News/Politics

It has not been my intention to enter the so-called debate on the state of black and coloured relations for fear of generating more heat than light. But we need to put our ghosts to rest on this matter through constructive self-criticism, honest exchange and historical grounding. Even though some of us were raised under […]

That the actions of the two senior counter-intelligence cops were unexpected, unauthorised, and probably illegal was of little interest to the ANC.

By Cornelius Ssemakulu Looking back at what I know about Africa’s history and comparing that with what I see today I find no difference in the context and the nature of the players: gullible Africans (usually the majority), deceitful Africans (minority, selfish) and non Africans (beneficiaries). I ask myself — for how long shall we […]

Let’s face it, “our” coloureds have an image problem. It isn’t really about the fondness for boxed Autumn Harvest, and the curlers at the Waterfront. And it certainly can’t be about smacking down a columnist who served up a few stale caricatures. Or even about the unfortunately phrased utterances of a government functionary. Perhaps it […]

We have all experienced this at one time or another. The moment of truth in a troublesome relationship. That pivotal point in time when you look into someone’s eyes or see someone do something in a certain way and you have a sudden, explosive intuitive insight into that person’s character. And, after months, possibly years, […]

Dear Comrade Gwede Mantashe, In the current spirit of letter writing by members and supporters of the ANC I am writing having just read a statement attributed to you by the media, in inverted commas nogal, about the Jimmy Manyi-Trevor Manuel sparring match I’ve been pleased to witness over the past two weeks. I say […]

By Mario Olckers With the hype surrounding South Africa’s “rainbow nation” and the subsequent disillusionment with the blatant kleptocracy of a small, parasitic black elite, what has been conveniently forgotten and deliberately ignored is the slow genocide of the indigenous San peoples and their descendants in Southern Africa. Also referred to as Bushmen, after the […]

By Janet Jobson It’s a bugbear of mine that South Africans seem to have a very low opinion of our youth. We’re not alone in this. Young people worldwide, and especially in the developing world, seem to loom in the popular imagination as unruly forces that must be tamed: they are uneducated, violent, apathetic, materialistic, […]

By Timothy Nast The argument that fewer, larger local municipalities is the best way to address service-delivery problems is just another way in which the ANC is trying to hide its inefficiency to govern and deliver services. Smaller municipalities are more in touch with their residents and can be held to account for their promises. […]