By Angela Mudukuti On September 16, the North Gauteng High Court denied the South African government leave to appeal in the case pertaining to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes. After a United Nations (UN) Security Council referral of the […]
News/Politics
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Time to ease the trade union corset that confines SA
Despite the excitement generated among the British hard left by the election of Jeremy Corbyn to lead the Labour Party, trade union influence has over the past two decades been on the wane throughout most of the Western world. And as in most of the developing world, it has not fared at all well in […]
Posted inNews/Politics
A high human cost to the ANC’s political pandering
One of the unwholesome characteristics of President Jacob Zuma’s administration is its brazen pandering to African National Congress special interest groups. The unions, of course, have always enjoyed a special relationship. They can trash city centres and with impunity heave rocks at their opponents, confident that their membership of the ANC’s tripartite alliance will shield […]
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
The more things change, the more they stay the same: The curious case of black women and queer life at UCT
By Zethu Matebeni The last few months have stimulated long overdue conversations and action in higher education institutions in South Africa. Rhodes Must Fall, over and over again. The concrete structure may be gone from the steps of the UCT upper campus, but its shadow remains — blocking the same path that leads to possible […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, News/Politics
Why the new sustainable development goals won’t make the world a better place
The world’s governments are preparing to finalise the sustainable development goals at the United Nations this month. It is set to be a major international event, and the goals will be ushered in with tremendous fanfare. They are widely regarded as a historic step toward building a better world, and toward eradicating poverty and hunger […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
How long can the ANC keep winning elections?
The discussion documents that have recently been released by the ANC in preparation for its national general council in October reveal renewed intention to have a serious discussion and reflection on a number of key issues, which if unresolved, can accelerate the demise of the organisation. In reality the fundamental question is about what is […]
Posted inBusiness, General, Media, News/Politics
Scotland 5. Donald Trump 0. What price America?
Author and humourist PG Wodehouse once wrote that “it is never difficult to distinguish between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine”. He was absolutely right when it came to American presidential hopeful and property mogul Donald Trump’s attempts to insinuate himself into the Scottish culture with his £750 million (R15.9 billion) golf estate […]
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
Durban 2022: A moment to savour
South Africans appear studiously underwhelmed by the award of the 2022 Commonwealth Games to Durban. The public response has been at best a yawn, with the general tenor being snipingly negative, which is par for the course when much of our political discourse is conducted in 140-character Twitter put-downs. There was certainly little of the […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Dear Aylan and Galip, drowned Syrian children, what’s become of us?
Dear Aylan and Galip Was the world ever not a frightening place for you? Did you ever see your mom and dad smile? Or was it all just terror and hell, nothing worth living for? Here I am, past the age of 50 and I am the one with all the questions for both of […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, News/Politics
Let’s call a spade a spade, the EFF is marching towards a socialist dictatorship
It was an ordinary February morning in 1989, for most in Berlin, but not for 21-year-old East German Chris Gueffroy. It would be his last day alive. The cold metal force from a border guard’s gun would rip through his jacket and shirt and pierce his heart — pouring deep red warm hope out onto […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The theoretically bankrupt intifada against liberalism: A response to Jared Sacks
In case you didn’t get the memo: liberalism is passé. Society’s (imagined) love affair with liberal politics is over, and you’re supposed to be cheering the advent of a new polity: the rise of “radicalism” as the new descriptor of choice, one to be employed by a million student activists and thought leaders in their […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
#Luister: Black skin a burden in Stellenbosch
How does it feel to be a problem? — WEB Du Bois Stellenbosch University’s exclusionary language policy has once again made it into the news. It’s an open secret that the university has been hostile towards students who question the policy and more importantly, the town is hostile to black people who live in the […]