News/Politics

I have been privately rebuking editors, professors and other parts of the intelligentsia for ignoring left alternatives in South Africa, or for not taking the time to find out what is going on. For instance, at a recent colloquium (that’s a seminar, meeting, to you and I), a very respected professor argued that the Basic […]

“… the establishment of the Palestinian state is not our Nakba, or disaster — provided that upon its establishment the word ‘Nakba’ be deleted from the Arabic lexicon in referring to Israel.” This is from the address by Tzipi Livni at Annapolis. The Nakba means the “catastrophe” and refers to the expulsion and dispossession of […]

In case anyone’s wondering why South Africa is losing the battle against crime, here are some telling pointers from my local law-enforcement agency in Worcester. The town, like most others in South Africa, has a massive rate of house-breaks and car thefts. Every week you hear of a house that’s been burgled in your neighbourhood. […]

I’ve been in the US on holiday for the past few weeks, and although I’ve kept a distant eye on things from overseas, I am interested to note the distinct rise in political tension since my departure, drawn from the regional voting for the succession nominations. Funnily enough, it mirrors some aspects of what is […]

For all those political junkies out there, I tried something new (for me, at least) on Wednesday night and blogged about President Thabo Mbeki’s interview with the SABC. After 10 minutes, the political editor of the SABC has only asked boring, sweetheart questions. The SABC would find it difficult to defend itself against claims that […]

Having gained notoriety last year for our fairly tame “unauthorised” documentary film on Thabo Mbeki, it’s a bit of an anti-climax to finish our most recent film on the ANC succession race, Through the Eye of a Needle, and to realise that there’s no one to ban us this time. Undoubtedly this film would be […]

It is more than a little ironic that ANC leaders who once fought so hard to ensure that all of us can vote freely have spent the past few weeks trying to convince us that those South Africans who actually belong to the movement should have far less of a vote than the rest of […]

Twenty-eight retired generals and admirals have called upon the US Congress to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, which finds application in the American military. In terms of the law, which was signed off in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, servicemen and -women are required to conceal their sexuality or face discharge. These former […]

I know the African Peer-Review Mechanism Country Report is not everyone’s idea of a good read. So let me point you to the interesting bit. It comes right at the end, on page 376 of the copy that was sent to me in the post. The report cites the rape statistics from the South African […]