News/Politics

‘What a mess the ‘mother of all parliaments’ finds herself in. The old dear must be dithering on the wrong side of senility to cause one of Her Majesty’s top diplomats to note scornfully that ‘British democracy is no better than Uzbekistan’s.’

By Jackie Mapiloko Just over a week ago I woke up to the news that my brother and his wife were shot in their home. Three bullets went through his spine and his wife was hit in the neck and stomach. He will never walk again. She is still in intensive care and can’t remember […]

By George Karasaridis In Greek mythology, Icarus burnt his wings because he flew too close to the sun. This is exactly what Greeks feel has happened to them in the last few months. Once the easy money dried up thanks to the global credit crisis, countries that where living way beyond their means suddenly found […]

Say what you like about South Africa’s leading purveyor of punani — and there’ve been people who’ve said he was an arsehole and they’re glad he’s dead — but Lolly Jackson was good for a soundbite. I quoted him in all three of my collections of South African insults and the man who started his […]

Trade union federation Cosatu is demanding that the two men accused of the murder of AWB leader Eugene Terre’Blanche be given bail. In a statement, issued by the Congress of SA Trade Unions in the North West, the union says that the suspects must be given bail like those racist farmers who killed farm workers […]

I am battling to understand why the ANC top brass was “particularly offended” by ANC Youth League president Julius Malema’s comparison of President Jacob Zuma to his predecessor Thabo Mbeki. For months now I have been making the same comparison myself and have come to the same conclusion that Zuma is indeed not different from […]

Why do we respond to the news of celebrity deaths with black humour? The news about Lolly Jackson’s murder broke at around 10.30pm on Twitter last night. Within less than five minutes, the jokes started. “lolly jackson murdered … Gigi using her survivor winnings to take out the competition?” “Wow! Lolly Jackson shot only 15 […]

By Zuki Mqolomba Let me dare say that one cannot be a Marxist-Leninist cadre in pursuit of a non-sexist and equal society while standing in defence of a cultural practice designed intrinsically to institutionalise narrow chauvinism in postmodern South Africa. The sudden resurrection of polygamous practice amongst middle-class ranks comes in tandem with the emergence […]

If continents were companies, Africa would be an investment banker’s delight and a consultant’s playfield. It would offer real opportunities to unlock a host of obvious synergies and realise its true potential through careful restructuring and timely intervention into human egos and vested interests. And 2010’s Fifa World Cup could well be the perfect catalyst. […]

Zimbabwe was Africa’s hope. It is Africa’s despair. It may be, many fear, SA’s future.

In 1999 as part of the new draft constitution for Zimbabwe, there was an amendment to replace existing clauses with one to compulsorily acquire land for redistribution without compensation. This was put to the country in a referendum in 2000 and rejected outright. What followed was anarchy ratified in 2005 when the government passed a […]