By Steven Hussey One seldom considers that positions vehemently opposed to apparently unpalatable details of our beautiful, liberal Constitution are held by parties with seats in Parliament. But of course that is the case, and from time to time the rejection of South Africa’s values for human rights raises its primitive head. What an itch […]
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Posted inNews/Politics
The root of the black vs coloured problem
It has not been my intention to enter the so-called debate on the state of black and coloured relations for fear of generating more heat than light. But we need to put our ghosts to rest on this matter through constructive self-criticism, honest exchange and historical grounding. Even though some of us were raised under […]
Posted inGender violence, News/Politics
‘Lesbians don’t take the train’
You cannot rape a woman to make her straight but some men are trying their damndest. In fact, some men in South Africa are trying their damndest to rape women, children and other men (particularly young boys and those in prison). The trains in Cape Town, although irregular, are the cheapest form of transport. Normally […]
Posted inNews/Politics
It’s still the same damn zebra!
We have all experienced this at one time or another. The moment of truth in a troublesome relationship. That pivotal point in time when you look into someone’s eyes or see someone do something in a certain way and you have a sudden, explosive intuitive insight into that person’s character. And, after months, possibly years, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
In defence of the youth fest
By Janet Jobson It’s a bugbear of mine that South Africans seem to have a very low opinion of our youth. We’re not alone in this. Young people worldwide, and especially in the developing world, seem to loom in the popular imagination as unruly forces that must be tamed: they are uneducated, violent, apathetic, materialistic, […]
Posted inMedia
How do we change a culture?
There’s been a significant culture shift in Joburg over the past year or so. Perhaps you’ve noticed it too. For the first time in my experience, Joburgers are taking drunk driving seriously. Suddenly, behaviour is changing and people who used to drive blotto without thinking twice are now signing up for taxi services. Why? This […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Class and Jimmy Manyi
It’s, more often than not, a particular sort of person that says that kind of thing. I’m not referring to Jimmy Manyi’s comments about “coloureds” but to his use of the economic phrase “over-supply”. He could have been discoursing about barrels of oil, or bushels of wheat, or any other commodity but he was talking […]
Posted inNews/Politics
When being black ain’t black enough
By Zuki Mqolomba The recently publicised video clips of Jimmy Manyi’s utterances on coloureds and Indians as the then director-general of labour and government official reveal much of the hidden prejudices and social attitudes that leverage racism and tribalism in South African corridors of power. In the televised clip titled “Jimmy Manyi on coloureds in […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Through the haze of that race cloud
My biggest fear in entering the debate about Jimmy Manyi’s comments on coloured people is that I will be seen as a coloured person speaking about coloured issues. My fear is that, because of this, my views will not be taken seriously. Unfortunately, our post-apartheid society has become so racialised that we no longer look […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Petrol price spike proves ‘peak oil’ predictions
By Roger Diamond The crude oil price is currently hovering at about $100 a barrel, having been well below this mark for a good couple of years now since late 2008. The proximal (or direct) cause of the rather sudden jump in price is two things: an actual decrease in oil supply and a perceived […]
Posted inNews/Politics
My dearest, honourable minister Trevor Manuel
Let us not drop any titles. Let us not pretend that you are not a cabinet minister. Nor should we act as if Mr Jimmy Manyi is not a “director-general equivalent”. Shamefully, some of us did not partake in the “misery of exile”. Had we done so, we might not have returned from foreign lands […]
Posted inGeneral
Timing of Manyi outrage suspicious
Much has been made of the scathing letter addressed to Black Management Forum leader Jimmy Manyi by Trevor Manuel, the minister of national planning. Noted academic and analyst Adam Habib surmised as much yesterday saying “strategic calculations are being made about the Western Cape. I cannot imagine that he has not consulted widely on this […]