As if the electorate could be any more bewildered by current South African politics, the decision to drop all corruption charges against Jacob Zuma has turned ordinary South Africans into believers, converted sceptics into philosophers and motored immigration turnstiles into action. Just a week before the “most important election” and the electorate couldn’t be more […]
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The role of religion: Why take aim at the atheists?
I am a great believer in interfaith dialogue, including “born-again atheists” and “mystical atheists”, and for coming to realise that all sacred scripture is a spiritual metaphor. If for example, we look at the scripture in the Christian gospel, where Jesus says: “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Let’s have more Africa news, not less!
Jacob Zuma casts doubt on the Constitution and the Mail & Guardian cuts the Africa section: what a week! Insulting the dignity of the Constitutional Court is the sort of thing I expect to hear coming out of Julius Malema’s mouth; I didn’t expect the head of the ANC to say such a thing. It’s […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Zuma is innocent until proven guilty. Time to start the election.
Whether or not a cloud hangs over ANC president Jacob Zuma, he is innocent until he is proven guilty in a court of law. This obviously relates to the legal position and not the court of public opinion. The fact of the matter is that regardless of the brouhaha that has arisen from the methods […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Guess who’s coming to class
By Thabo Mohlala I recently attended a mass meeting convened by the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) Gauteng central region at Orlando Communal Hall in Soweto. I was intrigued by its recent shenanigans when they unashamedly opted to hold a meeting during school time to promote ANC policies at the expense of education. I […]
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On attacking Tutu: Bile, heaps of audacity and heart burn
Not too long ago Bishop Tutu (and many others like him) were taking on the moral corruption of apartheid. Particularly Bishop Tutu became a voice of reason and hope at a time that many thought that things would never change. In response the regime deployed the overcoat brigade and propaganda machinery to discredit him (and […]
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Justice equals prosecuting Zuma?
If media statements from political parties and editorial comments reacting to the NPA’s decision to withdraw charges against JZ are anything to go by, South Africa is in trouble. Almost all parties and editorials alike agree that dropping charges against Zuma is “unjust” and is a product of pressure from the ANC. It is interesting […]
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Stoppie lorrie, my English side wants to get off
Dit my groot lekkerkry gee om hierdie hondeskou oop to verklaar, Meneer Zuma. You’ll be of a certain age and have an elephantine memory to match if you can place the first 80% of that line. It was, I believe, a running gag in a Springbok Radio comedy show in the sixties called Next Stop […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Understanding South African law via the NPA
With all the pro-and-anti NPA articles doing the rounds I thought it best to give you lot some understanding of how the law works in South Africa and what is considered so trivial that we need hardly bother following up on it. So gather round the heath (hearth? — that thing that blows smoke as […]
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The piss under the army banquet table
I shake my head at the younger Chinese when they drink alcohol. They have to gun bei (literally: dry the cup) when they drink. Their faces turn that nauseous, icy white and they run off, sometimes not making it to the toilet. Why can’t they take their time and just enjoy a drink? Like many […]
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Door-to-door election reflections
It’s a Saturday. The sun is unforgivably hot. Probably it’s the absence of an umbrella on my part. How could I? None of the ANC volunteers can afford an umbrella. It would be rude and unfair of me to have one covering my head alone while others are left at the mercy of the sun […]
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I’m voting ACDP
Well, it wasn’t quite like blackballing Mother Teresa, but it came close. In the context of the free world, the Dalai Lama enjoys something approaching Gandhian status. He is a true icon of peace and of a people’s struggle to be free, with these two ideals, so unusually, being complementary, not contradictory. Perhaps the most […]