I took some time today to look back over the past 18 months or so at the endless confirm/deny loops that the media are in around a possible run for president by businessman Cyril Ramaphosa. There are two obvious conclusions: 1. No one has any idea whether this man is in line to run for […]
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Posted inNews/Politics
Numbers, numbers everywhere and not a truth in sight?
If you really want to confuse people about where the country is headed, say it with numbers. There is a certain magic about numbers and the spells they weave in many heads. Go to most conferences, for example. Even the most brilliant presentation in words may provoke only glassy stares — a PowerPoint slide with […]
Posted inMedia
Has 702 made us more stupid?
Talk Radio 702 has managed, despite various plummets in listenership over the years, to remain Gauteng’s premier talk radio station. But isn’t it merely peddling the stupid and pedestrian views of the idle middle class back to itself, as a way to generate ad revenue? I have listened to 702 on and off for the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SA ambassador opposes UN ‘rape as war weapon’ resolution
I was disconcerted to read in the Sunday Times this weekend that South Africa has led an effort in the UN General Assembly to block a draft resolution condemning states that use rape as a weapon of war and intimidation. This is very odd, particularly in view of the fact that one of the most […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why Polokwane might matter after all
So why should we care who wins the ANC presidency? We shouldn’t, Ndumiso Ngcobo suggests in his latest post. And he is right to insist that the difference between the candidates is not nearly as great as their supporters and the analysts (sorry, “star gazers” and “palm readers”) make out. But, despite this, the succession […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Gangster’s paradise in the ANC ahead of Limpopo?
Here we go again with the “political posts”. Blame Thought Leader if you find my “political posts” crappy. You see, I’m much more of a Thought Leader consumer than I am a contributor. Of course, the more astute have already figured out that I never write about politics per se, but rather about some of […]
Posted inMedia
Media freedom — on the verge of extinction?
After 1994, many people thought South African media would be free at last, following many years of censorship under apartheid regime. But that did not happen as we thought it would. In 1996, former president Nelson Mandela castigated black journalists for being critical of him and his government. My question is: Were these journalists being […]
Posted inSport
Bread and circuses
Lo, Sunday morning dawned and strangely enough the world was unchanged! The fact that some beefy boys with cauliflower ears and bloodied eyes had spent 80 minutes throwing themselves on top of each other and shoving their heads up each other’s bums to win a shiny beaker the previous evening seems — oddly enough — […]
Posted inSport
Dear Jake: Go pee on your bosses’ desks
We could feel the politics even at the final. For example, when the team hoisted President Mbeki onto their shoulders, I swear I could hear Jacob Zuma yelling “drop, drop, drop !”
Posted inSport
Springboks the class of 1995 and 2007
One of the greatest moments of my life was watching a packed Newlands rugby stadium, comprising almost entirely white fans, thundering “Nelson, Nelson, Nelson” as Madiba made his way to commence his opening address for the 1995 World Cup. Madiba magic was born, and how the rainbow nation responded to it. Yet rugby was and […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
An editor goes to jail … Does anyone care?
Journalists are not above the law, right? So why the fuss over the legal action against Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya? The reason is threefold. The first is that images of editors being dragged off to prison (exaggerated as these seem to be in this case) are not good for a country that is a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
ANC war of the bulldogs — part one
It is no secret that the main rivals for the ANC presidency have — for a while now — been grooming and breeding vicious bulldogs. How else can one describe the behaviour of both Mbeki and Zuma’s lieutenants in attacking each other in the ongoing mudslinging showdown in the ruling party? Like ruthless animals they […]