This is about the new cool and black. I have rarely attended a classy function at a state of the art venue filled with talented young black professionals who not only look beautiful but are trying to redefine the meaning and purpose of their life. Much as I did not know what to expect as […]
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Joburg and journalism: My journey
By Charles Mafa I am a journalist from Zambia who has worked in the media since 1999. I have a wife and three lovely kids. In 2002, I joined Catholic Media Services and six years later, I led a crew that filmed and edited a programme that won the CNN Award for the best HIV/AIDS […]
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School sports festivals
So the sports festivals have come and gone. There are lots to chat about and whilst my thoughts are still fresh in my mind I thought I would share. Lots has been discussed on my radio show, School Sportz Buzz on 101.9FM/chaifm.com around schools “buying” players, players being over age and also the abuse of stimulants […]
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Gauging Swaziland’s ‘cultural boycott’
By Nondumiso Hlophe The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) believes that a “cultural boycott” – by musicians invited to perform in the Kingdom of Swaziland – is an effective way to address political opinions in Swaziland. Do you? Last year, the South-African based organisation SSN called on artists to boycott Swaziland by refusing to perform in […]
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Roll like your ancestors
We are a nation of bitches. I mean bitches in the sniveling dog sense, not in the be-nasty-to-ladies sense. We are constantly moaning and whinging. You can’t do this, you can’t do that, stop it, or I’ll throw you with stone. Yes, we whine a lot. I’m even whining now, about us whining. Oh god, […]
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Proteas reflect and prepare for England
Cricket season is officially over and with it comes time for reflection. A new coaching team was drafted in, a new captain was appointed for the ODI and T20 teams, and the complexion of the team has changed with the infusion of some fresh (if not new) blood. Australia began the season with an all-too-brief tour (two […]
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Don’t touch a pastor on his studio
“Religion is the opium of the people.” – Karl Marx A good day to you in the name of my holy television set. On SABC 1’s Worker’s Prayer program early this morning, it was well when Florentina’s testimony of a reckless, sluttish lifestyle was used to much profit. Then, in a stroke of spiritual inspiration, […]
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Let’s talk: White fears and black aspirations
South Africa has always had a history of bad race relations, but after 1994 we all held high hopes of improved race relations and tolerance. How wrong we were. The issue is simply that South Africans are selfish. All race groups are! We simply refuse to step into one another’s shoes and try to understand […]
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From outbound to blended: behind the contact centre buzz words
A few years ago most consumers would refer to a call centre – a term which reflected the fact that the majority of brand interactions centred around voice calls. Today, thanks to the surge in digital communication across the world, most of us have instinctively switched to contact centre. From Facebook posts to Twitter, SMS, […]
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Is Plato’s cave still (virtually) with us?
Every philosophical initiate knows Plato’s allegory of the cave. As some commentators have remarked, it is probably the first imagining of what we know as the film theatre. In Book 7 of The Republic, Socrates tells the parable of a community of people who live in a cave, with their necks shackled in such a […]
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Living with mess
Here in China you are drawn to places crumbling under the fingertips, muddy spots where people have shat or died or both. Your hands and shoes flake off plaster or bark where hundreds of hands have scraped off bits of history and caressed plaster and brick into homes. Those Chinese hands have all too often […]
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American dreaming
By Jane Madembo Sometime last year I received an email from a young South African man whom, after reading my article in the Mail and Guardian wanted some advice about coming to America. This was not new. Every time I visit Africa I meet many young people who share their dreams of coming to America. […]