We spend a large portion of our lives moving about, a significant percentage of our income too, and it directly affects the future of our planet. So how come we don’t think of transportation as a fundamental life issue in the same way we consider our personal health, financial stability and self-realisation? More than 17% […]
Lifestyle
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Foucault and the courage of truth
The last course that Michel Foucault presented at the Collége de France in 1984, when he was already quite weak (he died in June of that year, and taught until March), was on The Courage of Truth – later published with that title (Palgrave Macmillan 2011; Kindle edition). Although I cannot do justice to it […]
Posted inEnvironment, Health, Lifestyle
Pedalling our way into a sustainable future
This weekend I’m sure I wasn’t the only one imagining what the M3 and other major routes around the Cape Peninsula would be like if hordes of people ditched their cars and cycled to work on Monday morning. I took part in the Cape Town Cycle Tour, which is one of those eye-opening experiences that […]
Posted inEquality, Health, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Grand racism vs petty racism
By Sduduzo Mncwabe In South Africa racism and psychology had a difficult marriage consummated by Professor Hendrik Verwoerd in 1948 and dissolved by Professor Sathasivan “Saths” Cooper and company when the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) was founded in 1994. As a profession we have gone from having “one of our own” construct the […]
Posted inHealth, Lifestyle
February 26 2016
February 26. Not a day I’ve ever associated with anything significant. It’s my niece’s birthday and it’s the day that Thriller first hit number one on the charts, but that’s all. February 26 this year seems no different from all the others. I wake up, scroll listlessly through Twitter, check my mails and think about […]
Posted inEquality, General, Lifestyle
Mitchells Plain: Making the road as we walk
“Wanderer, your footsteps are the road, and nothing more; wanderer, there is no road, the road is made by walking.” Antonio Machado My dad, though still sceptical of social media, has increasingly warmed up to Facebook and recently left a comment on my timeline referencing Machado’s poem (above). He said: “It seems you and your […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, Lifestyle, News/Politics
If Rhodes must fall, art must burn
By Zinhle Manzini Last week it was reported that the Rhodes Must Fall students had removed paintings from the university’s walls and set them alight. While some people remain unclear about the motive of such an act, some were quick to see it as property damage. Rumours have it that the paintings that were set […]
Posted inEquality, Health, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Black anger management
Many ugly and unfair things were done to blacks under apartheid. The miracle that some people do not believe happened in 1994 is that black people, generally, forgave whites for their sins. They chose to let bygones be bygones, release the hurt and trust that the gesture would significantly contribute to nation building and reconciliation. […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, Health, Lifestyle
Virginity bursaries: Weighing the pros and cons
By Nandisa Tushini The recent outrage over the bursary scheme that seeks to fund those who can prove their virginity – the “maiden bursary” – is controversial but not without its merits. Despite some support from young women, many organisations such as People Opposing Women Abuse, Lawyers for Human Rights, feminist groups and even the […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, News/Politics
A return to the African Renaissance
By Zukiswa Mqolomba “I am born of a people who are heroes and heroines […] Patient because history is on their side, these masses do not despair because today the weather is bad. Nor do they turn triumphalist when, tomorrow, the sun shines. […] Whatever the circumstances they have lived through and because of that […]
Posted inHealth, Lifestyle
A non-Valentine’s post
Love doesn’t get much of a look-in on Thought Leader. Politics, race and power interest the readers here. But Valentine’s Day is upon us, and the shops are full of heart shaped chocolates and glutinous messages, so I hope you will indulge me. I used to write a lot about love here – the absence […]
Posted inEquality, Lifestyle
We are not born inferior to anyone
Far too many suffer from self-imposed inferiority complex. This is because they pay too much attention to what others have, especially the advantaged. They feel inadequate because they are looking at what others have: money, houses, furniture, clothes, cars, food and positions. As they say in the in the townships, “Bhek’indaba zakho wna!” – just […]