This week, “compound” joined refugee as an apparently innocuous word that has become the centre of a debate around racism. The circumstances under which they were used are quite different, but both presented our national spin doctors with gift-wrapped opportunities to distract the public and their supporters from real issues of delivery and corruption. In […]
News/Politics
Posted inNews/Politics
How backstreet abortion became mainstream
Many of South Africa’s urban centres have a common and extremely worrying denominator – brightly coloured advertisements urging the public to visit a doctor of dubious origin for services ranging from the reconciliation of relationships, to increasing one’s sexual prowess, to what my local “doctor” advertises as “same-day abortions”. While all of these are worrying […]
Posted inBusiness, General, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Driven by necessity? You be the judge
It was interesting to note that at last month’s Judicial Service Commission interviews for the post of KwaZulu-Natal deputy judge president, Judge President Chiman Patel chose to grill Judge Isaac Madondo over the fact that he was the only judge in the division to enjoy the services of a dedicated driver. Judge Madondo responded that […]
Posted inNews/Politics
South Africa, a democracy only in form
I’ve come to despise elections because they’ve been used to warp democracy. Invariably, each time I’ve said this, one of you lot has had a conniption because you’ve misinterpreted this as me saying people should not vote. Don’t assume. Read — and exercise your atrophied comprehension muscle. There’s an accounting principle known as substance over […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Obama and Mangaung
Truth never damages a cause that is just — Mohandas Gandhi And so Barack Obama takes the presidency. A congratulatory note to the American people for choosing leadership continuity. We must take this moment to recognise the smooth and painless electoral process that sees Obama with another opportunity to effect change domestically and internationally. Presumably […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The problem with Obama
Most of the world, with the notable exception of the miscalculating political leadership in Israel, is breathing a great sigh of relief that Barack Obama has prevailed over Mitt Romney. The vote for Romney was a negative vote, an anti-Obama vote. Of those voting for Romney many were not voting for the man, since it […]
Posted inNews/Politics
US election 2012: Reconstituting a plutocracy
For the first time in more than three decades – since at least the election of Ronald Reagan – I have absolutely no interest in the outcome of the US presidential elections. This decline in interest has to do more with the fact that there is little difference, today, between Republican and Democrat candidates. The […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SA’s woes will ripple through region
Growth in sub-Saharan Africa has remained generally robust against the backdrop of a sluggish global economy. Regional output is projected to expand by at least 5% in 2012 to 2013, a similar pace to that recorded in 2010 to 2011. That being said, there is significant variation across the region, with solid expansion being recorded […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Who’s who in the film zoo?
Discop Africa, a Pan-African film and television market for African and international sellers and buyers of content, took place at the Sandton Convention Centre over three days last week. The organisers plan to keep the Sandton Convention Centre as their permanent venue, which is all very good news for the South African film industry. If […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma’s ‘clever blacks’ lost in media translation
Considering the Babel of languages spoken in South Africa and how each developed verbal cues and connotations in state-sanctioned isolation, I think we’d all do well to ask, before assuming, if we’ve understood what the other is saying. This goes doubly so in instances when we think the other person has said something preposterously outrageous, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Stand aside Zille, Zuma wants to practise on Zapiro
President Jacob Zuma and his legions might be afraid of taking on the formidable table-thumping Godzille, but they’re game for a couple of rounds against the mild-mannered Jewish guy in the corner. The Presidency, clearly subscribers to the military axiom of picking one’s battles, was quick to challenge cartoonist Zapiro, who had just klapped Zuma […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The politics of political hate speech
By David Smith Freedom of expression is an absolute. Unless, of course, the politics of South African president Jacob Zuma‘s re-election are in play. On Wednesday the governing African National Congress (ANC) promised to stop singing the anti-apartheid ditty Dubula iBhunu (Shoot the Boer) to avoid hurting the feelings of white farmers and inflaming racial […]