News/Politics

Do our public commentators know nothing about the lives of grassroots South Africans? Or do we simply not care? One of the more important plusses of our democracy is that we still have a loud and vigorous national debate. Despite worrying signs that politicians might want to reign in the media, we are often able […]

It is no secret that the main rivals for the ANC presidency have — for a while now — been grooming and breeding vicious bulldogs. How else can one describe the behaviour of both Mbeki and Zuma’s lieutenants in attacking each other in the ongoing mudslinging showdown in the ruling party? Like ruthless animals they […]

At the time of writing, it would seem that the proposed United States-sponsored Middle East peace summit will be taking place in Annapolis, Maryland, on November 15 this year. This is an important initiative and needs to be supported by all in the Middle East and the international community. The reason for this should be […]

I am not a woman of mystery. I am one of those people who tell you your fly is undone, or that your payment is late. This is not because I don’t like a bit of mystery, especially the mysterious cloak of secrecy that the law casts around judges. In the Supreme Court of Appeal, […]

Last Saturday morning, at about 8.30am, I drove past the Durban cricket stadium. It was a relatively sunny day and the stadium stood in silence, yet its four high-powered floodlights were shining brightly, eating up hundreds of watts per second. I was outraged. How can electricity be wasted in such a shameless manner while South […]

Someone must invest in a sledgehammer and knock some sense into the heads of the supporters of Jacob Zuma for excluding President Thabo Mbeki from their list proposals for the powerful ANC national executive committee. That person should also deal a good blow to Mbeki’s backers for doing the same with Zuma. Turn that sledgehammer […]

The storm hoax provided a funny reminder of how gullible some of us streetwise Jo’burgers can be. However, there was a real storm and real storm damage in parts of Johannesburg a few days before. In Lenasia — where I stay — the storm on Saturday evening left some parts of our suburb with substantial […]

So the University of St Thomas has decided to withdraw its withdrawal of the invitation to Archbishop Desmond Tutu to speak at that esteemed institution. For people who have not been following the story, Tutu was to be hosted on the campus by the justice and peace studies programme, together with an organisation called PeaceJam […]

I feel that I haven’t engaged in my favourite pastime in the world in a while; oversimplifying complex matters I don’t fully understand. I feel that I owe myself the indulgence. It’s a Friday, after all. I saw a guy driving a funeral parlour van the other day and thought to myself: “What a crappy […]