Days ago, I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to be bombarded with rugby news until, at least, the end of next week. That’s fine. I suppose our national rugby team getting into (and possibly winning) the World Cup final is a big deal. To each her own. It’s not my […]
News/Politics
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Lucky Dube: A complete human being
“South Africa needs a lot of love at the moment…” It is easy to react to Lucky Dube’s murder with outrage and grief. It is right to do so. I would also wish to celebrate the life of a friend. It is appropriate to do so in this blog, because Lucky Dube was an unheralded […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Can suicide bombings be rational?
I’ve always considered suicide bombings somewhat of a human anomaly. Yesterday, there was an attempted suicide bombing assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto immediately after her return from eight years of exile. There are already 124 fatalities, and this is expected to climb. Bhutto herself was uninjured. But it brought me to a […]
Posted inGeneral, Media, News/Politics
Newspapers without government … How about that, Mr President?
Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States of America, once famously said: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” That was before he became president. After he’d experienced a taste of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Quick, hit your kids
Well, it’s official. Quick, go hit one of your kids. You still can. It does have to be one of your children — but, still, rejoice, rejoice, the Children’s Amendment Bill has been defeated. Not, admittedly, by a decisive vote in the hallowed halls of Parliament, with ringing speeches on the merits or demerits of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Elites, chattering classes scared of the people?
Reading the papers can be scary. Earlier this week, while attending a conference in The Hague, I read in the London Guardian about a country where the most popular political interviewer was fired from his job at a TV station because of pressure from the president of the country. For the liberals and the opposition […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Media veterans recall October 19 1977
Here’s how two media stalwarts sum up the significance of the 30th anniversary of the bannings of three newspapers on October 19 1997: Thami Mazwai The day found me doing the rounds in Soweto for the World newspaper. I’ve been a journalist on the active side, never enjoyed journalism on other side of telephone. So […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
An editor goes to jail … Does anyone care?
Journalists are not above the law, right? So why the fuss over the legal action against Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya? The reason is threefold. The first is that images of editors being dragged off to prison (exaggerated as these seem to be in this case) are not good for a country that is a […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Free expression means nothing if it’s limited to the media
Steven Friedman wrote a brilliant post, “The people our national debate does not see or hear”. I began writing a comment in response to his post, but then realised it was too long and needed a post of its own. Steven is absolutely correct. Too many of us who are involved in the media in […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Editor, journalist to be arrested … or are they?
Was the Sunday Times guilty of crying wolf when it reported that its editor and another journalist would be arrested on charges of contravening the National Health Act? On Sunday, the newspaper reported that editor Mondli Makhanya and deputy managing editor Jocelyn Maker would be arrested this week on charges related to the theft of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The joys of opposition politics (part II)
(Disclaimer:Work with me here and pretend that my original piece was called “The joys of opposition politics”. I think it’s a neater, snappier and more sarcastic title than the original.) “DA slams Manto’s Baragwanath visit” screams the headline in the M&G Online. The quintessential spear-chugger rarely ever gets an opportunity to stick his tongue out […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Aluminium smelters: The developmental state gone mad?
South Africa has no bauxite ore! Despite this geological fact, South Africa (and Mozambique) has aluminium smelters. Bauxite ore is the raw material for creating aluminium. The ore comes to us from Australia (and possibly Suriname and Brazil), we process the ore to produce aluminium and then ship it out. If we don’t have bauxite […]