OK, so we know now that we are not Zimbabwe. It will take a whole lot longer before we know clearly what we are — or, rather, what we are becoming. The key implication of the Zuma victory is, surely, the point made by some grassroots delegates and a few commentators this week: that it […]
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Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Gear: A bureaucratic story, and some tough questions and challenges
“Asiyifuni Gear [We do not want Gear].” This was a common slogan by unionists in response to the government’s Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy. It reflected opposition to Gear. Eleven years later, Gear is still hotly debated. Recently, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel offered a spirited defence of the consultation process leading up to Gear. Manuel, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
No, dear, that’s not mob rule — it’s called democracy
We say we want democracy — but we don’t seem to like it much when we see it. How else to interpret the breast-beating from commentators and some delegates here at Polokwane after the opening day of the ANC conference? Most of us no doubt know by now that day one of Polokwane was a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
A blogger in Polokwane … an experiment gone wrong
I believe in affirmative action. This noble policy has ensured that this blogger has had plenty of experience with being thrown into the deep end and expected to sink swim. It’s old news by now that it seems that I have made history by being the first blogger to gain accreditation for the Mecca of […]
Posted inLifestyle
The chilli chocolate circus
Madame Zingara’s Theatre of Dreams, outside Montecasino in Johannesburg, is a truly fantabulistic, out-of-this-world experience. It’s so fresh, so original and so much fun. From the second you walk into the giant circus-like tent, you feel yourself transported to another world. A world where bohemian rhapsody, funny hats and the abstractly bizarre all meet in […]
Posted inGeneral
Merre Christmas
Modderdam Road runs from the N2 highway into the centre of beautiful downtown Bellville, part of greater Cape Town. I’ve been driving the four or so kilometers of the road to the University of the Western Cape every day for 10 years. Modderdam is a microcosm of the world we live in: vistas of development […]
Posted inLifestyle
Inquest: Diana’s letters to Dodi and a few I’ve received from Mr Lombard
I’ve been reading a few articles about Princess Diana’s inquest and in particular the letters that she wrote to Dodi Fayed. They are very touching and go right to the heart of the tragedy: a sensitive soul who becomes princess, only to be scorned by a rather cruel and insensitive prince. In Dodi she finds […]
Posted inLifestyle
(One of) my best friends’ (gay) wedding
I am excited. Having been part of the crowd that brought you same-sex marriage, I get to attend my very first civil union ceremony in early January. But not only that, I also get to organise a bachelor’s party. To be frank, I haven’t a clue what to do. Does one follow “tradition” — drunken […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The sinister Marc Dutroux cover-up (part one)
It’s worth reminding ourselves of the events surrounding Belgian paedophile abductor Marc Dutroux. Institutions that are meant to protect society can sometimes contribute to misdeeds of the most sinister kind. The Dutroux case was characterised by deliberate police incompetence and behind-the-scenes murder of witnesses. In June 1995, two eight-year-old friends, Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, […]
Posted inGeneral
The trial of John Tengo Jabavu for (mis)representing African opinion
Some friends asked me to attend a day-long talk shop by some of the country’s to opinion-leaders at some white university now the other day. I did not have to think hard before I answered with a resounding: “I am not particularly interested!” They were quiet for a minute before they answered: “This is so […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Jacob Zuma: The vote of the squatter camp
A fair amount of drama is happening in the old homeland this weekend. It’s the Mbeki-Zuma stand-off in the high street, guns at the ready. For the bulk of the white population, as well as some of the black diamonds (a name given to the emerging black middle class), this is a scary time. The […]
Posted inLifestyle
Raising a generation of substance abusers
Last week Friday, my company held its year-end function. You can imagine how important such an occasion is. Free booze and food and, of course, the whole dress-up-to-a-theme thing and the bad decisions regularly made by aesthetically pleasing females meant that I missed the slaughtering of a bovine creature feature on Friday at my cousin’s […]