Almost a month after Zanu-PF and the MDC signed a power-sharing deal, they have not been able to form a government to free ordinary Zimbabweans from their economic misery. The impasse is over allocation of key ministries. Robert Mugabe and his thugs remain stubborn and adamant that key ministries should be controlled by Zanu-PF. As […]
Sentletse Diakanyo
Sentletse Diakanyo's blogs may contain views on any subject which may upset sensitive readers. Parental guidance is strongly advised.
Posted inGeneral
The evil genius of racism continues to haunt our collective conscience
“Between me and the other world there is ever an unasked question: unasked by some through feelings of delicacy; by others through the difficulty of rightly framing it. All, nevertheless, flutter round it … How does it feel to be a problem?” WEB Du Bois (1868-1963) asks this rather difficult question in his essay of […]
Posted inBusiness
On absurd predictions of a recession of the SA economy
The ailing US economy and collapse of leading financial institutions have driven global markets into a collective panic. The ills of globalisation are manifesting themselves in a most spectacular fashion. The interconnectedness of world economies is delivering not the promises of sustainable prosperity, but rather reversing the gains of protracted periods of imprudence. The price […]
Posted inGeneral
The anatomy of violence and confrontational politics
The nature of social arrangements among black people appears to have been severely disrupted by their unflattering history. It is troubling when programmes for regenerations of morals are instituted, when you would have assumed that morality is an intrinsic virtue of mankind. Human relations have been ruthlessly distorted by varied pursuits for survival and the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Is Gwede Mantashe fit to hold office of Secretary General of the ANC?
The office of the Secretary General of the ANC has previously been occupied by illustrious men of unquestionable intellect and character such as Sol Plaatjie (1876-1932), James Calata (1895-1983), Oliver Tambo (1917-1993), Duma Nokwe (1927-1978) and Walter Sisulu (1912-2003); men who upheld their duty to serve with determined purpose of unifying the membership of the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
‘Die rooi gevaar’: the very antithesis of democracy
Following the first phase of the Russian Revolution, Josef Stalin (1878-1953) engaged in a systematic propaganda campaign for the consolidation of power and assertion of authority, as well as establishing a heroic image of himself through expression of most dissolute flattery and unquestioning praise. Stalin was presented to the unsuspecting masses as “man of the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Organised crime may flourish under the Zuma administration
Sicily, an autonomous region of Italy, is most infamous for organised crime and corruption. Lawlessness is the order of ordinary life. The criminal justice system is dysfunctional and as a result serious misdemeanors go unpunished. As the saying goes, “where there is no law, there is no sin”. In Sicily, bands of organised criminals have […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Of the irrelevance of the Tripartite Alliance in the current political landscape
In the 1994 ANC conference document titled From Resistance to Reconstruction: Tasks of the ANC in the New Epoch of the Democratic Transformation Unmandated Reflections, fascinating predictions about the ANC are made. Thabo Mbeki then spoke of the forces that would seek: “… to destroy the ANC from within … to create contradictions and conflict […]
Posted inGeneral
Defending the legacy of Mbeki on HIV/Aids
I was very pleased to read an article by an HIV-positive radio talk show host, Criselda Kananda, titled, Mbeki was brave to enough to challenge HIV orthodoxy. She says, “I would fail myself and what I stand for if I were to allow the legacy of Mbeki to be reduced to im being called a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Broedertwis: a brotherly war has ensued between Mbeki and Zuma
The decision by Jacob Zuma to oppose former president Mbeki’s application to the Constitutional Court to appeal sections of the Nicholson judgment may be the beginning of the end of his political career if the court rules in favour of the former president. The ruling would be a blow to Zuma’s attempt to escape criminal […]
Posted inGeneral
The exodus of ministers: the question of allegiances and patriotism
The announcement of the resignations of 14 Cabinet ministers including the deputy president and Trevor Manuel, regardless of arrogant denials of the ANC, caused a frightful tremor along the corridors of Luthuli House, the ANC’s headquarters. The hurried press conference called by Gwede Mantashe — when markets began tumbling on the news — was a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Implications of President Mbeki’s urgent appeal to the Constitutional Court
For the ANC, judgment passed by Chris Nicholson was an opportunity to put a matter against Jacob Zuma to rest. It is widely reported that the decision by the NPA to lodge an application to appeal and consequently by Cabinet to seek legal advice on inferences made in the judgment, were the last straw for […]