News/Politics

South African politicians aren’t sexy, yet I am slightly disturbed by utterances from some politico circles that politics should be sexy. Sure, it makes sense: sex sells. But considering our socio-economic climate, it appears as if South Africans just aren’t buying. No individual politician from the crop of leaders the 2009 elections produced — in […]

‘Just murmur ‘Thank God for Darwin,’ as another wide-eyed innocent provides banking details to a crime syndicate or chooses carrot juice above chemotherapy.’

The ANC Youth League is going to call for the closure of Twitter. Or, the “closer”, as it is written in their press release, but let’s not get too hung up on spelling. They are, after all, very upset, so a few errors are bound to creep in. Why? Because a few rogue internet users, […]

The latest cabinet reshuffle is interesting to be polite. Someone might say that I should be grateful for the disastrous governmental leadership shown at the moment, because it means that I will always have a job. In a country with the highest rape rate in the world (of countries not at war) a job in […]

By Danielle Nierenberg and Abby Massey “When two elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers,” says Gertrude Hambira, Secretary General of the General Agriculture Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), describing the state of her country since elections two years ago. The elephants in this case are Zimbabwe’s two leaders, Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, […]

One of the most difficult things to do in the public service is to fire non-performers. In fact it seems to me the law, the Labour Relations Act and related legislation are designed to make it near impossible to fire people who do not perform. It was therefore truly heartening to see President Jacob Zuma […]

By Isobel Frye The transparency of the South African budgeting system is hailed internationally as a standard for other countries to emulate: its three-year rolling budget allocations, and the use of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, which is issued three months ahead of the national budget, provide pointers for the priorities that will emerge […]

In an attempt to curb the spread of HIV in its overcrowded prisons the authorities of Kwa-Zulu Natal have come up with a Plan d’Excellence Supreme Edition. Instead of focusing on key problems that form the root of HIV pandemic in its prisons, the province put all their eggs in the ‘let’s treat the symptoms’ […]

Astonishingly, after a few token squeaks of protest, the opposition Democratic Alliance meekly accepted the minister’s decision.

Sam Shilowa and his henchmen – the self-styled Express – insulted not only the intellectual capacity of the members of the party, but South Africans in general. Allegations of misconduct, financial mismanagement, fraud and underhanded tactics haunt the Express and we’re just not buying it. Cope will split, and let me be the first to […]

Many of you will have heard the news this morning that the United Nations has heavily criticised the South African government for failing to eradicate torture. Earlier this week there were two reports of torture at the hands of the police. In one report, a member of the South African National Defence Force alleged that […]