By Balt Verhagen In Who am I? Kopano Matlwa Mabaso chronicles her hopes and bitter disappointments since 1998 when she started high school. This prompted me, a person three times her age, to recount some of my own experiences during the same period when “we were well settled into our new democracy”. Around 1998 I […]
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Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Weathering the South African Weather Service Amendment Bill storm
By Steve Pike The people have spoken, and the government has listened. But the question remains: has the South African Weather Service (Saws) listened? Positive outcomes in Parliament are pending after the public hearing last week on the draft South African Weather Service Amendment Bill, driven by assurances from ANC MP Johnny de Lange that […]
Posted inGeneral
State of emergency 2.0
By Christopher McMichael Last week, a fully armed contingent of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers were enrolled to perform guard duties at the new Khayelitsha district hospital. The reason for the deployment of combat-ready troops in a civilian environment? To patrol a silent protest by 50 members of the Khayelitsha Development Forum. As […]
Posted inGeneral
Dear ANC, thanks for the liberation, we’ll take it from here
By Maphale Moloi In the wake of the recent ANC centenary celebrations, many have commented on the party’s role in post-apartheid South Africa. Some have said that the ANC is living in the past and is no longer relevant to the youth and/or the plight of the average South African. Let’s step back for a […]
Posted inGeneral
What Africa’s promising youth need to succeed
Today, among corporations, governments, and individuals alike, there is much optimism regarding Africa’s future. One of the main reasons for this is the continent’s enviably youthful population, whose median age is only twenty years old. Africa’s 54 nations are also currently home to more than 500 million people of working age, or 15 to 64 […]
Posted inGeneral
Maths vs. Maths Literacy: the continuing debate
By Robyn Clark With the Matric results being published last week, a long-running debate has again reared its head. Is Maths Literacy all that worthwhile? After all, many are opposed to it because it’s “dumbing down our students”. Is the Maths taught today the same as the Maths that you learnt at school? Firstly, I […]
Posted inGeneral
Placing indigenous knowledge games at the centre of our education strategy
We are a society engaging in “an anthropology of low expectations” with the bar we set for being awarded a National Senior Certificate (NSC). (Eusebius McKaiser, 2012). South Africa’s matric pass rate was up from 67.8% in 2010 to 70.2% in 2011. To obtain a matric pass in South Africa, a pupil must achieve 40% […]
Posted inNews/Politics
An open letter to Angie Motshekga
Dear Madam I know that you are a busy person and this period in particular is the most hectic with centenary celebrations in full swing. I would like to congratulate you and your department, together with nine MECs and the respective departments in various provinces. Let me rather skip the pleasantries and get to the […]
Posted inGeneral
When a man is not allowed to speak because he is a man
I am one of the organisers of Slutwalk Johannesburg and I was attacked by a feminist on Wednesday on her timeline on Facebook. The reason being because I am a man and I have no right to be a spokesperson for a movement reserved for women. This all arose out of an invitation by SAFM […]
Posted inGeneral
Facebook’s redesign and the future of social media
By Bre Carter This week, Facebook started launching a profile redesign called Timeline. While the social media giant is known for constantly tinkering with its product, and although it has often made news for rolling out new features and designs that users initially complain about and then quickly accept, the timeline appears to be different. […]
Posted inLifestyle
What does security mean to you?
By Everjoice Win That was the question surrounding this year’s 16 Days of Activism. Militarism, conflict, state-sponsored violence, political violence, were some of the sub-themes we campaigned on. We talked about the big stuff, the big news tickets of the moment. The news coming out of Syria continues to be unbearable. Libya is still on […]
Posted inNews/Politics
From Jewish South African to South African Jew
By Martine Schaffer The question of my South African identity was first raised when I went to Israel after school to study for a year at Hebrew University. I had been educated at Carmel College in Durban and brought up in an environment where my character was very much formed around being Jewish. In Israel, […]