News/Politics

It boggles even my mind how South Africans can be so docilely satisfied with the way things are. It defies comprehension by correspondents in Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the US and Canada. Well, except for the vast and growing network of expats in some of those countries — they are […]

Like many of you lot I read about the African National Congress Youth League’s decision to close down its controversial investment wing Lembede with interest. There is, after all, nothing more fascinating than the latest goings on down at ANCYL headquarters. In essence, ANCYL President Julius Malema told reporters that they had had it with […]

I’ve always been a little suspect when a leader is described as a man of the people. It implies this person has the sanction of a nation. That he is their dreams and desires embodied in a man. It says: he is one of us. But so often it seems the more dubious a leader […]

Pursuant to a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe the Democratic Alliance gave a media briefing at Parliament confirming that they were of the view that there is no doubt about it but that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is preparing for war. In the briefing they set out the facts upon which they rely for coming to […]

War. That’s the fighting talk coming from Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande as he uses the intense media spotlight on the ANC’s National Health Initiative (NHI) to rabble rouse in his role as SACP general secretary. Making capitalism the enemy Speaking at the SACP’s 88th birthday in Virginia, the Free State, he promised to […]

I’m one of those people who know which side of the fence they’re on on pretty much every topic they’ve come into contact with. So now that I am conflicted, I don’t really know what to do with myself, and it’s rather troubling. And all because of a man called David Benjamin. David Benjamin is […]

The central finding made by His Lordship Judge Ntsikelelo Poswa in his ruling which set aside the 2005 report on the “Oilgate scandal” was that the Public Protector (PP), Advocate Lawrence Mushwana, had failed/refused to investigate certain allegations and drew conclusions without launching a proper probe upon which to base them. In essence that the […]

Yesterday I was the victim of a homophobic attack. I use the word “attack” for lack of another. It involved a lot of spitting and heavy words but didn’t come to physical violence. The threat of it was definitely there but my attackers were unsure of themselves. Unsure if I was gay or not. As […]

Whether the “vehicle” with which to challenge the ANC’s supremacy emerges sooner rather than later from the secret meetings held between the parties set out in the heading above is not the crucial issue but rather the fact that they recognise the need for it. Independently they can win many battles but the war will […]

This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: Were South Africa’s municipal workers justified in strewing rubbish over the streets?

So the AA — that’s the Automobile Association, not Alcoholics Anonymous — is calling for the legal blood-alcohol limit to be reduced to the equivalent of one beer an hour, effectively halving it. This was in response to the tragic deaths of two Outsurance pointsmen who were on their way to the 702 Walk the […]

Yesterday we saw confirmation that Judge John Hlophe’s preliminary inquiry could be covered by the media as well as the appointment of Bheki Cele as the chief of police. Both issues forming the subject matter of much heated debate and no-little gnashing of teeth. This suggests that we revisit the age-old question of whether certain […]