The recent and widely publicised dramatic “unequivocal apology” by the chief executive Murray & Roberts, Henry Laas, for “collusive conduct” during the period leading up to the Soccer World Cup, while well-intentioned, should be viewed in the context that he assumed his position in July, 2011, well after all these “crimes” were committed. The chief […]
News/Politics
Posted inNews/Politics
Close encounters with UFO airheads
This is a big month for UFO fans. No, not the metalhead followers of the English hard rock group of the same acronym. One’s talking here about the airheads who believe in Unidentified Flying Objects. First, July 2 was International UFO day. Then Google released a doodle to mark the 66th anniversary of the Roswell […]
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
To fix a broken working class
Some say that 20 years is not a long time to sink teeth into a fully-fledged new democracy. There have been many challenges to ignite economic growth while providing essential services to the South African nation. But the major gripe that seems to resonate in today’s times is that the powerful voice of the working […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
FHM: When a rape joke trumps the news
By Vincent Clery For a long time I have been sitting on the sidelines of an issue that has really irked me. Like most people I am a poor conscientious objector, I keep my opinions to myself, I cowardly express my grievances in safe, dim-lit places. Bars and dinner parties, the occasional early morning coffee […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Busker by-law? There is no busker by-law
This started out as an admonishment of Cape Town residents for our tardy outrage and showboat sense of civic responsibility. We turned up in huge numbers, I was going to say, when city law-enforcement officers publicly assaulted and arrested Lunga Goodman Nono, but where were we when the laws and regulations he supposedly fell foul […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Is #whitegenocide funny if corrective rape isn’t?
Brace yourself. Some of you are not going to like this piece. Possibly quite a few of you. That’s the only predictable thing when it comes to jokes: somebody, somewhere is going to be offended. For years I’ve studied comedy from various angles: academically, from the trenches in the ad industry and as an occasional […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
The global leadership crisis
The 2008 global financial crisis has exposed the dearth of global leadership, especially in responding to the complexity of multiple global events that characterise our modern existence. The eurozone has been subjected to absurd economic policies that have plunged its economy into deeper trouble. Unimaginative leadership should be blamed for failing to propel the eurozone […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Young people are the majority and should act like it
By Frederik de Ridder In 2009, 23 million people registered to vote, and 18 million voted. In 2014, 21 million people in SA will be between the ages of 18-35 years. Seven million people will be between the ages of 18-24 years and 4 million young people will not be in employment, education or training. Also in 2014, 1 million […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
JK Rowling’s anonymous stunt is not unprecedented
Yesterday the news leaked that a well-received crime novel The Cuckoo’s Calling by debut novelist Robert Galbraith was actually penned by JK Rowling. The story made headlines just in time for the Sunday news cycle – traditionally a quiet phase in world media. A story of that magnitude should by rights have dominated all talk […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Internal conflicts the new norm of 21st century
We have entered a time where clashes within nations have eclipsed clashes between nations. The mass street demonstrations sweeping across the globe have pitted governments against their people. Even in democracies the people are distrustful of their own governments as many are more interested in acquiring and then maintaining power than in the well-being of […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Trayvon Martin: Fear wears a black man’s face
I wrote this article last year in March in response to the killing of Trayvon Martin. I am republishing it now as a tribute to his parents who not only have to mourn their teenage son, but also deal with the anger outrage and hurt that their son’s killer has been acquitted. Justice for Trayvon […]
Posted inNews/Politics
conservative with a small c and Liberal with a capital L
I recently listened to an engrossing discussion on BBC radio, featuring Douglas Murray and Peter Hitchens, about modern day conservatism as distinct from classical liberalism or libertarianism, and in contemporary Britain, Toryism. It’s usually very difficult to systematise conservatism as it generally eschews such rigidity, and true to its name seems more content to “conserve” […]