By Franklyn Odhiambo In the past few months revelations have surfaced of high-end corruption in Kenya’s ministries and county governments, including Kisumu County, the devolution ministry, and most recently internal security. Some members of parliament are so angry at the revelations that they want to punish someone for the exposé. If we consider Kenya’s recent […]
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Posted inEquality, News/Politics
The burden of black privilege
By Sinegugu Ngwenya What an absurd notion. How offensive. What an insensitive response to a people deep in struggle. The thought of privileged blacks is a spit in the face of the “underprivileged” badge we so rightfully wear. For years I despised everything that happened to me, how I was reduced to melanin. From a […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
#WitsOnFire: Student factionalism must fall
By Phaphama Dulwana The past two weeks have been something to marvel at. I watched for the first time in my life young black people take a stand against institutions and systems that perpetuate the poverty we have regrettably become so immune to. Every single day filled me up with an overwhelming sense of emotion […]
Posted inNews/Politics
ANC looking backward, looking forward
By Matthew Wate In early 2004 an enterprising businessman approached the ANC with a novel and interesting piece of gadgetry. Bactacles. These ingenious devices looked like normal sunglasses but actually had tiny cameras on the back and projected images onto the lenses, allowing wearers to see what is behind them at all times. The ANC […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
So #FeesHaveFallen but let’s not celebrate too quickly
By Marlyn Faure It’s all too easy to think now things can go back to normal. Of course, if by now you still don’t understand why students are protesting, please stop questioning the legitimacy of the struggle but rather the fibre of your conscience (or lack thereof). Over the last while there have been a […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
One thing Wits can never be is on the wrong side of justice
By Mighti Jamie * These were my words to Adam Habib in January. They’re still relevant today. Dear Adam Habib One thing Wits can never be is a cold-blooded business, focusing only on the bottom line. One thing Wits can never be is a dream killer. One thing Wits can never be is on the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
University protests ‘unconstitutional’ and infringe on student liberties
By Geoff Embling How is it possible for a group of protesters, supported by the Student Representative Council and Black Student Movement, to hold the whole of Rhodes University hostage and possibly breach the South African Constitution and Bill of Rights at the same time? Why should a university of over 7 000 students shut down […]
Posted inGeneral
Here is an innovative solution to SA’s sub-standard education, school vouchers
By Mbulelo Nguta South Africa spends more money per student on education than any other African country and more money than many countries in the world but our education outcomes are disgraceful. We rank at the bottom in all international rankings on literacy, maths and science. The Centre for Development and Enterprise will tell you […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Brics in crisis and new middle classes will bear the greatest costs
By Jan Hofmeyr These are trying times for Brazil and South Africa, the southern members of the Brics grouping of emerging nations that also include China, Russia and India. After years of robust growth their economies are in the doldrums, and their governments lack latitude in the options to revive them. It is not only […]
Posted inGeneral
My life is not my own – purpose through the lens of a bullet hole
By Themba Dlamini It is Thursday, September 17 2015, the night of my daughter’s 18-month birthday. I have just arrived at OR Tambo International Airport from a successful speaking engagement in Cape Town. On my way home from the airport I stop at a traffic light and my window is aggressively mowed down by a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Public Protector in the courts – what does it mean for me?
By Tess Peacock This week in the news Thuli Madonsela, our Public Protector, is going to court on the Nkandla matter. Why? This is about power, power and power. The Constitution divides government into three components: the executive (the president and his ministers), the judiciary (all the courts) and the legislature (our representatives in Parliament). […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, Media, News/Politics
SA’s ‘trade union corset’: A response to William Saunderson-Meyer
By Darcy du Toit I read William Saunderson-Meyer’s blog “Time to ease the trade union corset that confines SA” with a jaundiced eye. I am quoted as “warning”, at the International Society for Labour and Social Security Law congress in Cape Town last week, “that while the basic principles of labour law remain unaltered, the […]