Andrew Gasnolar, a youthful 28-year-old from Gardens in Cape Town, is the new chief operations officer for Agang SA. A lawyer, Mandela-Rhodes Scholar and World Economic Forum Global Shaper, I chatted to him about his new job, politics, and whether I should vote for Agang SA. What made you take up this post? I have […]
Suntosh Pillay
Suntosh Pillay works as a clinical psychologist in a public hospital in Durban. He is a PhD researcher at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and has written extensively on a range of topics in various media.
He is grappling with social dilemmas and paradoxes that we are faced with every day & hopes to trigger debate, controversy, reflection and connection via his writings.
He is past chair of the Board of Directors of the Mandela Rhodes Community and is part of various national committees of the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA).
Suntosh Pillay on ResearchGate
To chat, network, or collaborate, email [email protected]
Twitter: @suntoshpillay
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, Health, Lifestyle
Can a psychology of ubuntu heal our broken society?
The urgency of activism, although well-intentioned, can hide the ordinary, subtle, even banal nature of how societies become sick. The 16 days of activism, now quickly forgotten, reflected our uneasiness at how things are and had a desire to want to put things right. But change is a process, not an event. Our response to […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Keep calm and let karma find Zapiro
I’ve tried, really, really tried, to get offended by Zapiro’s cartoon, but I just cannot. I really don’t get what all the fuss is about. Even as I stare at a picture of our beloved Hindu god Ganesha, who is mythologised as the son of Shiva and Parvathi, and brother of Muruga, and as I […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Are we trapped in conversation?
With black consciousness thick in the air, old comrades smiling knowingly at each other, and images of the late Strini Moodley projected in front of us, those of us too young to be dynamic rebels against apartheid sensed a whiff of what it might have felt like to be at a secret activist meeting. The […]
Posted inEquality, Lifestyle, News/Politics
There’s plenty of youth leadership to go around
Many of my close friends and the people I hang out with are under 35. According to local definitions, we’re “the youth”. By accident, I have a great deal of experience on youth matters – being one myself, working with youthful colleagues, enjoying long palavers with youthful friends, and being part of global youth networks. […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Renaming things: Symbolic or shambolic?
When it comes to renaming things, government suddenly gets goal-oriented. In fact, I’m surprised we’re allowed to choose our own names and aren’t given a pre-approved list of politically correct suggestions. But what’s in a name? A lot, if we go through three recent events. The first involves one Supra Mahumapelo, the ANC’s North West […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Bribing politicians to honour gay rights
In November 2012, Malawi’s first female president, Joyce Banda, temporarily suspended anti-gay laws, urging debate. Instead of acknowledging these laws as inhumane, reports suggest that Malawi feared losing money from liberal Western donors who insist that sexual minorities be protected. Gay rights are in vogue for Western funders, the European Union has already given 1.8 million […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Being a straight white male silently cushions Armstrong’s plunge
“Armstrong ‘still a hero’ ” read the Independent on Saturday headline. Lance Armstrong’s scandalous admission of guilt has got fans scratching their heads wondering how to feel about this anti-hero. The tour-de-farce of lies and denial has climaxed in a tacky American-style made-for-daytime-TV confessionary. Oprah tweeted; the world waited; and now it’s confirmed — cycling’s […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
Diagnosing Santa Clause
“What if Santa came to hospital?” read my online update. “What diagnosis would you give him?” A team of friends gathered around to deliberate. The options were plenty; but the prognosis looked poor. Friend One went deep. “Terribly low self-esteem, of course,” she quipped, “he does feel the need to buy his friends”. Could the […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
Are we a chronically distracted society?
How often do you have a completely uninterrupted space where you can just sit and think, pondering life’s mysteries in silence? Personally, I lack enough creative pauses. My cellphone, like a battery-powered limb, relentlessly entices me with its flashing red light. A chance for quiet serenity exists only in my dreams. Scott Belksy, author of […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Uganda and the science on homosexuality
The Speaker of Uganda’s parliament insists the Anti-Homosexuality Bill from 2009 be passed before 2013 arrives. With the apparent goal of protecting society from sexual deviance, the ill-informed targeting of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) people illustrates the old saying that politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Did we expect too much from Mandela?
When our Big Five were herded aside a few weeks ago to make space for the visage of our most (only?) loved politician, we began facing daily reminders at every purchase that this country truly is ubiquitously contoured by Nelson Mandela. How will we even begin to explain who he was to future generations of […]