General

I’m sure that by the time you read this I will be either undergoing my operation or sleeping off the anaesthetic — possibly on the morphine drip (YES!! — top stuff). Notwithstanding I would like to once again thank you all very much for your kind words at this time. In respect of emails my […]

Last week Wednesday I had the happy accident of having dinner with the newly formed Congress of the (disgruntled, intellectual) People’s presidential candidate in a very nice restaurant called Ginger in the lobby of The Beach Hotel, Port Elizabeth. Having been in that sleepy hollow for two days already, I was hoping for a bit […]

While many local rugby fans, players, supporters and administrators are preoccupied with the poor SA Super 14 form; are going through the motions of the Vodacom Cup; thinking about the British & Irish Lions tour starting the end of May and preparing a team for the Currie Cup in July, a more sinister and monumental […]

Ever since Madiba passed the reins of power to the ineffectual intellectual, the dominion of the African National Congress has been marked — and marred — by its incomprehensible fetish with the “race card”. This silliness was trotted out with monotonous tedium every time they were at a loss for a reasonable or logical response […]

Submitted by Niki Moore Taking a broad snapshot of South Africa at the moment, there are many government policies or attitudes that appear wrong and short-sighted. Yet, when these are criticised by a (white) person, the response usually is that the criticiser is being racist. And the invariable response to that is: “You must stop […]

Submitted by Kate Elphick Even the most removed business from the global market is starting to feel the bite of the global economic meltdown. This year is going to be a challenging year for many South African businesses. Most companies are looking at what they can do to make the best of the current economic […]

Loaded Minds is a concept expressed by a band, Spirit of the West, about the increasing violent responses and calls for violence that has ingrained violence as a viable response. It is the same thinking that claims that it is acceptable that the cost of peace is war. The crime and especially the violence that […]

I’m driving through Constantia past impenetrable electrified fences, marvelling at the way some people live and reminding myself that it’s all relative. And there’s an ANC election poster, hanging disconsolately on a tree with enough wood for four shacks. Yeah, right. LOTS of votes coming their way from all these left-leaning Constantia folk. These houses […]

This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: The ANC looks like it’s heading for a handsome victory at the polls. Is this a good thing for the country?

As the election draws near I am reminded of a throw-away scene in a frivolous little movie called Confetti, a mockumentary about a wedding competition. You may have seen the movie (it’s re-running on DStv at the moment). It’s a pathetic little bedroom scene where that most desperate-to-win tennis player turns to his paranoid partner […]

Submitted by Prisha Bhoola I’ve decided to brush up on my Afrikaans — to impress Jacob Zuma. Now that Afrikaners are “in” — it makes sense. Ja dis waar, as Oom Eugene has been saying all along. Afrikaners, with their single passports are the only true South Africans! My sister studied her entire medical degree […]