News/Politics

It seemed perfectly scripted if one had wanted to embarrass the settlers: a peaceful walk to the Tomb of the Patriarchs that gets disrupted by armed zealots and the unjustifiable arrest of peace activists, all done in the presence of a host of photographers. Except that our intention in visiting Hebron was simply to observe […]

It appears to be an ingrained human flaw to pronounce, devoid of any degree of knowledge, with such authority on certain matters that fiction is believed to reality. The situation across the Limpopo River in Zimbabwe is the case in point. South Africans, including some with self-interest, see themselves in some manner as experts on […]

According to John Perkins in his book, “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”, the United States of America, “funnels money from the World Bank, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign ‘aid’ organisations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet’s natural resources.” […]

Referring to South Africa and/or South Africans, Pusch Commey (in the July 2008 issue of NewAfrican) argues that ‘the trouble is with a massive psychologically-scarred population left behind by a psychologically-devastating system – apartheid’. This is probably one of the few very direct appraisals of the challenges that face us as a country and the […]

“Zimbabwe’s Government called the G8 statement racist and an insult to African leaders. “They want to undermine the African Union and [South African] President Mbeki’s [mediation] efforts because they are racist, because they think only white people think better,” said the Deputy Information Minister, Bright Matonga. “It’s an insult to African leaders.” The Times As […]

Julius Malema’s ‘kill for Zuma’ comments managed to turn yawns into wide-mouthed dismay for even the most jaded amongst us. With Mugabe terrorizing his own and the attacks on foreign African nationals (aka xenophobic attacks) still fresh in our minds, the comments seemed rather callous to say the least. The book (not the Bible, rather […]

“MAN is born free; and everywhere he is in chains……common liberty results from the nature of man. His first law is to provide for his own preservation, his first cares are those which he owes to himself; and, as soon as he reaches years of discretion, he is the sole judge of the proper means […]

It has long been suggested by many that Mugabe cannot rig the economy. It is an interesting but unconvincing argument. The complexity of the Zimbabwe problem is one which we may only fully understand with the benefit of hindsight, assuming all the pieces of the puzzle fit together in our lifetimes. It was the economy, […]

If you’re like me, then much of your school life was spent in front of the principal explaining why you did the wrong thing even though you knew better. Of course, in those days we were in for a good hiding, while today’s little shnookums are untouchable. Shame. Anyhow it got me thinking about two […]

Dear Gwede You seem to have a habit of attacking anything that poses a threat to your lord-and-master’s accession to power. First it was the Scorpions; now the judiciary. Of course I can’t really blame you — a lot is riding on the gravy train that departed from Polokwane last December, and I dare say […]