Since last week, popular SABC1 soapie Generations The Legacy has been running a storyline on human trafficking. The characters of Xolelwa and Lesedi attended a party where Lesedi’s drink was spiked and the two were then taken to Cape Town, where they were held with other young women and used as sex slaves. I am […]
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Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics, Sport
The Soweto Marathon and important lessons running taught me
Running the Soweto Half-Marathon was a drastic step in my sporting life, and I achieved more than crossing the finishing line. Before the starting gun, I told myself that everything I had done while preparing for this race was behind me. Now was the time to give my best and make this race my magnum […]
Posted inGeneral
Student Protests: A lecturer’s perspective on resentments
Viroshan Naicker, Rhodes University This morning I stood toe to toe and eye to eye with a student who wanted to enter a lecture that was in progress. Unwilling to compromise the col- league who was teaching his class, I stopped the student and asked to look at his student card. I asked it in […]
Posted inGeneral
Howard College law library: More than just a site of learning
James Rycroft The devastation of the Howard College law library has kicked me in the stomach. Not just because I was one of the many law students who used the space as so much more than a library, but also because of why and how that space came into being. My dad was the Dean […]
Posted inGeneral
Barbarism should not triumph over civilisation
Smanga Sethene Prophet Muhammad (saw), had this to say when he was asked about the importance of acquisition of knowledge by men and women who had the honour of his blessed company and time: “Acquire knowledge. It enables its possessor to distinguish right from wrong; it lightens the way to heaven; it is our friend […]
Posted inGeneral
Why we should all contribute towards #SaveSouthSudan
Mondli Zondo During my recent seven weeks visit to the United States, I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to connect with, engage and learn from a Fellow from South Sudan about the ongoing conflict in her country. I was humbled by this experience as it revealed to me how little I and many […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Why a coalition between the ANC and DA would be good for Johannesburg and both parties
Johannesburg is a very different beast to Cape Town. Bigger, more dense, constantly growing; it’s the economic heart of South Africa. Despite its faults, the local ANC government in Joburg has received mostly clean audits and managed to do okay given the massive challenges it faces in such a complex area. There is a lot […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Why I have decided to vote for a pro-poor political party
I have made my voting choice. Here is my thinking. Firstly, these are local elections and, as a result, no major policy can be tested. I am also not certain that this election, or even our next national elections, are going to lead to any substantial transformation no matter who we vote for. I do […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Walk the talk, Obama: Help Africa get a permanent seat on the UN Security Council
I am currently in the United States as a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow; President Obama’s initiative for emerging young African leaders. I have spent six weeks at Virginia Commonwealth University; learning and gaining valuable skills and I am excited to return to South Africa even more determined and inspired. We are currently in Washington and […]
Posted inGeneral
Philanthropy at odds with student demands
Roanne Moodley With Bill Gates landing on our shores, students have questioned the role that large scale philanthropy should play in the future. At its core, this type of large scale philanthropy is ideologically at odds with the recent call of students. We need to honestly assess what each asserts, whether they are consistent and […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
#AndreOlivier: A world where white people took nothing from black people is not a real world, it’s an imagined one
By Sheena Jonker A South Africa where white people gained the position in society that they occupy and the place in the economy that they enjoy through sheer hard work, is an imagined South Africa. It’s not real. When Pastor Andre Olivier says “We (white people) took nothing from black people” he was accessing this […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Open letter to a black South African, release the chains of an enslaved mind #AndreOlivier
By Lesego Setou Dear Black South African, I write to you from one soul to the next. I would like to know at what point did we forget our divinity that we seek affirmation of our worth from pastors? Could it be that we have things we need to heal within our self? That we […]