I think I may have come up with a solution to South Africa’s endemic speeding problem. It’s not billboards reminding the poephol in the Porsche screaming by at 190kmh that speed kills. It’s not speed cameras, or Metro Cops sleeping next to the road at regular intervals. No, the solution is much, much simpler. All […]
Sarah Britten
During the day Sarah Britten is a communication strategist; by night she writes books and blog entries. And sometimes paints. With lipstick. It helps to have insomnia.
Posted inNews/Politics
How Twitter broke the news about Manto
Was news of Manto’s death the Hudson plane crash of South Africa? Did the passing of the controversial former minister of health mark a coming of age of Twitter in this country? While comparisons aren’t entirely neat — the landing of the plane in the river was first reported by eye witnesses, which was not […]
Posted inMedia
Does Miss South Africa still matter?
So someone called Nicole Flint is our new Miss South Africa. Do you care? Does anyone? I remember the halcyon days of a pageant that enjoyed real cultural power. Anneline Kriel was a bit before my time (she was in the process of divorcing Sol when she starred on page 3 of the Sunday Times […]
Posted inMedia
Tiger, Zuma and the importance of being likeable
Tiger Woods does not have a lot in common with Jacob Zuma. Clearly, they’re both rather, ahem fond of women, and both have found themselves at the centre of sexual scandals — an entire rape trial in the case of the president. But there’s an important difference that is becoming more and more apparent. When […]
Posted inMedia
What does it mean to be a man?
Sometimes an advertising campaign is so completely and utterly on trend, so obvious in its attempts to capitalise on the zeitgeist, that to ignore it would be remiss. And so it is with the latest Dockers campaign from the US, one which is worth taking a closer look at. In South Africa, we’ve just been […]
Posted inMedia
Do you fantasise about writing a book?
It’s often said, in one of the more glib truisms of the age, that everyone has a book in them. Somehow, writing a book and seeing it published and available on the shelf seems to be one of those fundamental drivers of the human psyche. Maslow should have added another level to his hierarchy of […]
Posted inLifestyle
Emigration and being in limbo
Being an emigrant means always being in a state of limbo. When you’re planning to emigrate, you’re not really here. You put off purchasing a house; the car you buy must be something you can get rid of quickly. Everything is a matter of “when the visa comes through” or “when we move to xyz”. […]
Posted inLifestyle
The difference time makes
My best friend lives in Australia. This mattered today, a lot, because I was utterly miserable and wanted to confide in him. We chatted on Facebook for half an hour or so, but he had to go out, or go to bed, or whatever it is that people who live on the other side of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Blame Canada!
Oh Canada, how could you? To me, you were always a byword for decency, for niceness. For reason in a world torn apart by madness. You were Colin Mochrie and Mounties and caring about the Queen (except for the Quebecois, who were so rude to poor Prince Charles recently). You managed to combine diversity and […]
Posted inMedia
How do you come up with good ideas?
I’ve never had a good idea sitting at a desk. Ever. All of my ideas have arrived apparently unbidden, usually while I’m doing something totally unrelated, like standing in the shower, drifting off to sleep, or strolling aimlessly around Sandton City. Driving is especially productive, I’ve found. For some reason, perhaps because my mind is […]
Posted inBusiness
Does Africa always need to go high-tech?
Do we sometimes overrate new technology at the expense of the old? Is there a possibility that we idealise the impact of the new to a degree that we completely overlook things that still work perfectly well? Does Africa always need to go high-tech? This is the continent that has in some ways led the […]
Posted inLifestyle
Thoughts on making an arse of oneself
In a popular Sandton watering hole the other night I walked up to a table of complete strangers because I thought they were friends of my date. “Hi,” I smiled. They looked at me, faces blank. As it verrrrrry gradually dawned on me that they knew neither of us from Adam, I yearned for the […]