General

I had quite the Holden Caulfield experience at a popular restaurant recently. Is it just me or are we fast becoming a race of phonies? This group of young people sitting at the table right next to us, phony girls with their hair all straightened and all, looking like bloody clones of each other. Sitting […]

In what is recorded as his last speech, the extraordinary Anton Muziwakhe Lembede told the gathering, at Leake Hall in Soweto, June 1947, that “the history of mankind is the history of the liberation of the mankind”. Fast-forward to 1961, Frantz Fanon forcefully argued that “what matters today is the need for redistribution of wealth”. […]

Some people believe that things never really change in society — there are several proverbs which attest to this deep-seated belief, such as: “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” This is not true, of course — there was a fundamental change in the transition from the ancient Greek and Roman world […]

Recent run-ins with the men and women in blue makes me sympathetic to those who defiantly proclaim “fuck the police”. On the eve of Human Rights Day the Community of Mandela Rhodes Scholars in Gauteng was given an insider’s perspective of the “beacon of light” in a history of oppression and disregard for basic human […]

In a surprise, swift coup, the freshly appointed Brigadier General Julius Malema and his senior cohorts replaced all the military generals in Pretoria and elsewhere and are now offering a “final solution” to the predicament South Africa is in. A junior spokesman for the old ANCYL said the coup de’tat was “so easy”, because “our […]

If there is no global warming then it is business as usual, right? We should remove any barriers to economic growth and dismiss the consequences. What I hear in the constant refrain from those that either dismiss or downplay global warming is that we should not worry about environmental issues at all. It seems that […]

Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos described the appointment of Menzi Simelane’s as national director of public prosecutions as the darkest and most scandalous day yet in the short life of President Jacob Zuma’s tenure and showed an “utter disregard for the Constitution and the law”. De Vos, who holds a chair in constitutional governance […]

The announcement on the Google Analytics blog More choice for users: browser-based opt-out for Google Analytics on the way is already creating a lot of hype. Questions are being asked about how wise it is a move for Google Analytics, with some even suggesting that it will bring about its downfall. The implication is that […]

It is a really important topic but has evoked some really bizarre responses and comment. I personally see the climate has changed in the north since my childhood. I do find it remarkable the number of people who deny the existence of global warming. And these are not credible scientists, but laypeople who would defer […]

By Zukiswa Mqolomba As we celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8, I had to contend with the frightening reality that the ANC Women’s League is indeed dead. I focus on the women’s league because of its strategic location at the centre of political power in South Africa and its historical mission and legacy as […]

Having a RaceCardTM neatly tucked into your wallet, ready to be despatched at a moment’s notice, makes you a card-carrying … what? A bit of a spanner, maybe? Yeah, someone’s finally done it. There’s a RaceCardTM now, complete with choice of colours and neat little boxes to tick. The idea is that you wave it […]

“It won’t take your mom long to get permanent residence,” said the immigrations official to Michelle, the Chook’s mom, on the phone. “She isn’t an Asian.” When Michelle, who as the daughter can sponsor her mother to New Zealand told us this story that evening, I breathed a sigh of relief as my permanent residence […]