Diatribes against American cultural imperialism would be more convincing if the victims tried, just a little, to resist it. Instead they swoon before it, much like the heroines in Mills & Boon romances used to melt with feigned reluctance before the forceful attentions of the dark and handsome stranger. Take October 31, a date that […]
William Saunderson-Meyer
This Jaundiced Eye column appears in Weekend Argus, The Citizen, and Independent on Saturday. WSM is also a book reviewer for the Sunday Times and Business Day. Follow @TheJaundicedEye.
Posted inNews/Politics
The political mills grind exceedingly small
The contrast could not be starker. While the African National Congress ponders putting their Young Turk up for adoption or yet again smacking his wrist and banishing him to the naughty corner, the opposition has elected theirs as parliamentary leader. The Democratic Alliance’s Lindiwe Mazibuko this week easily ousted her pale male predecessor, Athol Trollip, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Tsvangirai naive but not lightweight
Despair at the failings of one leader should not blind one to the faults of his rival. That’s a political truism which is easy to forget when casting about for an alternative to a venal despot like Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. Some dismiss Morgan Tsvangirai as too intellectually lightweight a contender to land the knockout blow […]
Posted inGeneral
God wants your vote
Does God have a vote? That’s the provocatively flippant title to an analysis on the role of religion in a secular South Africa, published in the liberal Helen Suzman Foundation’s Focus magazine. To any South African the answer would seem blindingly obvious. Not only does the local version of the deity have a vote, but […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mahlangu-Nkabinde downs the chalice and burps contentedly
Alas, like many things nowadays, poisoned chalices aren’t what they used to be. Once upon a time it used to be that the recipient of the alluringly bejewelled goblet would take one sip and drop dead. Nowadays, the partakers seem curiously invigorated — “Rattex, the drink that refreshes!” — if one is to deduce anything […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The accidental politician who would be leader of the opposition
When challenged on the absence of black faces in its leadership, the Democratic Alliance loves to boast, that it is “growing its own timber”. In other words, it claims there is no window dressing, only the slow nurturing of future giants. As it turns out, the DA’s blackwood forest is more hothouse than maturing plantation. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Limping towards the socialist revolution
There are few functioning economies where there still could be a serious discussion on the desirability of a socialist revolution. That it remains a topic of earnest debate in South Africa is sad evidence of arrested mental development. This week it was John Kane-Berman, head of the SA Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR), who reignited […]
Posted inNews/Politics
State agency lines up against Zuma
The much criticised National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) wants to show that it is acting decisively on tackling youth unemployment — its latest scheme is a nationwide series of road shows targeting jobless graduates. So, what’s the plan? Hands-on extra training? Imparting interview skills? Job-hunting tips? Nah! Much less onerous than that. The NYDA will […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mbeki eyes the post-Zuma limelight
After three years — almost to the day — former president Thabo Mbeki is emerging from political purdah. Mbeki, who retreated into virtual isolation after being booted by the African National Congress (ANC) in September 2008, is suddenly popping into the public eye again. True to party loyalties of a lifetime and to reclaim his […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Lots of angry tut-tutting at Tutu
It is inescapably true that the asset base of the white community benefited directly from – within living memory – depriving others of property and the right to trade to acquire property.
Posted inNews/Politics
The spin cycle gets difficult
It was an iconic moment, one that visually summed up how an instantaneous and ubiquitous media limits officialdom’s space for obfuscation, distortion and lying. Spin is getting harder. Muammar Gaddafi’s information chief, Moussa Ibrahim, was on Sunday addressing a captivate audience of international journalists. Literally captive, since they were confined to Tripoli’s Hotel Rix, allowed […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Adolf und Julius: The funny side of Malema
Of course, Julius is not Adolf and Jacob Zuma is not German President Paul von Hindenburg, although tempting analogies could be drawn with Hindenburg’s fatal pliability at the hands of Hitler.