General

Slapping my forehead and calling myself an idiot, I realise now that something I didn’t think to mention in my column in this week’s M&G (“We, The Zombies”, Page 30) is that it seems absurd to pledge on behalf of anybody else. So the We x 3 thing really doesn’t work. I’d be interested to […]

Barack Obama’s emphasis on change, or the desire for change, as something that unites his supporters in the race for the Democratic nomination in the US, has been so conspicuous that it is difficult not to see in it something significantly symptomatic of the general social and political mood in America, and perhaps in the […]

Why would a racehorse “pee like a racehorse”? If I didn’t have any pants on and I always had grass beneath me, I’d be letting my wee out in small quantities all the time, not storing it up and carrying it around with me just for dramatic effect. Am I the only one who’s a […]

I’ve loved Firefox since the day I installed it. I was an early member of Spreadfirefox.com and have been evangelising it prior to version 1. I even had my name in the New York Times as part of an advert for Firefox 1.0. Sadly, almost four years later I’ve just switched. It was a tough […]

There’s a fantastic moment towards the end of The Crying Game when Jaye Davidson’s character recounts the story of a scorpion hitching a ride across a river on the back of a frog. Half way across, the scorpion stings the frog. When asked why, she simply replies: “It’s in my nature!” Earlier, when reading through […]

I would rather live in the new South Africa with its non-stop power failures, crime-riddled society and (who changed the f***ing climate?) monsoon weather than return to the “good old” days of apartheid. To my mind it’s not even worthy of debate. Notwithstanding, I figured that with just over five months of Thought Leader having […]

In a strictly hierarchical culture, the name of the game is follow the leader. Irrespective of how he/she/it became the leader, by fair means or foul, hierarchies are premised on the unshakeable belief and unquestioning acceptance that “the leader” embodies the best of that culture or society. Baboon troops, whether the vast hairy hordes of […]

It is not always easy to stand up and fight against injustice, oppression, corruption and plain stupidity — especially if those guilty of perpetrating the injustice, oppression, corruption and stupidity are one’s friends, one’s colleagues, one’s family, one’s comrades. This is why the vast majority of white South Africans who would describe themselves as “good” […]

Welcome to our conversation. Strange as it may seem (considering this is our first contribution to Thought Leader) you are joining us in the middle of numerous, intriguing debates of which we hope you will soon become part. But first let me introduce “us”. We are the Community of Mandela Rhodes Scholars. We are an […]

I have a T-shirt brought back from the Newseum in Washington, DC, that reads: “Trust me, I am a reporter”. It’s the one I am wearing in this month’s issue of Empire, the boldest and most adventurous and fecund new magazine to hit South Africa’s bookshelves in years. After so long we have a magazine […]

Submitted by Sibonginkosi Hlabangana South Africa has been and still is a highly patriarchal society. In the past, women did not have many rights. They could not vote, for example. However, over time and with the advent of the Constitution, a change can be seen. Women’s rights are gaining more and more recognition. There is, […]