General

Thulani sang and stomped about like a teenager on crack on Saturday night, except that he’s not an adolescent, and it had nothing to do with crack. And he did it all for Mamma Afrika, Saint Miriam the Great, may she rest on pillows of silk, garlanded with roses, scented with jasmine and fanned by […]

With the passing of legendary singer Miriam Makeba, South African music is once again in the international spotlight. Perhaps this is an opportune moment to reflect on the chorus of local music that is taking shape in the build-up to 2010. In 2000 when a FIFA delegation first visited these shores to assess SA’s readiness […]

Hopefully Ruan Pienaar has now silenced all his critics and detractors. He came through what some have called his “baptism of fire” as starting fly half with flying colours for the Springboks against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff last week. Now he must be allowed to settle down and get on with the […]

Submitted by EMil Wentzel Every week I read Thought Leader for interesting articles that challenge my frame of mind and particular bias; I’m pleased that my view has been expanded on or crushed and changed constantly. It reminds me that we must stay malleable and exposed to the fine facets of our society through interaction; […]

The Inyathelo Philanthropy Awards have once again highlighted the role of philanthropy in South African society. They revealed inspiring examples of individuals who have become passionately involved in South African institutions and civil society, from small beginnings to ambitious programmes such as NOAH and SAEP. The Awards included a university Vice Chancellor who took a […]

The recent turmoil on financial markets has put the spotlight on a certain kind of capitalism, which is driven by the so-called “free” market, and judging by government responses from the US to Europe and Britain, there seems to be an emerging consensus that this greed-driven sector is unlikely to be left to its own […]

Monday — Dust-up between Peter de Villiers and Jake White over the non-availability of six Springboks for the Jake White-coached Barbarians side against Australia on December 3 at Twickenham Tuesday — Luke Watson hearing at SA Rugby in Newlands, with a possible demonstration in the parking lot and a gathering of the top ten rugby […]

Passing through Occupied Palestine, on my way to the Hajj pilgrimage, I managed to interview some Palestinians to get their thoughts on the new president of the USA. Hala from Ramallah It is like a dream for the minorities of the world that a person of colour can be president of the United States, the […]

It’s hard to keep Dylan’s words out of your head reading about the breakneck pace at which change is happening all over our planet. From the fun and fire in the US [I can’t see what all the fuss is about. We’ve had black guys getting into white houses for generations] to the Biblical-scale of […]

The moral of the tale of the tortoise and the hare is a warning against the dangers of resting on your laurels. Well, that’s arguably the main moral. But there are probably others that can be drawn from it too. Don’t be arrogant. Don’t give up. Don’t eat carrots. Don’t fall asleep on the job. […]

The doom prophets, including several well known, so-called “experts”, are at it again. In fact, they’ve been at it for almost two weeks – predicting disaster for the Springboks’ tour of the United Kingdom, which starts on Saturday. And much of it is because of the inclusion of Ruan Pienaar as the first-choice flyhalf. There’s […]

South Africa officially switched on its digital TV signal on November 1 2008. Wanting to be a part of the revolution, I acquired a digital TV tuner so that I could play … I decided to get a digital TV tuner for my media center PC, the reasoning being that instead of the poor quality […]