News/Politics

There are several questions about the proposed bail-out of the once most powerful capitalist institutions on Wall Street that have been quite bothersome. These questions are quite basic; they are shaped less by scholarly work or influence, than by a most basic perception of inconsistency, contradiction, double-standards and ideological bias on the part of the […]

As South African President Kgalema Motlanthe commences work in his new office this week, the air will still be thick with the smell of briar pipes and the backroom political intrigue so favoured by his predecessor. While Thabo Mbeki may have left the Union Buildings, his 15-year tenure in the presidency has profoundly shaped South […]

In light of the forthcoming election I have decided to do another in the series of our ‘lost in translation’ exercises. Today’s tutorial covers language used by the African National Congress Youth League, which may be confusing the electorate. “Die for Zuma” means “Could I have a cabinet post with an office that is sea […]

The news this year has been full of reports about emigration. Whether it’s a survey revealing widespread pessimism, a desire to emigrate or indications that 18% of properties on the market are related to South African residents leaving the country permanently. But now, with world markets in turmoil and emigration destinations either already in a […]

In the 1994 ANC conference document titled From Resistance to Reconstruction: Tasks of the ANC in the New Epoch of the Democratic Transformation Unmandated Reflections, fascinating predictions about the ANC are made. Thabo Mbeki then spoke of the forces that would seek: “… to destroy the ANC from within … to create contradictions and conflict […]

Gerard Baker of the Times of London confirms that in a snap poll held after the first Obama/McCain debate in Mississippi on Friday, the Democrat nominee proved the overwhelming favourite among women while the Republican held a significant margin among men. The columnist puts this down to the fact that McCain looks firm on foreign […]

Isn’t it ironic that South Africa’s new president Kgalema Motlanthe was born in 1949 — the year that Dr Alfred Bitini Xuma, who had been ANC president from 1940 to 1949, was ousted by radical elements within the party, particularly the ANCYL, who believed that he was too moderate? Dr Xuma, a medical doctor who […]

My fellow citizens, it is time, I believe, to seriously consider whether or not South Africa’s erstwhile Minister of Health is a creature that crept through a portal from a parallel universe and was unleashed upon us to wreak havoc, sow death and destruction etc etc. A bit like those bits of ectoplasm that flew […]

I was studying in New Delhi when a hero from the local courier service dropped by with an invite for the party of the year. It was ten years since 1994 and the South African Embassy was hosting a monstrously huge bash to celebrate our decade long democracy. Never mind the histrionics regarding the hosting […]

The decision by Jacob Zuma to oppose former president Mbeki’s application to the Constitutional Court to appeal sections of the Nicholson judgment may be the beginning of the end of his political career if the court rules in favour of the former president. The ruling would be a blow to Zuma’s attempt to escape criminal […]

I really enjoyed seeing president Mbeki being booted out of office last week. No, not because I necessarily wanted him out. I quite enjoyed his time at the helm. Only a cursory glance through my posts will reveal that I quite like Mbeki — especially his brain. It’s a penchant I share with an individual […]