Why is it that every time the government does something positive to ensure our safety and security, you lot start moaning and bitching about crime, schools, hospitals and all the other unnecessary crap that we don’t need? I mean what is the point of their making the effort if this is the thanks they’re going […]
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A warm welcome back to the Silwane Files
The avalanche of correspondence from disgruntled Silwane Files regulars wanting a word or eighteen hundred from the quintessential beer chucker and spear chugger has been a bit overwhelming. It was the type of experience that self-important, delusional megalomaniacs are made of. And it didn’t really matter what type of e-mail, telefax or letter I received, […]
Why women are this year’s black
“It’s so unfair — there’s a Women’s Day, so why can’t there be a Men’s Day?” wonder woebegone males countrywide each August. The answer is that every day (including August 9) is in actual fact a man’s day. Yes, we have a Constitution that enshrines gender equality, bodily integrity and reproductive rights. And, undoubtedly, there […]
Puppy buried alive? I’ll bury the bastards
The Pietermaritzburg story about a seven-week-old puppy with two spears driven into it and then buried alive made my blood boil. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s animal cruelty. Imagine the mentality of the human filth that did this. Taking a defenceless animal and inflicting the cruelty of which only our disgusting species […]
In defence of Thabo Mbeki – The Dealmaker!
President Thabo Mbeki has again displayed strength of character and human will, as well as signifying the triumph of eloquent persuasion over destructive populism, grandstanding and mindless theatrics that many of his misguided detractors pressured him towards. Before the mass population of the country was liberated from the tyranny of apartheid, even in the dying […]
Sanzar’s Super 14 quick fix: Too little too late … but Hoskins to the rescue
What is the leadership of Sanzar thinking by announcing a proposed expansion of the Super 14 finals to a Top Six play-offs series next year? This certainly does not address the problematic issues of the tournament. The problem with the Super 14 tournament, whose charisma and television allure, which started 12 years ago in 1996, […]
Fair is foul…!
“Fair is foul and foul is fair!” So wrote Shakespeare in Macbeth four centuries ago, but frankly those words could very easily apply to the ongoing accusations and counter-accusations, whinging and bickering that has characterised the Tri-Nations to date. Everyone has an opinion, everyone has a view about this or that incident or other – […]
Economics – what utter rubbish!
“EVERY man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniences, and amusements of human life.” Adam Smith (1776) It would perhaps be most appropriate before I examine the uselessness and irrelevance, under certain circumstances, of the science that economics is purported to be — to […]
World champions don’t cheat!
Unless Peter de Villiers and the Springboks stop their whinging after losing against the All Blacks last Saturday and focus on playing rugby, they will experience more suffering at the House of Pain in Dunedin this weekend. I have been a staunch Springbok supporter since I saw my very first Test as a primary school […]
Press freedom and philanthropy
Philanthropy has spearheaded major movements globally including the women’s movement, the environmental movement, the hospice movement and now the fight against Aids. In the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa, it was not government or business that acted fast, it was the non-profit sector. This sector is supported by philanthropy and we underestimate the role […]
Springboks: Fear factor
Imagine for a moment you were Peter de Villiers for an hour. Alone. Abandoned. Attacked by your own. 24/7. It seems to me that we are spectators to some grotesque Cape Hunt and Polo Club chase of the fox through the Tokai forest, with the cacophony of baying basset hounds, the tooting of horns and […]
Tripped by the first hurdle
Can we all just take a moment to breathe and inject some perspective into our thinking? Now. So Saturday did not go according to plan. Is it time for panic stations? Not on yer nelly. It says a lot for our national mentality that when our players are entrusted with the freedom to make their […]