There are few functioning economies where there still could be a serious discussion on the desirability of a socialist revolution. That it remains a topic of earnest debate in South Africa is sad evidence of arrested mental development. This week it was John Kane-Berman, head of the SA Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR), who reignited […]
News/Politics
Posted inBusiness, General, Media, News/Politics
Why South Africa should be run like the Loeries
Two icons meet on stage Photo: Gallo Exhilarating, exhausting and, most of all, enlightening. I’ve just returned from a two week road trip and social media campaign, travelling down to Cape Town for the Loerie Awards. (You can read all about the campaign here.) It was unbelievably hard work and worth every Red Bull-fueled moment […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Dear ‘K-word’ and ‘K-the-boer song’
I know not everybody likes a letter, and when I think about it, you two surely don’t spend a lot of time reading either — but I love a letter, so here goes: Nobody can say that you two haven’t had your fun. You’ve shown your faces at some of the greatest and lowest moments […]
Posted inNews/Politics
‘Shoot the boer’ our history
By Beth Vale A week ago, the equality court announced its verdict that the lyrics of struggle song “Dubul’ ibhunu” or “shoot the boer’ should be considered hate speech. The trial has evoked months of public debate and has not been short of media commentary. Despite this, it is only in the last few days […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Malema misguided on judicial transformation
African National Congress Youth League president Julius Malema selected the decisions in his case before the equality court in Johannesburg and those of Robert McBride and Bees Roux to draw the conclusion that the South African judiciary has failed to transform since the end of apartheid. This, like many of his other utterances, is not […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Liberating ourselves from unhelpful notions of struggle heroism
The theme for this year’s Heritage Month leaves me somewhat cold — even after carefully considering the major statements of the ministry of arts and culture in this regard. “Liberation heritage in honour of heroes and heroines of the liberation struggle”, that is the theme. Not that there is anything wrong with the idea of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
State agency lines up against Zuma
The much criticised National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) wants to show that it is acting decisively on tackling youth unemployment — its latest scheme is a nationwide series of road shows targeting jobless graduates. So, what’s the plan? Hands-on extra training? Imparting interview skills? Job-hunting tips? Nah! Much less onerous than that. The NYDA will […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Arms deal inquiry could be the shortest in history
President Jacob Zuma on Thursday confirmed that a judicial commission of inquiry into South Africa’s arms deal will be appointed. According to reports the president agreed to appoint a commission of inquiry into allegations of corruption in the 1999 contract for ships, aircraft and submarines with the Dispatch Online confirming that an affidavit was sent […]
Posted inNews/Politics
To Messrs Scott, Malema, Cliff and AfriForum
Well lads, you seem to be in a fine mess, and we’re all right behind you. As South Africans, we love to polarise. As you know, we come from a place of black and white and, as much as we say we want to, we’re just not ready for the mental exercise required to build […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Do you trust the media?
By Sipho McDermott It’s a scary moment when you cross the barbed wire. You leave the relative safety of armoured vehicles and police protection for an angry, swirling crowd. Anyone in their right mind wouldn’t do it. But you are a journalist, and this kind of situation comes with the territory. You have to report […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The cutting edge of our collective madness
Why is it that I always seem to confront the nakedness of my own soul in airports? It happened again a few nights ago. On September 11, no less. I must have been crazy to brave the terrors of high-altitude traveling on a date so loaded with ominous precedents, but there I was, dead on […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Reaction to Lamont shows South Africans have lost the plot
The decision handed down by Judge Colin Lamont in the Equality Court in Johannesburg, regarding the matter of AfriForum versus Julius Sello Malema et al, should have been well received yet it is coming under fire from the African National Congress, the African National Congress Youth League and even Professor Pierre de Vos. Judge Lamont’s […]