Matt Bai, in an article for the New York Times Sunday magazine, suggests that the rise of Barack Obama to presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States might well signal the end of “black politics” in that country. Black people, in accordance with Bai’s view, would, like the Irish and Italians, be swallowed […]
News/Politics
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Why women are this year’s black
“It’s so unfair — there’s a Women’s Day, so why can’t there be a Men’s Day?” wonder woebegone males countrywide each August. The answer is that every day (including August 9) is in actual fact a man’s day. Yes, we have a Constitution that enshrines gender equality, bodily integrity and reproductive rights. And, undoubtedly, there […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Is there a Zuma debate on substance or is it all just legal theory?
[“Why is there little real debate over the country’s problems and alternatives?” More pointedly, “Why is there a conscious blindness to [new ANC leader Jacob Gedleyihlekisa] Zuma’s actual positions?” At this juncture, an open debate is needed more than ever. “We fought not only for the ANC to rule but for the freedom to speak […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Silencing the patriots: from UKZN to parliament the voices of freedom are under attack
Tyrants dance when the voices of civil society are silenced and in South Africa the band is starting to play. There are many reasons for disquiet; an array of laws have been lined up over the last two years focussing on curtailing liberties, particularly freedom of expression, and now the University of KwaZulu Natal is […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The nonsensical boycott of the SADC meeting by Botswana
When Robert Mugabe and his henchmen were terrorising ordinary Zimbabweans and the opposition in a desperate quest to subvert the democratic process and further strengthen his stranglehold on power, it made perfect sense that there were growing outcries to isolate him. Any continuing attempts to antagonise Mugabe are nonsensical and counterproductive because President Mbeki has […]
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
South Africa celebrating mediocrity
That Team South Africa has subjected the nation to pitiful performance at the 2008 Olympic Games is a major understatement. I was listening a day ago to caller after caller on one talk radio station justifying the poor performance of these athletes that we have sent to China; in fact these callers were shifting the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Africa as a brand: struggle politics and the branding of history
The difference in cultural studies between a brand and a commodity is substantial. The commodity is a utilitarian object based on dialectic between use value and exchange value. Thus a pair of shoes and their value is based on their purpose, such as running, and the related market forces and systems required to deliver them […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Is anyone actually helping the refugees?
Well, yes. I got an email, yesterday in fact, from a friend who’s directly involved in helping them. In her words: “A teacher, Ahmed, at a refugee camp out at Youngfield decided he needed to help the kids in his refugee camp, to give them some form of education. He asked me to please get […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Compensation of sharks
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) was set up to compensate victims of road accidents. Due to the fact that few people knew the legal system, it was thought best to include in its legislation provisions for legal representation. But, as time went by, many people were ripped off by the very same people they hired […]
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
The return of our sporting heroes and leaders
When John Terry strode forward to take that penalty in last season’s dramatic Champion’s League final, he wasn’t just staring at two uprights and a crossbar. He was staring at greatness. I remember the thudding of a million heartbeats in the hushed silence. We were in the throes of uncertainty. Would Chelsea be the victors? […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
The African Global Village
Marshall McLuhan predicted a Global Village of interdependence based on new communication technology in the 1960s. Since then the concept has taken on new connotations with the advent of the internet and its assumed ubiquitous. However, the negative connotations of McLuhan’s Global Village have largely been forgotten. Moreover, from an African geographic perspective the Village […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why on earth is Georgia getting Western support?
While the world watched the opening of the Olympic Games, well prepared and armed Georgian troops invaded and shelled Tskhinvali, the capital of the tiny breakaway republic of South Ossetia, until there was little over 30% of the structures left standing. They executed what has to have been a premeditated attack to coincide with the […]