General

I thought the time had come for me to do something a bit more analytical than a report on my weekend at Oppikoppi, my views on Facebook friendship, nudity in small-town America and angst about my cyber-footprint. President Thabo Mbeki’s firing of Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge seemed like fair fodder. Everyone else was doing […]

It is important, in any democracy, to have a series of checks and balances on the executive. An important segment of these safeguards is the media, from whom the people seek both information and guidance. It is just as important that these “safeguards” don’t lose sight of the bigger picture: South Africa, 13 years after […]

In order to assist those interested in coming to South Africa in 2010, herewith a comprehensive FAQ (frequently asked questions). FAQ South Africa: Where’s that? How well do you know Egypt? We would suggest a flight to Cairo, stop over and then a scenic African drive south. Your best bet would be to hire your […]

Scientists have taken an old wives’ tale and turned it into a reality: volunteers at the University College London actually underwent an out-of-body experience. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/aug/24/2 The impact on our daily lives could be incredible. A person whose mind is operating outside their body could be the scientific find mankind has been waiting for. Anyone? If […]

The official New Zealand Department of Population and Sustainable Development website has a page dedicated to sheep. Or more specifically, a page dedicated to correcting the misperception that the sheep-to-human ratio in New Zealand is 20:1. I’m not making this up. http://www.population.govt.nz/myth-busters/sheepmyth.htm I find this fascinating. Clearly, the clear-thinking government of New Zealand identified this […]

Someone told me the other day that we live in a society of illiterates, that kids don’t read any more and that the quality of our interaction with words is declining because of TV and tabloid newspapers. All I could say in response was: “Huh?” It’s so easy to talk about corruption of journalism and […]

Someone told me the other day that we live in a society of illiterates, that kids don’t read any more and that the quality of our interaction with words is declining because of TV and tabloid newspapers. All I could say in response was: “Huh?” It’s so easy to talk about corruption of journalism and […]

I’m suffering from a severe case of Manto exhaustion over here. Seldom has the media circus managed to get under my skin as much as those professional mudslingers over at the Times have been able to in recent times. For a writer, this is a horrible situation. My creativity is being jeopardised. I’ve got a […]

Render what is partially Caeser’s unto Caeser, albeit that he never actually met a force multiplier. A few weeks ago Sky News took an in-depth look at Zimbabweans crossing the South African border. Once across, these poor refugees were confronted by three farmers who, in one case, chased them on foot and threw stones at […]

A hot topic of debate on the first day of the Africa Media Leadership Conference in Cape Town yesterday was the role the SABC plays in the pan-African media space and whether its African expansion project amounts to neo-imperialism. Ironically, the matter was brought to the fore by Phil Molefe, the head of SABC’s international […]

Does Facebook play a part in politics (governmental, not corporate :-)? Of course! The Sunday Times in South Africa released a front page report yesterday on the South African Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. Over and above the fact that Manto is 66 years old and should probably retire anyway, there are calls from almost every […]

“Religion comes from the period of human history where nobody, not even the mighty Democritus, who concluded that all matter was made from atoms, had the smallest idea what was going on. It comes from the bawling and fearful infancy of our species, and is a babyish attempt to meet our own inescapable demand for […]