If there is anything we learn from Nelson Mandela is that an important yet normally overlooked facet of struggle is the struggle against fear. In his prison cells Mandela realised that the liberation movement could not win if it did not defeat white fear of a black government. He rightly realised that had he been […]
Manqoba Nxumalo
Manqoba Nxumalo is a journalist, social-justice activist.
Follow him on twitter @NxumaloManqoba
Posted inGeneral
The Malema conundrum
Julius Malema is such a polarising figure. We loathe and love him in equal measure. He shakes us in our comfort zones by confronting the compromises of our leaders. He makes us discuss, yet again, what the liberation struggle was about. Did political power for the black government mean an end to apartheid and the […]
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
The loyalty we have to soccer teams is the same as we have to the ANC
In the past few days I have been asking myself why I get peeved each time I discuss the performance of my dearest club with my fellow Manchester United supporters. Oftentimes I find myself wondering why everyone does not see that David Moyes is technically inept, a minnow and completely out of sync as manager […]
Posted inNews/Politics
With an ‘oppositionist’ Cosatu, who needs a DA?
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe is not so happy with the “oppositionist” posture that Cosatu and some unions within the federation take when dealing with the ruling party. The veteran former unionist surely feels that “as comrades with same revolutionary parent (read goal), let us talk gently and say our opprobrium behind closed doors, not […]
Posted inNews/Politics
It’s not easy being an ANCYL member these days
Things are getting very interesting in South African politics. They are confusing too. The emergence of the Economic Freedom Fighters has made things worse. Now, imagine that you are a young person, an active member of the ANCYL and also a young worker participating in a Cosatu-aligned union. At every level of your activism you […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Mandela for blacks is different to Mandela for whites
As former president Nelson Mandela lies sick in hospital the narrative of what he will represent to future generations will, without a doubt, take a pendulum swing between two opposing sides. As we have all come to accept his inevitable departure, we find ourselves asking what we shall tell our kids about Mandela. Will whites […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Will SADC let Swaziland descend into war?
Last week Wednesday Swaziland woke up to shocking news of a 28-year-old activist who was sentenced to 85 years in prison after confessing to a spree of petrol bomb attacks that targeted mainly police officers and government officials. We all missed the story because Swaziland only makes headlines when King Mswati III, Africa’s last absolute […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Malema the new King Shaka?
With elections lurking, developments in the political scene have created a political conundrum for the poor and disenfranchised: do they vote on loyalty or for change? The recent announcement of new political entrants, particularly Mamphela Ramphele’s Agang and Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters, has meant the poor have new choices to make. With due recognition […]