I was feeling black and blue on Mother’s Day because I am, now, motherless. My mother, Nomali, is dead. For the first time in many years, I spent Mother’s Day without her. My soul felt so empty that I could not even bring myself to take flowers to her fresh grave. She was buried six […]
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Posted inGeneral
Manto-style madness from Mpumalanga
Whoever said that the wheels of justice grind slowly must have had Dr Malcolm Naude in mind. Almost seven years ago, he was dismissed from Nelspruit’s Rob Ferreira Hospital. At the time, government would not provide post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) — a course of antiretroviral (ARV) medicines to reduce the risk of infection following exposure to […]
Posted inGeneral
Treasuring our heritage will bring us together
Viewing the grave of the Xhosa chief Ngqika a few years ago affected me deeply, but not in the way I expected. Nestling in the foothills of the Amatolas on the site of Ngqika’s “Great Place”, it was once regarded as semi–sacred by the Xhosa, a shrine that became the focus of their national yearnings. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Conspiracy theories and the Zuma presidency
President Thabo Mbeki utilised state machinery to frame an innocent Jacob Zuma to get rid of the political threat posed by his (then) deputy. This is an assertion that has been whispered privately for years, with a few brave souls uttering it out loud in public. My brain is simplistic enough to believe that there […]
Posted inGeneral
More thoughts on the importance of universities
In my last posting I ended by talking of the beneficial ‘enlightenment’ effects of a certain approach to scientific disciplines. There I used the term ‘enlightenment’ advisedly, and what I had in mind is its historico–philosophical meaning, especially in light of the so–called postmodern temperament of the present era. As everyone should know, the historical […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Don’t blame racist students — blame their parents
Just a week ago a young white male was mercilessly beaten at the University of Johannesburg by other white males for standing with a black girl. In February, the same university had an incident of a black male forced into a cold shower for some four hours. Now another race driven incident repeats itself, in […]
Posted inSport
Rewriting the record books
Not even the passage of 27 years and two World Cup victories have been enough to exorcise the horror of that moment. 16-3 down at half-time in the deciding Test of the 1981 New Zealand tour, the Boks had miraculously fought back to level the scores at 22-all, with only injury-time left. But referee Clive […]
Posted inGeneral
So, Mr Zuma: Those high fuel prices bothering you too?
Dear Mr Zuma When you voiced your concern in a speech last week about escalating fuel prices, you can be sure that every single South African, with the exception perhaps of the current Cabinet incumbents and a few hardarses at Sasol, would have been more than willing to forgive you all your past indecretions including […]
Posted inNews/Politics
More Manto than Manto
It’s really hard to take anything Peggy Nkonyeni says seriously. As MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), home to about one in four people living with HIV in South Africa and the epicentre of the global extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB epidemic, Nkonyeni is the epitome of arrogance, incompetence and malevolence. Every time she opens […]
Posted inGeneral
Do South Africans have a ‘loser’ mentality?
“Yaapies” is how the Australian writer Malcolm Knox referred to South African cricketers in his 2005 novel Adult Book. Some may take exception to this, but it has to be acknowledged that he also manages to sum up very neatly what is wrong not just with our national cricket team, but with the South African […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The chief with Taiwanese blood and politainment
One of the reasons I have steadfastly steered clear of writing about politics (if you ignore my alarming ignorance on politics) is because I find politics excruciatingly boring. I’d rather spend eighteen hours a day picking prickly pears without gloves than spend fifteen minutes watching that insomnia-busting nothingness called Parliament Live featuring a riveting debate […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Hillary and the happy ending
It’s time to come clean. Against my better judgment, I think I may have had a soft spot for Hillary. Just a few weeks ago, I dreamt that the two of us were walking hand–in–hand. She was unusually charming. I was feeling guilty for not supporting her bid to become America’s next top commander. And […]