News/Politics

I sat with the phone pressed to my ear, waiting to query one of those wonderful tannies at the SA Embassy I have spoken to before and also met: “How do we go about voting in the South African elections in April?” I was looking forward to hearing that strong Afrikaans accent. The accent was […]

Reuters reported that International Criminal Court judges had elected to indict Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur. They also confirmed that there was a warrant issued for his arrest, which they later amended to say that the judges were still considering the warrant. Though allegations of genocide in Sudan […]

This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: Reviving Zimbabwe: What does the new government need to do?

In George Orwell’s 1984, one of Winston Smith’s depressing jobs at the Ministry of Truth is to rewrite historical documents to make them fit with party orthodoxy. He destroys evidence of problematic past events, amends newspaper articles and deletes from the historical record any people who have since been identified by the party as “unpersons”. […]

Readers who are of a mind to do so may scroll back and go through articles where I have tackled Islamophobia. This is an exercise I have done repeatedly not for any recognition but because I believe that intolerance is an evil which should not be allowed to go unchecked. It has also included an […]

On Friday, President Kgalema Motlanthe walked the red carpet to open the nation’s legislature. As he shuffled past dignitaries and diplomats, one could almost hear the jingle of keys in his pocket. The president is little more than a caretaker in a blue overall we are told. He is caught between Thabo Mbeki, who left […]

Last night was enlightening but also saddening in underscoring so many of our doubts. We had some of my son and daughter-in-law’s friends and associates over at our place in Alexandria, US. A small but varied and egalitarian group ranging in ages from 55 to 28: British, American, from New Zealand, Chinese and South African. […]

If all goes according to schedule, the Movement for Democratic Change’s (MDC-T) Morgan Tsvangirai will be sworn in as the prime minister of Zimbabwe on Wednesday February 11 2009. The unanimous passing of Constitutional Amendment 19 has paved the way for the formation of the government of national unity (GNU), and regardless of how we […]