News/Politics

All together now, sing “Girls in white dresses and blue satin sashes/ security guards bold and poisoned snakes’ ashes/ SA’s Stalin our president in spring/ these are a few of my favourite things. The kids of today huh? Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t the whole thrust of the Cope argument that there would […]

I’m absolutely amazed at Mosiuoa Lekota’s recent condemnation of a lack of democracy in the ruling African National Congress, as one of the major reasons for his leading role in the formation of the breakaway Congress of the People (Cope), which will contest the 2009 elections against the ANC. We needed a mass-based leftist alternative […]

Some ANC bigwigs are in dire need of serious lessons in understanding the finer points of our Constitution. God knows, they really need them. Lesson number one is about freedom of expression (article 16) and freedom of assembly (article 17), both rights enshrined in our Bill of Rights. So listen up, comrades. Please, I ask […]

Yesterday’s decision by the South African cabinet to withhold certain aid to Zimbabwe until a representative government is in place is highly commendable. This along with the strong message that they sent to Mugabe et al that this country is running out of patience with our neighbour’s leaders is long overdue. We can only hope […]

This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: Congress of the People: Can politicians change their spots?

With the ANC set to rule until the second coming of Jesus, ANC president Jacob Zuma thought it might be appropriate to confirm his views to a gathering of religious leaders just outside Polokwane on Wednesday. This would seem to indicate that either the religious vote is believed to be vital to the party’s chances […]

South Africa has already treated 66 Zimbabwean patients for cholera as a result of an epidemic which has broken out in that country following the collapse of their sanitation system, which is being exacerbated by the fact that their healthcare has also imploded. www.mg.co.za/article/2008-11-19-zim-health-services-in-state-of-collapse Of course as South Africans we are acutely aware of the […]

The ANC’s commitment to non-racialism is unquestionable but it may need another 100 years to deliver a white president. This is not a problem of the organisation’s principles and ideals per se. Instead, it is the legacy of colonialism and apartheid. Of course, when it first started out in 1912, the ANC was an exclusive […]

“Congress of the People (Cope) leader Mosiuoa Lekota says his party will not hesitate to form an alliance with the Democratic Alliance if necessary, and that if he and DA leader Helen Zille agree on an issue, he will go to his grave to defend it.” (IOL) “Former defence minister and chairperson of the Congress […]

Sometimes, I don’t know if I remember what I’ve done or whether I’ve heard it from other people, or maybe read it in the newspaper. In the courtroom Johan Nel leans forward, elbows on the knees of his new suit pants, and grins at the families of the people he killed. He has had his […]