That Team South Africa has subjected the nation to pitiful performance at the 2008 Olympic Games is a major understatement. I was listening a day ago to caller after caller on one talk radio station justifying the poor performance of these athletes that we have sent to China; in fact these callers were shifting the […]
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Posted inLifestyle
‘If you have children in Australia, they will be obese’
This week I was faced with the knowledge that I needed to get the prescriptions for my chronic medication renewed. Finding a doctor was a little daunting, especially given that my GP back in Joburg is a woman who has treated me since I was seven years old. Where would I find a relationship like […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Is anyone actually helping the refugees?
Well, yes. I got an email, yesterday in fact, from a friend who’s directly involved in helping them. In her words: “A teacher, Ahmed, at a refugee camp out at Youngfield decided he needed to help the kids in his refugee camp, to give them some form of education. He asked me to please get […]
Posted inGeneral
Why have a parliamentary sports portfolio committee?
What is the purpose of the parliamentary sports portfolio committee of Butana Komphela and company? What does it achieve — other than controversy from statements that regularly stir up a furore, normally with a racist flavour? It never refers to anything meritorious about what is being done. The committee’s statements seem intended to remind us […]
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
The return of our sporting heroes and leaders
When John Terry strode forward to take that penalty in last season’s dramatic Champion’s League final, he wasn’t just staring at two uprights and a crossbar. He was staring at greatness. I remember the thudding of a million heartbeats in the hushed silence. We were in the throes of uncertainty. Would Chelsea be the victors? […]
Posted inGeneral
How bad, bad, bad the SA web can be
This past weekend I decided to buy a new couch for my home. Wearied of endless trips to Fourways, battling through the traffic, wasting petrol, dodging Metro Police roadblocks, I decided to check out online catalogues for the stores before traipsing off there. Genius. First port of call: Google. Search “couches johannesburg”, “furniture johannesburg”, “couches”, […]
Posted inGeneral
Welcome to the Benni McCarthy circus
THE love-hate relationship between perennial country snob Benni McCarthy and Bafana Bafana continued unabated at Nasrec this week. Benni, the lad many folks would love to loathe, is back in the Bafana Bafana squad. And already the bets are going around on whether or not the ‘Prodigal One’ will check-in at the London hotel on […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Of crooked lawyers and the disingenuous RAF
The Road Accident Fund Amendment Act was promulgated with effect from August 1 2008. The much-disputed legislative amendments are intended to provide a more “equitable, fair and transparent [resource] for the victims of road accidents,” over and above ensuring the sustainability of the fund. This all seem justified — or is it? These legislative amendments […]
Posted inNews/Politics
What really happened at Cuito Cuinavale?
In late 1987, South African and UNITA forces clashed with their Cuban and FAPLA counterparts at Cuito Cuinavale in what would be the culminating battle of the so-called “Border War”. Indeed, it has been described as “Africa’s largest land battle since World War II”. But who actually won it? All sides claimed victory and shortly […]
Posted inGeneral
Is it only me, or are lunatic lawyers running the IT asylum?
I would like to share an email with you that, according to its content, may contain information which is confidential, private or privileged in nature. Indeed, I have been advised that I must notify the sender that I am not the stated addressee or such person’s authorised representative. Moreover, I must refrain from printing, copying, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Open borders!
Not far from where I live is a woman who, like many others from her class, have the best of all the worlds possible. She owns a house somewhere here in Yorkshire and one in Cape Town, allowing her to live here for six months during the best of weather conditions in Britain, and to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Entering fortress South Africa
I have had several South African friends and acquaintances complain to me about the difficulty of entering the United States since September 11. A friend of a friend was denied a visa just recently on the ludicrous fear that he would emigrate during his vacation to America. As much as I bemoan this situation and […]