Is the military donning a new kind of camouflage, one that puts civilians and humanitarians at risk? That is the question that surfaced in recent discourses on the 2014 Defence Review which envisages the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) involving itself in providing humanitarian assistance, and additionally reconstruction and development during complex crises under […]
News/Politics
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
In defence of Rhodes Must Fall
By Andrew Verrijdt It’s hard to justify the destruction of historical and cultural items that Rhodes Must Fall is undertaking, and I’m not going to. But how many of us have taken the time to find out what this current protest is actually about? It may interest one to know that the most immediate cause […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, News/Politics
A return to the African Renaissance
By Zukiswa Mqolomba “I am born of a people who are heroes and heroines […] Patient because history is on their side, these masses do not despair because today the weather is bad. Nor do they turn triumphalist when, tomorrow, the sun shines. […] Whatever the circumstances they have lived through and because of that […]
Posted inHealth, Media, News/Politics
The problem with the ACDP’s anti-abortion Facebook post
If there’s one thing South African politicians should know about social media, is that it’s a double-edged sword. When used correctly, it can add value to the party’s concerns. Think about the successful Twitterviews held by the ANC, the engaging Twitter Town Halls run by the DA and the highly publicised online Q & A […]
Posted inNews/Politics
A torrid week for President Zuma
Flypasts, 21-gun salutes, and ostentatious fashion statements by preening MPs. The annual opening of Parliament with its presidential State of the Nation Address (Sona) is one of those political rituals that has always mattered more to the participants than it does to the ordinary citizen. Joe Soap generally paid the pomp and platitudes little attention. […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Some spaces exclude white people, and that’s a good thing
The Sunday morning after Mumford & Sons’ first Pretoria show, I woke up to a newsfeed and timeline going berserk — but about Beyoncé rather than banjos. I’m not part of the Beyhive, but I watched the Formation video out of curiosity. It’s incredible. What struck me most, though, was the fact that I felt […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
How do we fight racism properly if we still can’t define it?
It is easy to recognise overt racism when practiced by a white person as in Penny Sparrow’s now infamous “monkeys” incident over New Year. But when a black university student wears a “Fuck white people” T-shirt there will still be many people, predominantly but not exclusively black, who will say that that is not a […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, Media, News/Politics
Do we have a duty to arrest Omar al-Bashir and hand him to the ICC?
By Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh These will be some of the deliberations at the Supreme Court of Appeal hearing tomorrow in the state’s appeal of the June 2015 high court order to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Will this court arrive at a different conclusion in respect of the arrest of al-Bashir? The state certainly hopes so. […]
Posted inBusiness, General, News/Politics
Two ways to curb South Africa’s jobs crisis
By Zukiswa Mqolomba South Africa is currently facing a job crisis of epic proportions. The change in unemployment numbers masks even sharper deterioration in the labour market. Firstly, it masks the increase in the number of “discouraged work seekers” as individuals have given up hope of finding work. Secondly it masks the exponential increase in […]
Posted inNews/Politics
President Zuma is a dead man walking
President Jacob Zuma is a dead man walking, metaphorically speaking. The political free rein allowed him by cowed party colleagues for the past seven years has suddenly been pulled in. He remains nominally in charge but increasingly less in control. In December, Zuma’s manoeuvring to allegedly benefit cronies led to the firing of respected Finance […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News/Politics
Why Africa doesn’t need Bjorn Lomborg’s fossil fuel PR
“Revolutions are, as a rule, rare and momentous processes”, but across the African continent the potential for a clean energy revolution which upsets and leapfrogs the old fossil fuel order is ripe. Globally, clean energy technology has developed at such a rapid pace that a predominately clean energy future which brings energy access to all […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Malema, curry and casual bigotry
Two weeks ago, a journalist sent me a list of questions about racism and parenting. “Do you often think about how to protect your child from racism?” was one of them. “Is it important in your parenting approach?” This is still a theoretical question for me right now, though in years to come I will […]