News/Politics

Dear Mr Zuma My excitement has gone beyond fever pitch and well into the realms of renal failure in anticipation of just how you are going to steal the limelight back from the Pres. You must admit he’s been pretty darn shrewd firing old “prosecute-and-be-damned-Pikoli” so soon after getting at that attention from firing the […]

There’s been an injustice to history. It’s in the plea bargain that helped former police minister Adriaan Vlok and four cohorts avoid jail last June. The rewriting of the record was spotted recently by a colleague who checked out the legal agreement that allowed the five would-be murderers to walk away with mere suspended sentences. […]

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance, sponsored by prominent businessman Mo Ibrahim, makes fascinating reading. The results have just been published. The BBC reports that Rwanda, in the index, has achieved the “most improved” status. One has to remember how this country was shattered during and after the genocide in 1994 to fully grasp the […]

Before I begin, may I just say that over my bank manager’s dead body will I be fielding questions on this one. Good luck to you, sir. With the president’s return from the UN, the issue of the director of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Vusi Pikoli’s departure — allegedly for obtaining a warrant against […]

The London Evening Standard is reporting claims that a month before the invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein offered to go into exile in return for a billion US dollars. The details emerge from the transcript of a meeting between President George Bush and then Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Anzar, held at the president’s Texas […]

It is most unfortunate that while we on the left of the political spectrum have correctly criticised the failures of the ANC since coming to power in 1994, we have failed to turn our critical gaze inwards. This is often a historical failure of the left internationally, and is, I argue, a flagrant contradiction of […]

The reaction to Cosatu’s decision to name its six preferred candidates for the top six positions in the ANC (actually eight candidates, as there are three names for the position of national chairperson) has been predictable. The ANC has described it as arrogant. Several pioneers of the union movement want to discuss the issue with […]

My husband recently got a traffic fine of R1 500 for driving through a red traffic light. (Of course he insists it was dark orange!) Now, we all know that the law is the law and we have to take responsibility for our errors … but R1 500 is a bit steep, I think. Especially when compared […]

The suspension by President Thabo Mbeki of Vusi Pikoli, the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), is a potentially earth-shattering event for our democracy. In the present political climate in which suspicions thrive and every action by the president will rightly or wrongly be viewed as a move in the ongoing succession battle, presidential interference […]

On registering (once again) this year for my master’s degree, I was told that a requirement of my registration was paying R4 500. Should I not be able to pay this “initial payment”, I would not be registered for the course. I could afford this as I am working and earning. But, had this been a […]

I always enjoy looking at a contrarian point of view that challenges the status quo of opinion in order to round out a debate on an issue, especially one that is largely emotive. Over the years, contrarians have often proved to be right in the face of a majority that builds a collective consensus through […]