By Steven Hussey One seldom considers that positions vehemently opposed to apparently unpalatable details of our beautiful, liberal Constitution are held by parties with seats in Parliament. But of course that is the case, and from time to time the rejection of South Africa’s values for human rights raises its primitive head. What an itch […]
Mandela Rhodes Scholars
Mandela Rhodes Scholars who feature on this page are all recipients of The Mandela Rhodes Scholarship, awarded by The Mandela Rhodes Foundation, and are members of The Mandela Rhodes Community.
The Mandela Rhodes Community was started by recipients of the scholarship, and is a growing network of young African leaders in different sectors. The Mandela Rhodes Community is comprised of students and professionals from various backgrounds, fields of study and areas of interest. Their commonality is the set of guiding principles instilled through The Mandela Rhodes Scholarship program: education, leadership, reconciliation, and social entrepreneurship.
All members of The Mandela Rhodes Community have displayed some form of involvement in each of these domains.
The Community has the purpose of mobilising its members and partners to collaborate in establishing a growing network of engaged and active leaders through dialogue and project support
[The Mandela Rhodes Scholarship is open to all African students and allows for postgraduate studies at any institution in South Africa. See The Mandela Rhodes Foundation for further details.]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Ek is ‘n Boer…or am I?
By Anton I Botha A while back I wrote a little piece on the Afrikaner as villain which was meant to be a light-hearted reflection on my own cultural identity and its portrayal in the popular media. More recently the comments made by Jimmy Manyi and others again made me think of race and culture. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
How much longer shall we Africans remain gullible?
By Cornelius Ssemakulu Looking back at what I know about Africa’s history and comparing that with what I see today I find no difference in the context and the nature of the players: gullible Africans (usually the majority), deceitful Africans (minority, selfish) and non Africans (beneficiaries). I ask myself — for how long shall we […]
Posted inNews/Politics
In defence of the youth fest
By Janet Jobson It’s a bugbear of mine that South Africans seem to have a very low opinion of our youth. We’re not alone in this. Young people worldwide, and especially in the developing world, seem to loom in the popular imagination as unruly forces that must be tamed: they are uneducated, violent, apathetic, materialistic, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
When being black ain’t black enough
By Zuki Mqolomba The recently publicised video clips of Jimmy Manyi’s utterances on coloureds and Indians as the then director-general of labour and government official reveal much of the hidden prejudices and social attitudes that leverage racism and tribalism in South African corridors of power. In the televised clip titled “Jimmy Manyi on coloureds in […]
Posted inGeneral
The problem with coloureds…
By Kim Smith One of my favourite quotes from former president Thabo Mbeki is: “One of the things that became clear and which was actually rather disturbing, was the fact that there was a view which was being expressed by people whose scientific credentials you can’t question.” What sets the pre-Socratic thinkers apart, what causes […]
Posted inGeneral
The Afrikaner as villain
By Anton I Botha I was mildly amused the other day when my brother introduced me to the PC game Far Cry 2 which has villains that speak Afrikaans. While trekking through the African savannah, players are confronted with multiple ‘baddies’ that the hero (American of course) has to take out through any means necessary. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Christians, gays equally hypocritical
By Cynthia Ayeza Mutabaazi A gay activist was recently murdered in Uganda, my home country. A bit of hell broke loose in the international community and two weeks or so later, life goes on. This is our sad reality. I highly doubt that he was murdered because he was gay. But I do not have […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Don’t just vote…rise up!
By Judy Sikuza Is it just human nature that we need dramatic events to occur before we change? How long will we sit and listen to the woman next door being beaten up and say it is not our business to intervene? Until she is lying in her own blood? When it is too late? […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Myanmar matters — here’s why
By Petunia Mpoza “Please use your liberty to promote ours” has been the entreaty to the world at large by Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s democracy icon and the 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate. The country is also known as Myanmar, a name bestowed on it by its military rulers. The name is opposed by the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Fighting sin with sin
By Steven Hussey When an Ugandan tabloid sparked international outrage last year for publishing the names of alleged homosexuals under the banner “Hang them!” in The Rolling Stone, editor Giles Muhame thought he was fulfilling a moral duty. He was stopping homosexuals from “ravaging the moral fabric of [Uganda]” and “recruiting children to homosexuality”, whatever […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Who should empower women?
By Athambile Masola “Wathinta umfazi wathinta imbokodo!” are the famous words that are often bandied about in South Africa’s media during Women’s Month every August without fail. The fuss around Women’s Day leaves me and many other women wondering what every other day is for, celebrating men? Given a past that has been dominated by […]