News/Politics

Riots? In the UK?  What shall we call this phenomenon, these marauders running riot with their Blackberries and bricks? The British Spring?  After the widespread pro-democratic protests in predominantly Muslim countries, we were all wondering: who’s next? What dictatorship is about to topple before the angry hordes? Secretly, some of us hoped for something similar […]

Stalled by ambitions for a second term – and not reflecting overmuch on the many lost opportunities of his first – Zuma is in thrall to only one factor: the effect that Malema could have on his chances on re-election.

The new monsters are different. Like Frankenstein’s creature, they are composed of the philosophical offal of the past century, with all its intellectual hurts and grievances. They have been reanimated, sewn together with the black thread bought in bulk by the far right. Intelligent, eloquent, urbane, they plow their considerable energies into forging new identities […]

It is interesting, frightening even, to receive news of a terror attack while you’re sitting in an airport lounge, about to board an intercontinental flight. Invariably, while you watch the horrific images on Sky News or CNN, your mind connects them with aeroplanes and crashes. Such is the legacy of 9/11. On Friday last I started a journey from […]

I attended President Bingu wa Mutharika’s second-term inauguration at a packed Chichiri Stadium in Malawi’s commercial capital, Blantyre in May 2009. His party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had led one of the most successful election campaigns in the political history of Malawi, amassing an unprecedented parliamentary majority. Mutharika’s first term was nothing like that, however. […]

Despite being prone to regular attacks of the giggles, President-by-Omission Jacob Zuma is an astute guy. In fact, the giggles are all part of the show. The appointment of Mac Maharaj as his spokesperson shows he’s still on top of his game. The media speculate that this move is all about former presidential spokesperson Zizi […]

By Athambile Masola I recently witnessed a disturbing incident: while walking through a parking lot in the shopping complex here in Grahamstown I noticed a young man approach a woman driving a Mercedes Benz with his hands cupped as though he were asking for something. The woman was already in her car and she rolled […]

For those depressingly few academics who still clamber into the trenches when democracy’s alarm bells ring, South Africans owe a great debt

By Loammi Wolf On July 6 2011 the Cabinet issued a statement in which an amendment of the Judges’ Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act 2001 has been announced. The envisaged amendment Bill has been published on July 7 and is currently open to public comment. In terms of the Cabinet statement, the Bill seeks […]

What do South Africans have in common today? Only one answer can be given with certainty. Nelson Mandela! If there is a message that comes out of the International Mandela day which the world celebrated on Monday July 18, that message is the extent to which South Africans unite around the person of Nelson Mandela. […]

By Sam Bradley Many studies have been done on leadership and, countless philosophers and theorists have attempted to discover its secrets. Following suit, I submit this list of characteristics that I believe make a great leader. Confidence A leader is a person with confidence in him/her self and their ability. They cannot be one dimensional, […]