News/Politics

Christopher Hitchens launched a scathing attack on Hillary Clinton for her economy with the truth regarding a trip to Bosnia in 1996: “She’s being punished, not for one episode of ‘mis-speaking’, but a whole record of dishonesty. In Bosnian terms it’s more disgraceful than many remember. In 1992, Bill Clinton ran against George Bush Snr […]

This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: If a Mugabe victory is deemed rigged, how should Thabo Mbeki respond?

Yesterday, although it may still be up, the Sowetan ran an opinion poll that posed the following question: “Do you think that people/organisations who received kickbacks in the arms deal should receive amnesty?” The result at the time of writing, with just more than 1 100 votes cast, was 56,87% against and 43,12% in favour. One […]

Before considering a few arguments on why a boycott is obligatory, let’s be clear about why this is not yet happening on any significant scale. There are, I think, at least two broad reasons. The most pivotal has to do with the ambivalent attitude of power towards human rights and the other with the inherent […]

In November 2007, in an effort to update the laws on fertility treatment and embryo research, the British government introduced the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Key proposals in the Bill are: ensuring that all human embryos outside the body — whatever the process used in their creation — are subject to regulation; regulation of […]

In 2000, Slate magazine’s David Plotz, while describing Zimbabwean tyrant Robert Mugabe, observed: “He does not wreak havoc out of evil, caprice or lunacy. He does it out of cynicism. Mugabe, who liberated his nation from colonial oppression 20 years ago, is the father of his country. He is what would have happened if George […]

This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: Five years on, Bush says Iraq war was noble, necessary and just. Do you agree?

The police in South Africa today reminds me of the “kitskonstabels” (instant constables) the old National Party inducted into the police. The police may be getting more money from the government, and more bodies, but from what I’ve seen recently, they’re pretty pathetic as a rule. Shouldn’t we spend our money on training first?

Kenya has been spared from sliding into more crises. Yesterday, its Parliament unanimously passed into law two crucial Bills that seek to operationalise the power-sharing deal between the ODM and PNU. This was a historic moment for Kenyans as they watched the live parliamentary session, which was attended by both Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. […]

The current transitional phase that’s playing out within the ANC and, by consequence, in South Africa has led me — along with most political commentators — to look both back at the past decade in politics and governance and forward to our near-term future as a country. In doing this, it becomes immediately apparent what […]