By Nadia Sanger The allegation of being “un-African” continues to be used in multiple ways by political leaders to delimit African identities under the guise of decolonisation. In news reports on President Zuma’s latest allegation against dog ownership and their treatment by black people, are a number of bizarre, and relatively normative, ideas of humans […]
News/Politics
Posted inNews/Politics
Reflections on an epistle to white people
By Sekoetlane Jacob Phamodi Yesterday morning, on my breakfast online media trawl, I ran into Gillian Schutte’s latest epistle to white South Africa. “Dear white people,” it opens, “[I] implore you to wake up and smell Africa with a fresh white nose.” Intrigued by what Schutte might have say to whites following a year of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Will we remember Burry in six months’ time?
By Kerryn Krige The death of Burry Stander is appalling. But what is likely to be more shocking is that it is meaningless. That our current feeling of tragedy, of frustration and anger, our need to insist and see action will quickly fade. Tomorrow it will be another day. By next week Burry will be […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Die Antwoord — are we missing the misogyny?
By Talia Meer As critical dialogues about race in the Antwoord’s ”Fatty Boom Boom” video emerged, I was certain that a gendered analysis would soon follow. I was wrong. While South African commentators have critiqued the use of blackface in the video — UCT’s Adam Haupt deftly contextualises Die Antwoord within histories of class and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
India: Rape, uproar…silence
By Ashish Sewgoolam Sexual harassment is so much the norm in India that foreigners are warned by travel agents to travel in groups and with a male if possible to deter local men from making advances or lewd comments. I would usually brush this off as Western exaggeration but I’ve seen it happen live, and […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Dear White People
I have decided to start the New Year with a letter to you all. It is a letter that implores you to wake up and smell Africa with a fresh white nose. Before you get angry and defensive, think of this letter as a crash course survival kit for navigating a new reality, and please […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zumangaung
After the release of the National Development Plan (NDP) late 2011, the alliterative 2012 seemed to hold much promise. But it became a year of talk shops. For the first time ever, the national policy and elective conferences of the ANC, SACP, and Cosatu all fell in the same year. There was no implementing the […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
O is for Orgasm
Since it is the holiday season and because so many people have assured me that I am “shrill”, “aggressive”, “in need of a good fuck”, et al &ndash none of which I accept, by the way – I thought I would give those who feel victimised by the matter of white privilege and racism a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
On Zim’s wounded political beasts
Addressing the recent ZANU-PF annual congress, party leader and Zimbabwe president, Robert Mugabe likened the (mis)fortunes of his party to those of a wounded beast. “We are now like a wounded beast,” Mugabe said, adding emphatically, “You know how a wounded beast fights. Let’s fight back and restore our own pride.” Mugabe’s unhappiness with the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The politics of teaching
By Athambile Masola There is a largely negative perception about teachers as being quasi-professionals, overworked, underpaid, intellectually complacent and, if they are members of the largest teacher union, often jeopardising the education of their learners by going on strikes. The image of teachers is also largely dependent on the school culture a teacher is working […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Give the maid a break!
Aaaahh!!! The festive season is here. Everyone is on holiday except my sister and aunt who are helpers and domestics in privileged homes. I can imagine everyone in a good mood. They are exchanging bear hugs and expensive gifts. They enjoy long lunches that stretch into summer nights. Let them enjoy the luxury, splendour and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Redi’s story of healing sugar-coats black suffering
Redi Tlhabi’s Endings and Beginnings opens with a murder scene. A bullet-riddled young, black male body is lying dead at a street corner and the whole community has come out to celebrate. He was a gangster, murderer, rapist and robber. It is payback time for Soweto’s haunted history of jack-rollers — the girl kidnapping phenomenon […]