Media for Justice joined Gift of the Givers, which went into the platinum belt on a humanitarian mission to help sustain the workers over this period of hardship. Over a two-month period the NGO distributed thousands of food parcels, sanitary packs, nappies and blankets to mine workers and communities, who were virtually on the brink […]
News/Politics
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, General, News/Politics
Should we ban boys-only schools?
I’m often accused of making sweeping statements in my writing; as if one were always required to produce a table full of numbers and statistics to underpin one’s thoughts. On the contrary, theory is grounded in thinking – not just numbers and balance sheets and calculations. However, there is often an interesting intersection between what […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Farmers take the heat while the chiefs sit pretty
Nothing in South African politics is as emotionally loaded as land restitution. It is so emotive an issue – emblematic of centuries of discrimination, exploitation and humiliation — that there exists an array of radical populists who clearly have a vested interest in the matter never being resolved. At least, not peacefully. After all, “drive […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Young South Africans still slipping through the cracks
To commemorate the brave stance taken by the youth of 1976, the month of June is dedicated as youth month to celebrate young people in the country — with June 16 used to commemorate the youth of 1976. This year’s celebrations were particularly notable, as South Africa celebrates its 20th year of democracy. The month […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Confessions of a not-so-proud Capetonian
By Nicola Soekoe Okay, I said it. I’m from Cape Town and, sure, I love the place, but still my reply to the come-from question usually takes the form of: “My family is from Joburg, but I live in Cape Town.” Four years ago when I first went abroad alone Cape Town wasn’t the sexy […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
How to challenge your whiteness…
I am a white South African man, and when I wrote about the problems of white masculinity I faced a barrage of abusive tweets, threats and even a phone call to one of my work colleagues to complain about my writing. Ironically, all of this proved the argument I was making. More importantly: it proved […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Will we ever see police officers prosecuted for torture?
The assault with intent to grievous bodily harm case against former SAPS warrant officers David Gunn and Gerrit Januarie was postponed last week until August 18 2014. They were filmed by a member of the public when they brutally assaulted a Nigerian man and stripped him naked in a Cape Town street. Apart from the […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Where you from Van Damme?
“Every black African everywhere is rightly or wrongly perceived to originate — a contentious concept in itself — from somewhere. Almost overwhelmingly that somewhere is consensually assumed, indeed believed, to be an idyllic village perched somewhere far away in rural crevices. Even today, when someone asks you in the city, or at a dinner table […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Sports quotas: At last, a role for designated whiteys
The Congress of South African Trade Unions this week expressed support for the imposition of race quotas in soccer, pointing to the absence of white players in the national team as a grave social injustice. On the paleface of it, what a breakthrough this is for minorities. Bafana Bafana – The Boys, The Boys – […]
Posted inNews/Politics
EFF in Parliament: All talk and no trousers?
We have all witnessed the circus that’s been the EFF’s entrance to Parliament, akin to something of a comedic fairy-tale with costumes, heroes and villains. We’ve seen everything from heartfelt letters to the public such as Andile Mngxitama’s “Letter from Parliament” and Julius Malema thrown out of Parliament for accusing the ANC of murdering mineworkers. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
MPs’ behaviour eating away at Parliament’s credibility
By Mukoni Ratshitanga The debate on the State of the Nation address in the national assembly last week illustrated concerns and evinced valuable lessons and reminders which our public representatives across the party political divide ought to be attentive. The endless points of order, genuine and some not, interjections and heckles clearly intended to stop […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Can SA, India and Brazil reboot the global human-rights narrative?
There is a pressing need for southern democracies to reclaim the human-rights narrative from the strategic imperatives of traditionally powerful western governments. While the ability of India, Brazil and South Africa to emerge as moral voices from the south is not in doubt, their willingness to take the global centre-stage on human rights is certainly […]