We need to talk about the young people at North West University (NWU). The university residences at NWU that made their first years pledge allegiance with Nazi salutes and a sieg heil have either perplexed people (with many wondering why this was even taking place – fascist symbolism hasn’t ever caught on in South Africa) […]
Thorne Godinho
Thorne Godinho has been a struggling freelance writer, blogger and editor for years. He completed his law degree at the University of Pretoria, and is embarking on an LLM focusing on the intersection between law and democracy at the University of Cape Town where he is a Claude Leon Scholar in Constitutional Governance. Thorne is a committed social liberal. He writes in his personal capacity. Follow him on twitter: @ThorneGo.
Posted inNews/Politics
2014: I’m voting for jobs
On May 7 2014 I’ll be voting for the second time. This time I won’t quiver as I draw my “X”. I won’t care about all the hopeful politicians populating party election lists. I’m voting for me, and I’m voting so that some of those hopeful politicians don’t get in again. I am not going […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
DA election candidates: Not business as usual
Modern politics is often an exercise in disenchantment. Never mind the politics of austerity; politics in general can be rather austere. In 2014, politics amounts to the realisation that Barack Obama’s “yes, we can” is impossible in the face of American partisan bickering. It is the understanding that there will always be Nkandlas and arms […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Your homophobia is un-African
The average gay African is no stranger to torture, rape, prison or terror. Thirty-eight countries in Africa now oppress LGBT individuals in one way or another, and although a recent wave of anti-gay legislation is gaining massive media traction, the dignity of these people has never really been embraced in all corners of the continent. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Talking about EFF is bringing us closer as a nation
The South African public and media have devoured every scrap thrown to them by Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), with the media churning out tens of stories featuring analysis about the viability of this allegedly radical anti-capitalist protest movement. There’s been a cacophonous frenzy surrounding the launch of Malema’s new venture, and although some […]
Posted inNews/Politics
AfriForum and the rise of the new right
Barend Taute is lanky and laughs more than any politician probably should (he and I share the latter trait). He’s been the vice-chairperson of AfriForum Youth for nearly two years, and we first met to discuss the mess that is student politics at the University of Pretoria in 2012. As a liberal student activist I […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Phantsi homophobic Uganda phantsi
“Thou shall practice homosexuality, thou shall rot in jail.” — Clause 2(2) of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill. For about four years Uganda’s ruling political class has held an axe above the head of that country’s LGBT community, and has only just mustered the courage to pass a law that bans homosexual acts. This anti-gay legislation punishes […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Will we fight or idly watch the ANC remove our freedoms?
Many South Africans are idly watching the government remove their freedoms. Exaggerated as you may think this claim is, the government has several policies and Bills on standby which suggest that this threat is very real. As all three levels of government begin to tighten the noose around the necks of ordinary people, where do […]