The news this year has been full of reports about emigration. Whether it’s a survey revealing widespread pessimism, a desire to emigrate or indications that 18% of properties on the market are related to South African residents leaving the country permanently. But now, with world markets in turmoil and emigration destinations either already in a […]
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
Is Manto undead?
My fellow citizens, it is time, I believe, to seriously consider whether or not South Africa’s erstwhile Minister of Health is a creature that crept through a portal from a parallel universe and was unleashed upon us to wreak havoc, sow death and destruction etc etc. A bit like those bits of ectoplasm that flew […]
Posted inLifestyle
The revenge of the Silvertails: more essential Aussie vocabulary
Following on last week’s entry about Aussie words you need to understand if you want to survive in these parts, here are a couple more words and expressions I encounter occasionally and, occasionally, quite often: Silvertail. Wealthy, affluent, socially privileged — but not necessarily in a good way. The eastern suburbs of Sydney are known […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Did Thabo Mbeki cry when he was forced to resign?
South Africa’s erstwhile president would have wept if he’d been Australian. In fact, he’d have bawled his eyes out. This is another key difference between Australia and South Africa. Australian men, especially politicians, cry in public. The land down under might have an endemic drought problem, but not when it comes to the tear ducts […]
Posted inLifestyle
Boofheads, utes and de factos: essential Aussie vocabulary
South Africans take words like bakkie and doos and tsotsi for granted. We say things that make no sense to anyone else on the planet, like, “I’ll be there just now. No, not now-now, just now.” Similarly, while Australians might speak English, they have a vocabulary all of their own; one which may be quite […]
Posted inNews/Politics
What is ‘genuine white racism’ anyway?
And how do we know it “runs rampant”? I am prompted to ask the question by this comment by Carlos Amato in a very scholarly and thought-provoking article about that Zapiro cartoon: “Genuine white racism remains rampant in this country,” he writes, “but such indiscriminate accusations will not help to defeat it. Zapiro, who was […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Aussie political scandals: at least as entertaining as South African ones
In the annals of memorable quotations uttered by politicians, “Look at this, I’m tittie-f..king your mother!” must rank up there with “Read my lips, no new taxes” and “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”. This was the statement uttered by New South Wales politician Matt Brown, according to a witness quoted in […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Jacob Zuma, Zapiro and Sarah Palin
At first glance, this might look like a shameless attempt to gain reads by listing the hottest topics in the South African blogosphere right now. And in some ways, it is: you have no idea how motivating it is to watch your name slipping down the rankings on the Thought Leader home page. I may […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Are all racist scum equal?
“A R10 000 reward has been offered to anyone who identifies the racist scum who marred Saturday’s Springbok victory at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park.” It was an opening paragraph designed to attract attention and it certainly caught mine. I was appalled by the boorishness of the drunken yobs who picked on Ziningi Shibambo and told her: […]
Posted inMedia
Are you aspirational?
“Aspirational”. Of all the words I encountered whilst working in the advertising industry in South Africa, it was the one I came to hate the most. Every consumer was aspirational. Every marketing manager and her shih tzu wanted her brand to be aspirational. Cars were aspirational. Bank accounts wanted to be aspirational. Deodorant, toothpaste, even […]
Posted inLifestyle
You’ve got to love Australian rednecks
I’ll start off this discussion about the Australian version of a favourite stereotype of the white rural underclass, the redneck, with this disclaimer: yes, I know it’s politically incorrect. Yes, I know that one should not make fun of people who drive pickup trucks with big engines that contribute to global warming and listen to […]
Posted inMedia
Knightrider, A-Team or Airwolf?
One of the themes I’d like to explore down the line in this blog is the power of popular culture to define generations and transcend boundaries, national and otherwise. Ask anyone who grew up in South Africa during the 1980s about their favourite TV shows and you will get a list encompassing everything from Maya […]