Duma Kumalo was sentenced to death for participating in the murder of an apartheid-era Sharpeville councillor. Duma Kumalo was innocent. He was not even present when the murder took place. Duma was convicted on the basis of testimony of another Sharpeville resident, elicited through torture. This was revealed at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). […]
Roy Jobson
Roy Jobson is a specialist medical doctor in clinical pharmacology. He is employed as a specialist clinical pharmacologist at the Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital / Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University. He is a Council member of the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa. In his non-medical life, he is a vicarious observer of South African society through his association with the Khulumani Support Group, where his wife is the director. He has done extensive research in the last few years on the advertising and marketing of medicines in South Africa - with an emphasis on complementary medicines.
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media
Seven fat years
Sunday February 22 2009 marked the seventh anniversary of the well-intentioned but ultimately misguided call-up of medicines frequently referred to as complementary medicines. Officially the call-up ended on August 22 2002, but the Medicines Regulatory Affairs Cluster of the Department of Health continues to accept documentation for these products. The Medicines Control Council (MCC) seems […]
Posted inMedia
The Peddlar, the Minister and the Inspector
Justice Zondi’s careful and deliberate judgment in the Cape High Court case brought by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and South African Medical Association (SAMA) against Dr Matthias Rath and others, has several interesting consequences. The main issues in the case were whether or not Dr Rath had been conducting unauthorised clinical trials, whether or […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Business unusual — during apartheid
Judge Korman was the lone dissenting voice against the appeal of the Khulumani lawsuit in October 2007. The appeal was lodged against the judgement dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims under the United States’ Alien Tort Claims Act. The Khulumani Lawsuit, on behalf of Khulumani Support Group and less than 100 named plaintiffs, charges 23 foreign corporations […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why I am not a rural doctor
I was destined by accident of birth to work in a rural hospital. My grandfather was a missionary doctor who founded and built a Church of Scotland mission hospital in Venda. He was quite literally the hero of the family. Having already been awarded a DSc in botany and well on his way to an […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Dishonourable discharge
The proposed pledge of allegiance for schoolchildren has already received voluminous comment from contributors to and diverse readers of Thought Leader. Minister Naledi Pandor said she could not see why people might have any problem with the pledge. Here’s an angle from the perspective of the Khulumani Support Group, the national non-party political membership organisation […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
How to sell your soul in 10 easy steps
Assume I have no conscience or any morals. Assume I have a legitimately registered company or CC with hefty overdraft facilities. Here I am in South Africa just ready to make a buck from those most gullible of consumers — the worried (but wealthy) well, the health and wellness neurotics, the painted, dyed and cosmetic-dependent […]
Posted inLifestyle
16 Days of Activism
Please accept my apologies for my lack of enthusiasm for activism this year. I am worn out, and have neither the energy nor the inclination to find out exactly what activism activities are happening in my part of the world. I also have no desire to wear a symbolic white ribbon. (I don’t do ribbons.) […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
‘Trauma counselling’ is not news
If our various news services are to be believed, South Africa is riddled with trauma counsellors. After virtually any disaster, accident, or just an unfortunate event, we’re often informed that the victims are receiving “trauma counselling”. Where do these counsellors hide out? What do they look like? How come they’re always available and on the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Trading insults: Khulumani, Korman, Maduna, Mabandla
When the Khulumani Support Group’s appeal against the dismissal of its international lawsuit (Khulumani et al v Barclays et al) was granted recently, the decision was not, as implied by most reports, unanimous. The dissenting judge (in three parts of the judgment), Judge Edward Korman, stated that “[the] lawsuit [is] an insult to the post-apartheid, […]