Who cares about the rights of Mr Mandela and Mrs Suzman? It’s all about the rights of politicians to brand themselves to death. Let me say this loud and clear. I am sorry in advance for having so little respect for politicians everywhere. Mostly, I am sorry because we are landed with them, these public-relations […]
News/Politics
Posted inNews/Politics
ANC fails the Eastern Cape
By Esinako Hintsa Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Mbuyiseli Madlanga, Chris Jafta and Khaya Dlanga are a few of the many leaders born and bred in the Eastern Cape and that’s what makes me proud to be born in this beautiful province. Sadly all its beauty fades when you see the challenges it faces: poverty, Aids, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Pistorius case highlights the failings of social media
Oscar Pistorius is an inspirational icon whose fierce love for his woman inadvertently had nightmarish consequences. That’s what the cloyingly vociferous fans on his website would have us believe. Oscar Pistorius is an ego-on-stilts with temper issues which, due to his arrogance, inevitably resulted in violence. That’s what his detractors punt on social media sites […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, News/Politics
Economic growth set to reduce poverty in Africa
Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is likely to reach more than 5% on average between 2013 and 2015 as a result of high commodity prices worldwide and strong consumer spending on the continent, ensuring that the region remains among the fastest growing in the world. In 2012, about 25% of countries on the African continent […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Boston, media bias and problem with quantifying life and death
Invariably when a tragedy such as the Boston bombing occurs in the US, UK or any other “western” nation, the bloodshed is compared, quantitatively, with the violence in Iraq, Syria, or any other nation that is not in the “west”. Within minutes of the detonation of the bombs in Boston, my Facebook feed was producing […]
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TB in SA: The good, bad and long overdue
By Andrew Mews and Vuyiseka Dubula Tuberculosis remains South Africa’s leading cause of death. This year alone, the country will see 500 000 cases, of which about 3% will be resistant to both of the most commonly used anti-TB drugs. The majority of these patients will have caught drug-resistant TB from someone in their community, most […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
A short story about a small room
“I’ll get stuck in a small room with you Any day now, any day now” Karen Zoid Recently, I took part in a video shoot on Robben Island. The day’s work entailed that I had to spend several hours in Madiba’s old jail cell, the little space where he had spent seventeen of his twenty […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Boston bombs refuel the trauma tank
I’ve been reading the horrific spate of bombings just this week, and recounting with terror, the images of bombings that have penetrated our consciousness through much of the past two decades at least, some in recollecting Hiroshima, lest we forget, but most notably in recent times, the never ending images from 07/07, 9/11, and in […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Who is the Boston bomber?
By Rich Brauer I was born in Boston, and spent the vast majority of my first 32 years there, before moving to Pretoria/Tshwane in 2007. With the recent bombings at the marathon, I wanted to give readers a bit of context on what has happened. The Boston Marathon occurs on the third Monday in April, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Boston’s loss of innocence
“Tonight I write the saddest lines”, so begins a poem by Pablo Neruda, in it he talks of a love lost, but for me, I mourn the lost innocence of the city I love. Boston gave me back my life. When I arrived here in late 2010 I was sick, physically and emotionally. I was […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Forget apartheid, time ANC government took responsibility
By Zipho Shusha There has been a clash among the ANC top brass concerning Trevor Manuel’s utterances. Manuel said it was time for the government to take responsibility for its actions. “We [government] should no longer say it’s apartheid’s fault.” He further said that “we should get up every morning and recognise we have responsibility. […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
JSC race, merit debate must not bring judiciary into disrepute
As SA matures, South Africans must take time to reflect on the foundation they’re erecting their democracy on. Such introspection demands asking tough and uncomfortable questions. They cannot be answered based only on politics, knowledge or experience. The answers will require foresight and a vision of a future (and better) South Africa. One such uncomfortable […]