with the delivery of the South African nation. The rainbow nation is currently monochrome and issues remain cast in black and white, ignoring other factors like class, gender and sexuality. In fact the rainbow is highly separated, with very little grey area in between. The most prominent marker for […]
Jen Thorpe
Jennifer is a feminist, activist and advocate for women's rights. She has a Masters in Politics from Rhodes University, and a Masters in Creative Writing from UCT.
In 2010 she started a women's writing project called 'My First Time'. It focuses on women's stories of significant first time experiences. Buy the book on the site http://myfirsttimesa.com or via Modjaji Books.
Jen's first novel, The Peculiars, came out in February 2016 and is published by Penguin. Get it in good book stores, and on Takealot.com
Posted inGender violence
Rape — sex or power?
Rape happens every day in South Africa. It is estimated that each year about half a million rapes occur, but only 1 in 9 of these is reported. With roughly 24 million women in South Africa this presents women with a scary picture. It means that if you are a woman and you live to the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Kicking out the homeless and other house-cleaning activities
I just read an article suggesting that South Africa’s homeless will be moved out of the cities and into the townships to keep the streets cleaner during the World Cup. It seems that the inconvenience of having people sleeping on the streets has become too much to bear and instead they should be shipped out […]
Posted inGeneral
Words and action
Everyone knows the saying about “sticks and stones” but I’m beginning to become disillusioned with the ending. South Africa is a place where freedom of speech is highly valued among all people and the right to tell your story is something empowering and powerful. But how do we then stop people when they’ve said too […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SpeakZA: Bloggers for a free press
Last week, shocking revelations concerning the activities of ANC Youth League Spokesperson Nyiko Floyd Shivambu came to the fore. According to a letter published in various news outlets, a complaint was laid by 19 political journalists with the secretary-general of the ANC, against Shivambu. This complaint letter detailed attempts by Shivambu to leak a dossier […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Indefensible indignity
A choice between two terrible options is not really a choice for many people. When those terrible options pose a danger to your life and your dignity they can make even the most proud buckle with the weight of the decision. What am I talking about? Many of you will know that earlier this year […]
Posted inGeneral
If you want to help, here’s how
It’s quite clear that many people in South Africa actually want to make a difference but are not sure how. Most of us don’t have as much time as we’d like to but we do have some money, some of us have plenty of time but no money, some of us have a specialised skill […]
Posted inLifestyle
Take some freaking responsibility
Enough! Enough of all the pussyfooting, slippery tongue-sliding circumlocution. Enough of the fall backs to culture, ancestry, age, wisdom, the struggle, the party and the legacy of apartheid. Enough of the misuse of taxpayers’ money. Enough of the failure to speak when appropriate and necessary and enough of the propensity and frequency with which inappropriate, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
No porn please
There are many reasons why DSTV should not have a porn channel, none of which have to do with morals. The debate about morals lands up with sex being a sin or at least frowned upon, and the idea of watching other people having sex is almost outlandish if not only a bit rude. But […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Finding solutions
The Rubik’s cube is one of those puzzles that many people want to throw against the wall. It seems solution-less, until someone comes along and shows you how to do it. Have you ever faced a problem and had no idea how to solve it? One of those things you feel completely overwhelmed by and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Msholozi’s ‘moral code’
Zuma said today that some people say ” ‘Zuma is causing a problem for himself’. I don’t think they understand me,” he said. It’s true Zuma. Some of us don’t. Then again, the life of a president must put some really intense pressures on a man. You can’t seem to say anything right, in fact, […]
Posted inGeneral
The elderly and decrepit — a sign of our culture?
Are there no black people in old-age homes? I’m just checking, because many a response to a blog about culture by a white writer receives a response about how culturally unacceptable putting old people into homes is. This idea has appeared as a response to many of the blogs I’ve written in critique of Zulu […]