One day I will leave this country and I will never forget: In the humid summers I perspire a lot and whenever I walk into a shop an assistant offers me tissues. The other day the newspaper vendor lady insisted I take a whole packet, no charge. Sheez … I will never forget the little […]
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Posted inGeneral
Maybe the Holocaust was not enough
I I jump off a packed train in Munich and walk from the platform towards the station when a plain clothes policeman stops me. He flashes his badge at me. He is not an immigration officer. He is an undercover cop. I give him my passport, simultaneously searching the crowds for the familiar face of […]
Posted inGeneral
Malema is not going to disappear, not now, not ever
By Theo Mapheto No doubt, Julius Malema must be the most talked about politician in the country. In the northern suburbs, no dinner table chit-chat is ever complete without a blow-by-blow account of his latest exploits; his woodwork skills being the common butt of jokes and all. Adding fuel to water, President Zuma has issued […]
Posted inSport
The Tri-Nations rugby win and bad losers
It was one of the most magnificent tries I have ever seen. With not too many minutes left in the game All Black Danny Carter hoofed the ball across the field near the touchline and Richie McCaw expertly caught it and snaked past — with a few minor collisions — about three Bokke in the […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Sex, Semenya, steel balls and femininity
What makes a 100% woman? Pierre Weiss of the International Association of Athletics Federations has said “it is clear that (Caster Semenya) is a woman, but maybe not 100%”. What is a woman? We know that genetically all women carry a certain level of male chromosomes and all men carry a percentage of female chromosomes. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
And if Ms Semenya were not black?
Yep, I am afraid that is the question that has been going through my mind for the last week or so. Would there be such a furore if she had been white? I think not. That is to say, there would not have been such sputterings from the sports minister and Reverend Stofile has threatened […]
Posted inNews/Politics
If we dumb down matric, would Malema’s G be a distinction for woodwork?
The Times on their fabulous new site had an item about the “Plan to dumb down matric” for South African pupils which automatically got me thinking that the geniuses who had come up with this idea had probably achieved a dumbed-down matric themselves. It entails a distinction in any subject, if this proposal goes ahead, […]
Posted inGeneral
It’s all about the balls
I have many male friends who really enjoy presenting me with suspicious sexist articles to see how I feel. Normally I take the bait and can’t resist seeing what has been cooked up by some male wally with the aim of discrediting women. But I must say that I got a real giggle out of […]
Posted inGeneral
Trade unions stifling SA’s competitiveness
The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report for 2009/2010 was released a few days ago and it reveals that South Africa has maintained its 45th spot among 133 countries assessed. It may be reason to feel rather chuffed with ourselves that despite the global economic turmoil, we have managed to retain our position among economies […]
Posted inLifestyle
How much would you pay to be disrespected for an evening?
There are some serious self-abusers walking our city streets at night. I’m not referring to criminals and junkies, though granted some of the fashion choices (the scarring of my retinas is only fading now after seeing a young man wearing bottle-green skinny jeans again the other night) and the insatiable thirst for the vile agave-flavoured […]
Posted inLifestyle
The Pope and Balaam’s ass
I am a Catholic, albeit a semi-practising one. Don’t make me go into the detail — let’s just say the missus is not perpetually knocked up despite our nocturnal scrums every Tuesday night. I don’t have the full complement of Catholic sacraments but I have received Baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation and Marriage. They’re still hogging […]
Posted inLifestyle
The future of The Silwane Files
I suppose it was always inevitable. Someone was bound to see my column in the Sunday Times, add one and one and get eleven. Look, I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a bunch of immature gits who find titillation in sordid tales about teenagers fornicating in public restrooms. But […]