Two icons meet on stage Photo: Gallo Exhilarating, exhausting and, most of all, enlightening. I’ve just returned from a two week road trip and social media campaign, travelling down to Cape Town for the Loerie Awards. (You can read all about the campaign here.) It was unbelievably hard work and worth every Red Bull-fueled moment […]
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On shame, apartheid, and being a white South African
We live in a constitutional democracy, where, apart from the high levels of crime, the co-existence of people of various races is relatively peaceful, judging by my everyday experiences at the university where I teach, in restaurants and coffee shops, and also on occasion at civic functions. I attended such a function tonight at Port […]
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I salute you Richie McCaw
A big congratulations to All Black captain Richie McCaw on reaching 100 caps for the All Blacks. I was really taken aback at the lack of pomp and ceremony around this milestone and was filled with questions as to why the captain was not showered with more on the night. In the week leading up […]
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The Cup of Dreams
There is no doubt that the whole of New Zealand is praying twice a day, if not more, that their All Blacks finally overcome the hurdle of winning their second RWC and matching up with their Sanzar partners. Those that can’t pray are having dreams about the cup coming back to New Zealand. I can […]
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The air wars: Richie McCaw, the bagpipes, vuvuzela and pukaea
So now that we know Richie McCaw plays the bagpipes, and has Scottish heritage, the Rugby World Cup organisers are being put under pressure from all quarters to lift the ban on bagpipes. The Scottish media, traditionalists and rugby aficionados want their instrument in the stadiums. This involves Scottish MPs, a Facebook plea, letters to […]
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Our best selector ever
A lot has been said about the RWC, dangerously, people have been splurging predictions … we should know better than that by now. I have maintained for all time (well my time anyhow) that the tournament is a temporary and jaded measurement of world rugby status. I will categorically state that bar one or two […]
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How professional is professional?
So as we have become accustomed, there is always upsets in a sports show piece, at the Fifa 2010 Soccer World Cup Brazil and Argentina’s exit stumped the entire watching and betting community, it happens. It needs to remain part and parcel of the tournaments so as to keep the intrigue alive. In the RWC […]
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Reed Dance does many things well, fight HIV not one of them
By Vadim Nikitin Last weekend my friends and I lost our Reed Dance virginity. Prior to the deed, my white-liberal squeamishness mingled with a prurient male curiosity. Thousands of essentially naked young ladies having their maidenhood (and much more besides!) scrutinised by an ageing polygamist monarch? Charming, yes, but not generally my idea of a […]
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Doping in rugby is everyone’s problem
In Wednesday morning’s edition of The Star, it was reported that “rugby, followed by power lifting and boxing, were the most doped-out sports in South Africa last year”. Between April last year and March this year, the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport stated in its annual report that doping has increased by 178% with anabolic […]
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Consolidating platforms: The strategic fundamentals
Corporate life has long featured a gulf between the interests, motivations, budgets and actions of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) department and, well, everyone else. This was true as long as communication technologies were largely hidden aspects of how humans interact. The notorious “Big Room” housing the company contact centre was an obvious manifestation […]
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Lust, Chinese women and transformation
I live in a city in China, Suzhou, which, if you google, apparently has the loveliest women in China. Having lived in different parts of this country for nearly six years I can believe it. Many young women here are in unbelievably perfect shape. They are criminally, sinfully sexy, and in summer, they dress so […]
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Liberate mobile payments for a more inclusive economy
While mobile payments have met with astounding successes in other parts of Africa, adoption has been far more modest in South Africa. The main reason for this is our severe banking laws, which further entrench banks in the payments industry while stopping innovative mobile operators and developers from bringing cheap, easy and secure (card-free) payments […]