Next week, a group of young Palestinians will board Israeli settler buses in the West Bank with the intention of traveling to East Jerusalem. The activists will likely be greeted by fully armed Israeli settlers, as well as soldiers. The threat of Israeli violence has not deterred Palestinians who maintain that they are prepared to […]
News/Politics
Posted inNews/Politics
Dr Murray guilty but bail refusal an aberration
The verdict of guilty of involuntary manslaughter delivered by the jury in the People of the State of California v Dr Conrad Robert Murray is, in my humble opinion, the correct one. The decision by Judge Michael Pastor to deny Murray bail pending sentencing and appeal is however an aberration without any basis therefore. Let’s […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Famine babies, compassion fatigue and the media
By Sandra Banjac The first time we are confronted by an image of a malnourished child we are crippled by guilt and deliberate over ways to help. The second time we see the same type of image we pause, ponder and then flip the page. The third time we turn the page without second thought. […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Qiniso Dialogues: Will you join us?
By Shaka Sisulu “Where do I begin?” This was my first thought when I sat down to pen this reflection on my involvement and experience with the Qiniso Dialogues. It’s a common enough question and so I had an answer at the ready “from the beginning”. So what is Qiniso? Well, for starters it’s the […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
The rise of bling: What is the artist’s role in society
There’s a trend of new multi-millionaires who throw mega-weddings for public recognition. Tenderpreneurs like Robert Gumede from Mpumalanga, Shauwn Mpisane from KwaZulu-Natal, Fikile Bili from the Orange Free State and recently Limpopo property mogul David Mabilu. The thinking behind this is to make a statement that says “ses’fikile — we have arrived”. Depending on how […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Incensed by the census: Has classification gone too far?
So the census has come and gone. Now the government knows where I live, that I am a white foreigner and own a DVD player, but no DStv (thanks, freelance journalist salary!) Though I certainly felt guilty ticking the box for “2 bedroom flat” when the first option said “shack”, it felt strangely anticlimactic to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma reignites separation of powers debate
Yesterday, President Jacob Zuma used the joint sitting of Parliament — convened to bid farewell to former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo and welcome newly appointed Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng — to reiterate the ANC’s views on the separation of powers. According to a report in Business Day, Zuma said “we” “wish to reiterate our view […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Self-hating black writers — what gives?
There is a dangerous increase in books written by black authors and so-called intellectuals that give a negative portrayal of life under freedom and democracy. One can even judge the content of these by their covers because they, inevitably, have vivid and memorable titles that assault the integrity of the first legitimate and elected black […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mngxitama and the whiteness debate
By Max Rayneard I’m a white South African, admittedly seated in a coffee shop in upstate New York where I teach African anglophone literature to American students, but wanting desperately to be home. I agree with Andile Mngxitama’s characterisation of whites “dealing” with complicity as something akin to a pastime: something one does now and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The political mills grind exceedingly small
The contrast could not be starker. While the African National Congress ponders putting their Young Turk up for adoption or yet again smacking his wrist and banishing him to the naughty corner, the opposition has elected theirs as parliamentary leader. The Democratic Alliance’s Lindiwe Mazibuko this week easily ousted her pale male predecessor, Athol Trollip, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Power, Malema and the ANC
Could Foucault’s notion of discourse give one a purchase on South African politics? Indeed, it can, specifically by clarifying the relationship between ANCYL leader Julius Malema and the parent body of the ANC. For Foucault, after the student protests of 1968 one could no longer really believe in the kind of (Althusserian) structuralist Marxist science […]
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The sperm collectors: Men in Zim are afraid, very afraid
By Jane Madembo A few months ago, in an article published in The Guardian, I wrote about my experiences using public transport in Zimbabwe. Specifically I talked about how women were victims of sexual harassment and rape by male motorists in Zimbabwe. But a few days ago I woke up to the shocking news that […]