Posted inGeneral

They lied to us

By Zamantungwa Khumalo We’ve been sold the idea that we can chase our dreams, that we can carpe diem through life, that we can drop out of varsity and be the next Zuckerberg. The reality on the ground isn’t as rosy. The people who tell you to chase your dreams won’t tell you how you’ll […]

Posted inNews/Politics

Party bosses: A tyranny of the fanatical

The irrational behaviour of some political leaders is denigrating faith in the social contract that unites our post-conflict society. That same contract underpins the necessary wealth-creation efforts integral to the achievement of a non-racial, non-sexist, non-xenophobic and democratic society. In essence, power-hungry men and women are drawing the entire country into an unnecessary state of […]

Posted inGeneral

The second new South Africa

By: Frederik de Ridder Watching powerful individuals erode the dream of promise and a better life for all in South Africa, it is natural to fall back and review whether this could have been predicted. As a young person, I wonder what I would have done had I been of age or relevance during the […]

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Just Zille, people. Move along

By Thato Choma It’s been a while now and Helen Zille is still being crucified for her “reckless” use of words on national television and the twitter streets. In March this year she referred to Eastern Cape pupils, who’ve moved to the Western Cape for a better education, as refugees. Zille made this statement after […]

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Zille: Three tweets to the wind

By Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh After the DA leader’s first Twitter-related faux pas, describing voters as “supporting the ANC because they were given KFC”, I winced, bit my lip, and continued with my day. After her second slur, depicting Simphiwe Dana as a “professional black” for apparently trading on her race in criticising the Western Cape government’s […]

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Gauging Swaziland’s ‘cultural boycott’

By Nondumiso Hlophe The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) believes that a “cultural boycott” – by musicians invited to perform in the Kingdom of Swaziland – is an effective way to address political opinions in Swaziland. Do you? Last year, the South-African based organisation SSN called on artists to boycott Swaziland by refusing to perform in […]

Posted inLifestyleNews/Politics

If COP17 has to do with survival, why aren’t more people interested?

By Karuna Rana For those in the climate-change arena, the yearly UN climate-change negotiations remain an important event. The Copenhagen Summit in 2009 was a massive let-down. Last year, Cancun was unexpectedly hopeful and, this year, the climate-change negotiations have arrived to Durban, South Africa. COP17 is perhaps more crucial than previous meetings as the […]

Posted inGeneral

Substantive, not normative equality is what we need

By Elsabe van Vuuren In 1994 South Africa rejoiced at the ordination of a new government. South Africans also celebrated the end of deeply unjust apartheid laws. This was a new beginning for Southern Africa. South Africa joined its neighbours, namely Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia and, Zimbabwe in the fight for more equal opportunities for […]