Not too long ago, the government launched the framework to celebrate the 20th anniversary of democracy and freedom at Freedom Park. The event was attended by a group of eminent citizens who not only embody the values enshrined in the Constitution but in their own work and life display unconditional love for the country. Sadly, […]
Equality
Posted inEquality, Tech
Facebook’s ‘other’ gender problem
By Gcobani Qambela I have always kept the “About” me section on my Facebook very minimal. But recently I decided to update it and fill it up a little. I was shocked when I got to the icon on “gender” to find that it offered only two options for me to choose from and those […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Lack of basic services compromises women’s dignity
A trip into any of the hundreds of informal settlements in South Africa is a brutal reminder of the need to highlight issues such as the absence of basic services for women living in impoverished conditions. Women struggle against the diseases that flourish in areas that offer virtually no services. This clip is from the […]
Posted inEquality, Health
Teenage pregnancy a crime?
Ever heard of the “30cm rule”? This unwritten rule is popular in many co-ed high schools and it stipulates that a boy and a girl should not be closer than 30cm of each other. That means no hugging, kissing and gevoefeling while under the watchful eye of teachers. The students I teach have also been […]
Posted inEquality, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Inequality in the land of plenty
I see her every Saturday or any other day that I visit home in the townships. I know more than just her name as they have been our neighbours for more than 40 years that we have stayed in the townships. Honey, as she is popular known, has told me countless times that I am […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, Health
I thought I was alone
Today, for the first time ever, I read a short piece about why some women have an orgasm during rape. It included: “Orgasm during rape isn’t an example of an expression of pleasure. It’s an example of a physical response whether the mind’s on board or not, like breathing, sweating, or an adrenaline rush.” You […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence
‘Unwanted, dirty’: The ‘fictitious’ gang rape (II)
(Continued from previous blog) Bend, Not Break largely shifts between Ping’s nightmarish childhood and her adult life in the US. In America she grows, step by painful step, into a successful businesswoman in the software industry. Before this, sometime after the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese government demanded she leave China. This is because of the […]
Posted inEquality, Sport
The sociology of soccer
A few weeks ago, I was invited to respond to a paper at a seminar jointly hosted by the departments of sociology and anthropology at the University of Johannesburg. The presenter was soccer sociologist Dr Marc Fletcher, a post-doctoral fellow in the department and his paper interrogated as part of a larger thesis, that both […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Is SA ready to lead by example?
The inauguration of Advocate Lawrence Mushwana last week as the new chairperson of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC) came at a time when South Africa’s human rights record is at its lowest. Mushwana, who is the chair of South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, Gender violence, General
‘Unwanted, dirty’ – reading a Chinese woman’s memoir (I)
— Written while recuperating from a broken hand and wrist How everything is already memory. His broken hand cradled, cupped and listened to as its slow bones knit back. The wonder of watching his fingers and palm go through their re-blooming: the fingers learning again to outstretch, then bunch up like an evening blossom that […]
Posted inEquality, General, Lifestyle
When I was a prison guard
Having identified 36 jobs for which I’ve actually been paid in my 60-year lifespan, I’m sharing the ludicrous, the lucrative, the lugubrious and the lessons learnt. In no specific order, here’s Chapter Two … I never fancied being a Prison Guard. But it was one of those unanticipated side-jobs you had to do as a […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Indians not African?
In the aftermath of the Gupta saga a concerning debate has erupted. The debate is about the status of Indians in (South) Africa. It is concerning not only because of the subject matter but the language used. This post seeks to set the historical context for the debate. Between 1806-1820 most of the area today […]