By Arinaitwe Rugyendo The M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have once again been accused of gross human-rights abuses by Human Rights Watch. An earlier accusation by the UN implicated neighbouring Rwanda and accused it of not only supporting the rebels but also of complicity. According to Human Rights Watch the rebels, which […]
News/Politics
Posted inNews/Politics
The butler did it
As a Sky News newscaster so aptly remarked “this is like a scene straight from The Da Vinci Code“. The trial of sallow-faced Paolo Gabriele, the man accused of stealing secret documents from the Pope and leaking their contents to the press, started a few days ago in the Vatican City. This is high drama […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
How far is South Africa from a female president?
The road to Mangaung is paved with good intentions, but none of these intentions include advancing women to the position of president or deputy president. This year’s race is patriarchal to the core — just have a look at the effort that’s been put into pushing the Traditional Courts Bill through the system despite the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Africa: fresh voices, new perspectives
By David Smith The dark continent. The hopeless continent. A scar on the conscience of the world. The cradle of humankind. African renaissance, Africa rising. Amazing Africa. I am an African. Scramble for Africa. Out of Africa. Ex Africa semper aliquid novi. There have been countless attempts to define the world’s second biggest and second […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why I won’t vote ANC…or DA
I was five years old when SA held its first democratic elections in 1994. I don’t recall much about election day other than the excitement my parents and their friends had about finally being able to cast their votes. Voting was a dream they shared with many other South Africans and its realisation marked a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Throwing Malema to the prosecutorial wolves entirely justified
Few will seriously doubt that the criminal charges brought against former party youth leader Julius Malema are part of a calculated African National Congress strategy to neuter President Jacob Zuma’s bête noire. And so what? The issue is not whether the process of bringing charges is politically motivated. It is whether the charges are political. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Black diamonds sold out
The deep rumbles of discontent that have exploded into an orgy of violence among the poor in Marikana and other flashpoints are the stigma of the depravation of “black diamonds” who constitute the growing black middle class. Over the last 18 years, especially with the advent of affirmative action and black economic empowerment, we have […]
Posted inBusiness, General, News/Politics
The World Bank’s ‘development’ delusion
When Jim Yong Kim took the helm of the World Bank in July, progressives in the development community hailed it as a turning point in the fight against poverty: for once the bank is headed not by a US military boss or a Wall Street executive, but by an actual expert in the field of […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
The role of development banks in times of crisis
Within a historical context, development banks (DBs) have been a critical instrument for governments and administrations to promote and facilitate economic growth. This has traditionally been achieved through providing credit as well as a plethora of advisory and capacity building programs to households, small and medium enterprises and large private corporations, whose financial needs are […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Rethinking economic development
The challenges faced by nation states in the 21st century vary greatly in terms of economic development. Specifically within a development economics context, a paucity of useful and successful policy guidance is prevalent. As a result, more often than not, broad policy prescriptions have been formulated to attempt to address the economic problems of developing […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The slow and steady drift of Nala to nada
Nala is the Sesotho word for prosperity. It is also the sad choice of name for what is now officially South Africa’s most spectacularly failed municipality, the first to have the National Treasury switch off budgetary life support. The state pulling the plug on annual transfers in excess of R200 million was an act of […]
Posted inBusiness, General, News/Politics
Dear Fossil Fuel, I want a divorce!
Dear Fossil Fuel, There is no easy way to do this, so I’ll just say it: I want a divorce! Writing this letter is very painful for me, but the contents will not come as a great surprise to you. Our relationship has been wondrous at times, with ups and downs like every marriage. But […]