One might wonder – as many South Africans probably do – why there have been, and probably will be, no consequences for those implicated by the revelations in Jacques Pauw’s recent book, The President’s Keepers (NB Publishers, 2017). And I don’t mean only in the light of his revelations (it’s still a bit early); I […]
General
Posted inGeneral
In Tambo they trust
This year we have heard from the great and the good about comrade OR Tambo, the late leader of the ANC – who led the ANC for many years, in exile. Some having served alongside Tambo, have sought to embellish their own credentials by passing themselves off as more authentic exemplars of Tamboism. Some having […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Equality, Gender violence, General, Health, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics, Sport, Tech
CR17: Please fill in the blanks
We are not confused, we can say, “Top 8”, without referring to football and/or soccer. Therefore will CR17 please fill in the blanks publicly – because we are not afraid of “slate politics”. CR17 Candidates: President General: Cyril Ramaphosa Deputy President General: Naledi Pandor Chairperson General: Gwede Mantashe Deputy Chairperson General: Unknown Secretary General: Senzo […]
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Some Remarks On A ‘Good’ University
Manzini reflected upon her recent experiences at her new institution. I won’t comment on most of those reflections, and would rather focus on her closing remarks. She asks, “Ultimately, on whose standards do we measure and determine whether a university is ‘good’ or not?” There are two implicit questions here. First, is there but one […]
Posted inEquality, General
The Tide Has Come. Is UCT Ready?
In the midst of protests and suspension of lectures recently, the University of Cape Town’s leadership went on a search for a Deputy Vice Chancellor of Teaching and Learning. This was no ordinary search. Over the years, we have heard various iterations on how rare it is to find black South African womxn academics who […]
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The loneliness of immigration
You’re not here – To Marion I In the storm the woods around our home are bewildered, The leaves snarling, tearing at the end of their leashes. You’ve been away for a few days. In this wind an arching, rustling autumn Of whistling twigs, blades and stalks Rip the guts out of the […]
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What makes for a good life: Scott’s ‘A Good Year’
On the way to and back from Tokyo, I treated myself on two viewings (after seeing it once, I could not resist watching it again) of Ridley Scott’s uplifting film, ‘A Good Year’ (20th Century Fox, 2006), and was impressed, once again, by the director’s ability to work convincingly in different genres. After all, judging […]
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‘A River Runs through It’
The film by the name, ‘A River Runs through It’ (Redford 1992) is based on an autobiographical novella by Norman Maclean, similarly titled ‘A River Runs through It and Other Storie’s (Maclean 2017; Kindle edition). He was the older brother in the Maclean family, living in Western Montana – one of the most beautiful states […]
Posted inGeneral, Tech
The high cost of technologically controlling our social environment
Few people are in the position, or have the means, to be able to know just how detrimental the incremental control of our social environment – and our own feelings – by technological means really is. In a nutshell, it is a process that is gradually extinguishing the very core of our being. In his […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Does theory guarantee emancipatory action?
The triumph of neoliberalism globally, with the exception of a few pockets of resistance, signifies the weakness of theory, that is, of the claims that theory is endowed with the resources to transform the world through a kind of enlightenment followed by emancipatory action. What evidence is there, however, that neoliberal capitalism reigns supreme in […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, General, News/Politics
Aesthetics of power and questioning what a ‘good’ university is
By Nompumelelo Zinhle Manzini It’s been two weeks of being at the University of Zululand (UniZulu) as a contract lecturer for the Philosophy Department. Perhaps these personal reflections are slightly premature but I think that they do bear some merit. I have only been on the main campus which is in Kwadlangezwa, which is in […]
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‘In Bruges’: Film-making at its best
Martin McDonagh’s dark crime-comedy In Bruges (Universal Studios 2008) represents film-making at its best. Without excessive reliance on the special effects with which Hollywood is infatuated (and infected), and simply by employing the basics of cinema – successive images and sounds – it manages to draw its audiences into the unlikely world of professional assassins, […]