By Rick de Kock In the space of barely a year, our continent has injected a unique African meaning into the phrase “social media revolution”. Only in Africa has tangible meaning been attached to each of those words in such dramatic ways. In addition to social and political revolutions, Africa’s tremendous economic progress in recent […]
News/Politics
Posted inNews/Politics
Zille’s war on the poor
By Christopher McMichael Helen Zille’s recent proposal that unsafe sex should be criminalised has made her look like a crank, a rare reversal for a political leader who has assiduously courted a glowing public image in the media, both for herself and her party. The DA is eagerly hoping that the civil war within the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Durban’s dirty number: 2020
By Alex Lenferna Yesterday was an interesting day for climate discussions, however much of it was happening behind closed doors out of the reach of the negotiator tracker team, NGOs and media. Nonetheless, news of China’s potential willingness to take on legally binding agreements, and its possibility to be a game-changer within climate-change negotiations set […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Jub Jub must address the appropriate intention required for murder
As the defence in the Jub Jub murder trial continues in Soweto it is becoming apparent that the form of intention required for a conviction is not completely understood by the hip-hop star. Murder is the unlawful and intentional killing of another human being. Intention is divided into three types of dolus as opposed to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
What the frikkabill?
By Nompumelelo Motlafi Arguments about the Protection of State Information Bill have rarely occurred at low decibels. Black-clad journalists and other critics shout that the Bill is unconstitutional, tantamount to gagging, and heralds the end of democracy. At best, government representatives respond that there is no cause for alarm: the Bill is based on careful […]
Posted inGender violence, News/Politics
Crime: Are you to blame?
Safety is a difficult thing to contemplate in a country where nowhere is really “safe”. It is hard to pretend that we don’t know. We can’t ignore the high crime statistics, and police commissioner requirements of stomach in chest out. It’s almost impossible to meet anyone who doesn’t know anyone who has been victim of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Police Minister Mthethwa eyes the Rambo costume
Why is it that every civilian tasked with overseeing of the SA Police Service transmogrifies into Rambo? Successive national commissioners and ministers have within days of appointment perfected gunslinger swaggers and begun laconically promising that cops will ‘shoot first’ and ‘shoot to kill the bastards’. The exception, Nathi Mthethwa, undoubtedly the best police minister that […]
Posted inNews/Politics
If climate change didn’t exist, we’d invent it
Doesn’t it sometimes feel like we’re living a low-budget rerun of our parents’ era? They had the Beatles. We got Lady Gaga. They had Paris 1968. We got Occupy. They had Vietnam. We got Iraq. They had Marlon Brando. We got … George Clooney. But there is one thing we’re just as good at as […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
‘Look, a Black Piet!’
By Marthe van der Wolf Being black and having an Afro most of my life, I heard this once too often. Probably every black person in the Netherlands has been called a “Black Piet” at least once in his or her life. Especially in the weeks prior to December 5. It hurts, it always has […]
Posted inNews/Politics
March like an Egyptian: Let’s create a culture of protest
By Mia Swart By appealing his suspension from the ANC, Julius Malema showed that he will not lie down. Like a phoenix he is bound to rise again. Malema’s reckless public statements have often done nothing but infuriate. But he has occasionally made constructive statements. A few years ago, he said that white South Africans […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Green Climate Fund at the COP17 negotiating table
By Alex Lenferna The largest ever financial vehicle for the distribution of climate justice is soon to be on the negotiating table at COP17. International delegates at COP17 are gearing up to discuss the Green Climate Fund, which requests of developed countries to provide developing countries with “scaled up, predictable, new and additional, and adequate […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Elections 2014 — last chance to save SA?
When the Zimbabwean parliament voted overwhelming in August 2005 to endorse constitutional amendments that would further restrict private property rights and allow the government to deny passports to its critics, exultant Zanu-PF MPs danced and cheered in the aisles. Several apparently even did cartwheels. Similar displays of vindictive glee had reportedly taken place previous, such […]