1. More than two-thirds of our population is under 35. Out of the parties contesting the forthcoming elections, the EFF is the best-placed party to represent the majority of this sizeable demographic whose aspirations and frustrations will heavily impact on the future of our country. 2. More than 70% of unemployed South Africans are under […]
News/Politics
Posted inNews/Politics
Paramilitary posturing doesn’t bode well for a peaceful election
The sparring between poseurs in the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the ANC as to who has sole naming rights to a silly red beret is more than a Tweedledee and Tweedledum spat. It’s a warning that the coming general election might be uncharacteristically volatile. A small portent was the Nkandla fracas last weekend, when […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Why stop at just the gays?
By Thabo Seroke A couple of months ago, Uganda asked a question that could usher in the systematic hate aimed at a group of people. The question was simple: Who is going to inspire the senseless murder of gender-variant people in Africa? This was not a view that needed to be vocalised by Ugandans, but […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Talking about EFF is bringing us closer as a nation
The South African public and media have devoured every scrap thrown to them by Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), with the media churning out tens of stories featuring analysis about the viability of this allegedly radical anti-capitalist protest movement. There’s been a cacophonous frenzy surrounding the launch of Malema’s new venture, and although some […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Has the legalisation of cannabis finally become a reality?
The festive season has indeed been a happy one for supporters of the legalisation of cannabis. Uruguay has become the first state to make the production, distribution and consumption of cannabis entirely legal. In the US, home to the “war on drugs”, the states of Colorado and Washington State have followed suit, putting in place […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Black diamonds could vote EFF
By Ntombenhle Khathwane There has been much speculation as to where the black middle-class vote will go. What is evident is that there is no party that totally encapsulates the aspirations of these people. Under the current political and economic landscape, the black diamonds could vote EFF as a protest vote against the ANC or […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics, Tech
The French philosopher and the American whistle-blower
Unless one acknowledges the complex nature and often unexpected connections among things, events and people, one might find it a smidgen astonishing that what the French poststructuralist philosopher, Jean-Francois Lyotard, wrote in his “report” on the state of knowledge in “advanced” societies, better known as The Postmodern Condition (1979; English translation: Manchester University Press, 1984), […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The A to Z of things we cannot blame on apartheid
At Nelson Mandela’s memorial service, President Jacob Zuma made the point that “he (Mandela) told us that the promises of democracy would not be met overnight … and we all agreed with him … ”. Was this a co-option of Madiba somehow to justify the slow pace of service delivery? While it is true that […]
Posted inNews/Politics
It’s do nothing days in Zuma’s la-la land
South Africa’s ‘do nothing’ season, officially known as the festive break, is in effect a month-long shutdown that traditionally runs from December 16 to mid-January. The bad economic news is that this time around, it’s going to run for several months longer, at least up to the general election. With the December 5 death of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
School drop-out rate still too high
As expected the 2013 matric results have unleashed deserved pride and joy about the performance of the class of 2002. Various analysts have also provided very informative analysis in order to have a deeper appreciation of how well the system has been working over the past 12 years. The 2013 results are simply an outcome […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mandela the communist?
By Dr John Lamola Stephen Ellis’s approach in the brouhaha that has followed the SACP’s December 10 2013 statement that Nelson Mandela was a member of its central committee when he was captured in August 1962 exposes the enormity of the implications of this claim of the SACP. It places the matter within the context […]
Posted inNews/Politics
A black matric certificate is still worth nothing in SA
By Siphiwe Sithole I must congratulate the class of 2013 for achieving what is said to be the highest pass rate of 78.2% since 1994 in South Africa. It is always exciting to watch newly matriculated youths get into the real world, some get jobs, others further their studies while others journey to find themselves […]