By Sphiwe Hlongane Mamelodi Sundowns have once again stumbled at the final hurdle of the Absa Premiership, but there are some positives to be taken frm their showing in this past season. The arrival of world renowned Hristo Stoichkove, and the signing of a few quality players proved to be the spark the Brazilians were […]
Reader Blog
On our Reader Blog, we invite Thought Leader readers to submit one-off contributions to share their opinions on politics, news, sport, business, technology, the arts or any other field of interest.
If you'd like to contribute, first read our guidelines for submitting material to this blog.
Posted inGeneral
Time for SuperSport United to conquer Africa
By Sydwell S Hlongwane SuperSport United have proved their dominance in the the Absa Premiership, winning the league championship three times in a row. They have proved beyond any reasonable doubt that they are the best team in the South African league at the moment. Before their local league becomes boring, they need to start […]
Posted inSport
Our 100-day window of opportunity
By Dave Harris An ancient Chinese proverb states that “even the gods cannot help those who do not seize opportunities”. The 2010 Fifa World Cup has ushered in a window of opportunity for all South Africans to seize with both hands! To put our best foot forward towards healing the old wounds of our tragic […]
Posted inGeneral
Gaffie syndrome
By Duncan Newton Keal I have to consider myself one of the most committed sports fans. I have been supporting the Sharks and Proteas with blind passion for numerous years, only to consistently have my heart broken as they conspire to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Currently based in the Land of the […]
Posted inLifestyle
Food for Africa
By Andrew Tayton and Dulcie Krige Africa, as we all know only too well, is a continent with severe agricultural problems such as widespread poor soils and water deficits. In addition the problems of poverty make transport and marketing of food crops far more difficult than they are in the West. This has led seed […]
Posted inLifestyle
Beyond ‘band-aids’ for hunger
By Danielle Nierenberg and Brian Halweil This year marks the 25th anniversary of the devastating famine that hit Ethiopia in the 1980s. At that time, Bob Geldof brought together a group of well-meaning musicians to raise money to feed millions of people. Band Aid raised millions of dollars and immeasurable awareness with the compelling chorus […]
Posted inGeneral
How good are we?
By Duncan Newton Keal At the completion of the test series between India and South Africa, a series touted as being the ‘world championship’ of Test cricket, I can not help wondering how good South African really is. When the Proteas made history by beating Australia, in Australia, many heralded it the rise of a […]
Posted inGeneral
Why would humans take hobbit medicine?
By Richard Kaplan In the late 1700s, Samuel Hahnemann invented homeopathy, a system of medicine which is reputed to be very effective for treating ailments in hobbits, elves, dwarves and other creatures of Middle Earth. Unfortunately, despite centuries of practise, this “healing modality” does not work for humans. While this may seem surprising, the reason […]
Posted inGeneral
Loving differently
By Mncedisi Mashigoane “Liberated” men who subscribe to the feminist and Western notions of gender equality and women’s emancipation have been agonising about the tame reaction to old Jacob’s latest sexual scandal. They have lamented the insincerity of his apology moving for his resignation for sexual indiscretion. They have called for the nation to rise […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma’s a cultural coward
By Michael Baillie “Zuma’s conduct is un-African”. Not my words, but those of an “expert” as quoted in a news article I read recently. But what on earth does it mean? On face value it could mean that Zuma’s actions were not African in nature, that in someway they were not representative of what it […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Shaik pardon would be an unconstitutional act of grace
By Loammi Wolf The envisaged pardons for Shaik in exchange for setting Eugene de Kock and 179 IFP political offenders free, raise several constitutional issues. Before I say a few words about the constitutional tenability of pardoning with the separation of powers in a constitutional state, I would like to focus on the pardoning of […]
Posted inGeneral
An African home for Haitians?
By Mncedisi Mashigoane The crisis in Haiti has elicited all kinds of generous global responses. Of all the pledges to Haiti so far I find Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade’s the most ingenious. On behalf of the 13 million citizens of Senegal, Wade pledged R7.4 million in emergency aid and announced plans for a televised fund-raising event. On […]