While much has been made of Jacob Zuma’s stature — and in particular his championing of the poor and oppressed — I, as a result of my ignorance of factors on the ground, would like to make a few observations and ask some questions. First of all, there is no doubting the ANC president’s charm […]
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Posted inLifestyle
Fan fiction: Improving youth literacy
For many fans of Harry Potter, the last book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, does not signify the end of the story. There are thousands of young people who write their own additions to, subplots within, and alternative endings or continuations to the world of sorcery and Hogwarts. At the time […]
Posted inGeneral
Pushing the satanist agenda just coz I can
Thought Leader is a Mail & Guardian-hosted blogging forum. Because of the content of the newspaper, an unsuspecting reader should be forgiven for going into Thought Leader expecting to read mostly political content. It therefore seems reasonable that if our hypothetical reader came upon a blog entitled The Silwane Files, Ndumiso Ngcobo with a picture […]
Posted inLifestyle
On polygamy
It has only been two generations of Zulu men that have toiled with the idea of monogamy as the only marital-institution option. Before that, Zulu men were quite openly polygamous. This was the norm rather than the shunned upon exception that is the case in our anglicised society today. If you had not noticed, ladies […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
JZ killed the weekly newsletter
The Sunday Times has welcomed the fact that Jacob Zuma won’t continue the tradition of a weekly ANC president’s e-comment. The implication being: we no longer have to wade through screeds/screens of high-brow discourse each week. Au contraire — the change means there will be even fewer opportunities to get a handle on JZ’s thinking […]
Posted inMedia, Sport
Arriving in a war zone
Saturday January 19 — Richard Calland As you sweep into the centre of Accra, the sight is uplifting. The Black Star. It adorns the Arc de Triomphe-like building around which the traffic spins. Actually, there are four stars, facing out north, south, east and west. Which is convenient: the Ghana football team are known as […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
The curious incident of the ratings agency and the developmental state
Something strange happened last week. An international credit ratings agency told us we should act more like a developmental state. Standard & Poors — which does credit ratings of countries and large companies — warned that South Africa’s power utility Eskom needed a financial injection from the government in order to cover the costs of […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Eish! Our divided country
I don’t normally respond to comments on my writing. I believe that writers have the first word and should not necessarily have the last word. But the beauty of the internet and blogs is that no one really has the last word. The blog writer starts a debate that can continue as long as needed. […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Tiger Brands, give us our daily bread!
The past week, I have been busy taking electricity-evading classes from my township mates in preparation for the 14,2% electricity price increase. Just as I was beginning to learn the basics of electricity evasion, an announcement arrived that said bread would increase in price too. In this blog I was going to talk about electricity, […]
Posted inLifestyle
The Magnificent Seven and one survivor
Apology: This is quite a long blog. Please bear with me. There are seven facets to each person’s being for the duration he or she is on this planet and in this common dimension. These facets are in a constant state of flux and change; something like a lava lamp, except they’re all connected — […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Tired of this shit
Like many other South Africans this morning, I am pissed off about the electricity thing. Irritated by traffic lights being down. Annoyed about having to eat cold left-overs by the light of my head-torch. Inconvenienced by delayed meetings. Flabbier for missed squash games due to closed gyms. And poorer in ways I haven’t had the […]
Posted inGeneral
TL representation: Some digressions on bloggers, power and ideas in society
Thought Leader is doing collective introspection on its race and gender representation, and in some cases in denial about the problem. I hope that this blog adds a little to the debate. It’s a little bit theoretical at first, but it gets practical — with a couple of digressions on the way. Edward Said in […]