Deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Johannesburg Professor Adam Habib, in his analysis of the Bloemfontein conference held by Cope for the SABC, suggested that the ANC could be its own worst enemy in the upcoming elections if it continued to speak with a forked-tongue. In this regard he was referring to the party’s failure […]
News/Politics
Posted inBusiness, Media, News/Politics
Beware the power de-rangers
YOU KNOW that feeling when suddenly, though subtly, events around you seem to coalesce as if life, fate, God — call it what you will — is trying to tell you something? At a time when my self-confidence and faith in my own judgment are at a nadir, I seem to be watching TV programmes, […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media, News/Politics
‘Blacks’ or whites do not exist and the racist notion should have been dropped in 1994
Not long ago, a colleague of mine who spent over 30 years in exile said to me that seeing people as blacks, white, Indian or coloured is the antithesis of nation-building and non-racism. Using these outdated labels, he insisted, means that you are psychologically burdened with old and tired apartheid baggage. If we want to […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media, News/Politics, Tech
Is the new news news to you?
NO ONE could hold it against you if you hadn’t noticed the extent to which our news media are in crisis. After all, the traditional media are no longer the source of your really important news any more. And by “really important” I mean really important to YOU. Of course, the headlines of the day […]
Posted inNews/Politics
UN motion to censure Zimbabwe blocked by South Africa
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon has said his organisation can do little to help Zimbabwe because of its leaders’ refusal to allow it to mediate. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband described Mr Ban’s closed-door briefing on the situation in Zimbabwe as “devastating”. The meeting ended without agreement on a motion to censure Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, […]
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How democratic is your congress?
By its very nature a congress is intended to be a democratic gathering of people, who come together to make mutual decisions and to take mutual positions. So when you hear that a congress, which is intended to bring together and represent the aspirations of the people, is in fact not doing things democratically, you […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Social media and the election
I’m just back from a magical eight day tour of South Africa with a group of great American bloggers and South Africa’s own Nick Haralambous, one of the geniuses behind Zoopy, Africa’s YouTube. The idea was to create some interesting content about aspects of the country that often get missed by old media, and have […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Why historically unANChored young black professionals are Coping very well
A struggle veteran was telling me that he has observed Cope has become a popular attraction for the young black professional class. Well, I don’t know anything about that as I have not attended any of their gatherings in plush homes, hotels conference rooms or hip cocktail parties and dinners. But he insisted that the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Rwanda and DRC: UN debate bloodbath by proxy
On Wednesday this week a UN panel of experts delivered a damning report to the security council outlining the involvement of the Rwandan and Democratic Republic of Congo governments in supporting the Hutu and Tutsi militias in the ongoing conflict in the eastern DRC. The report confirms that Rwanda has been sending officers and units […]
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Comparing blacks and Chinese: SA’s leadership and Zimbabwe
I confess I felt like a Ryland Fisher when I wrote my previous blog Time for SA to invade and occupy Zimbabwe about SA invading Zimbabwe. I was testing the waters to see what the response would be. You know, to get out a referendum on the radical, perhaps impetuous idea of invading Zimbabwe. While […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
How credible is the cut?
For those prepared to listen, it was a mini-lecture on monetary policy. And more entertaining than lectures on monetary policy tend to be. The occasion was the press conference the Reserve Bank governor gives to explain the reasons for decisions of the committee that decides on interest rate policy. Tito Mboweni was explaining on Thursday, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zimbabwe: it’s the Bobby Mugabe Show
South Africa’s foreign affairs team must come clean and admit that the reason why we have refused to send Mugabe into oblivion is because they’re hoping to turn his stand-up routine into a commercial venture. Given Wednesday’s performance during a nationally televised speech Mugabe will have them rolling in the aisles down on Broadway and […]