He’s doing 25 years. Then there’s another petty thief cousin who’s been “inside” for pilfering a bottle of Panache from Clicks — for his girlfriend, when he was down and out a few years ago. There’s also my mother’s cousin’s son, the career criminal and regular beater up of women — who spends his time […]
News/Politics
Posted inNews/Politics
Arch Makgoba: Secrecy bill evokes memories of apartheid, fear
By Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Dear Mr President, I write to you as one who grew up under a system that oppressed and censored the media — a system that invoked fear in anyone who dared to read, or embrace, different views to those of the government of the day. The passage of the Protection of […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
COP17: A critical look at SA’s role
By Alex Lenferna South Africa hosts the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change — the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) — in Durban, starting today. But what about South Africa’s own response to climate change, and how coherent and meaningful is our response, really? Firstly, let’s look at South Africa’s emissions reduction […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Criminalising adolescent sexuality — murky waters
I went to a thrilling dialogue at the Commission for Gender Equality last week. The topic was the ages of consent for sex, in terms of our legislation, and the complications that the current legislation has. At the moment the law (the Sexual Offences Act) says that if you’re 16 years and older you can […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The ANC’s meaningless victory over the media
A belligerent government claims victory. A defiant coalition of media and civil society organisations vows that it will seek legal recourse. The decision to ram through parliament the so-called ‘secrecy Bill’ on what has been dubbed Black Tuesday – the vote was brought forward by a day in a futile attempt to avoid embarrassing comparisons […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Secrecy Bill: As Africa opens up, SA shuts down
By Tammy O’Connor The passing of the Protection of State Information Bill by the National Assembly on November 22 marks a significant erosion of the right to know in the country. The passage of the Bill comes just as Africa is celebrating a surge in the acknowledgement of the right of access to information on […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
Durex cocks it up on the eve of 16 Days
I received a forwarded horrific tweet moments ago. The tweet in question came from Durex SA, and went as follows: @DurexSA: Why did God give men penises? So they’d have at least one way to shut a woman up. #DurexJoke When I pointed out to them that this endorsed violence against women, their response was: […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Malema sowed the seeds of Mugabeism
In SA, as in most of Africa, a struggle of epic proportions has been raging between the “haves” and “have-nots”, this in a world where we are told no-one owes anyone anything. It is a dangerous world because the “haves” have much and are few and the “have-nots” lack much and are plentiful. It has […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why Black Tuesday was more important than world peace
On Tuesday November 22 people all over South Africa wore black clothes to mark their displeasure at the Protection of Information Bill that was due to be voted on in the National Assembly. The so-called Black Tuesday initiative seems to have been the brainchild of Yusuf Abramjee and Primedia. It was supported by a large […]
Posted inNews/Politics
What a day in court might look like if secrecy bill becomes law
While academics and theorists debate potential scenarios which may arise out of the Protection of Information Bill let’s take a trip in a time machine to a bail application that we can look forward to at the end of next year. Hopefully this will finally bring home the reality as opposed to the theory. BAIL […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The utter stupidity of ANC lawmakers
It is almost unbelievable that the political party which, 20 years ago, was still an organisation engaged in a “liberation struggle”, could suffer from amnesia to the extent that it has voted for the passing of the Protection of Information BIll (better known as the “secrecy bill”) in Parliament. Unbelievable, because during the struggle against […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Waiting for 2pm on Gothic Tuesday
By Suntosh Pillay My one concern about Black Tuesday was that if the 400 MPs deciding our future decided not to pass the secrecy bill, then a celebratory White Wednesday might follow and, quite frankly, dressing up in white is never as flattering as black. In faded black jeans, looking like a trainee Gothic, I […]