Thursday was a momentous day in South African democracy. A Chapter 9 institution, empowered by the Constitution, reported on an investigation into the sitting state president and called for the formation of a judicial enquiry into so-called state capture. Notwithstanding the fact that people are innocent until proven guilty, the prima facie evidence is that […]
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Posted inEnvironment, General
Why one should NOT vote for Trump in America this Tuesday
There are many reasons why voters in the United States should not vote for the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, on Tuesday, November 8. These include the fact that he has, on several occasions, shown himself to have a questionable attitude towards women, and generally towards a variety of minority groups in America, at a time […]
Posted inEquality, General
Personality differences across the world
When you travel a lot, as we do, to different parts of the world, encountering people from widely divergent cultures, one might think that you would also come across personalities widely different from those you find in your own culture. However, experience has taught me that this is not the case, and that the divergences […]
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
UCT Black academic caucus statement
21 October 2016 The UCT Black Academic Caucus believes that the current situation at our universities necessitates a national multi-stakeholder solution. The increasing securitisation and violence on our campuses has become untenable and cannot be resolved through negotiations between the executives and student groupings within individual institutions. The student movement that began at the University […]
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
Selfless leadership could fix South Africa
The #FeesMustFall movement is a dress rehearsal for the revolution South Africa will face unless we fix our socio-economic conundrum of inequality, poverty and unemployment. This will require leadership! It will require “bridge builders” who are not beholden to vested interests and can lead for the common good. It will require technical skill to empower […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
#Fallist culture: The emergence of African fascist nationalism
On how notions of pan-Africanist identity, post-apartheid liberation ideology and demographics are coalescing to give rise to African fascist nationalism Across Africa we’ve witnessed the worst of political permutations as she vaunted herself out from under colonial exploitation. In many instances pseudo-democracy was achieved as a facade for a new black capitalist elite that mobilised the […]
Posted inGeneral
#FeesMustFall – Technology innovation income can fund university students
The National Development Plan (NDP) identifies education and innovation as fundamental contributors to South Africa’s development by way of addressing poverty and inequality challenges in society. The NDP goes a step further, in recognising that universities produce new knowledge and find new ways in which to apply existing knowledge. There are very bold (but achievable) […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence
Rape: When the personal becomes political
By Rebecca Helman Rape is both personal and political. It is a deeply personal violation committed by one person against another. But it is also a symptom of a social context in which inequality, disempowerment and violence continue to shape the daily experiences of millions. Within this context it becomes almost impossible to separate the […]
Posted inEquality, General, Media
What ‘decolonisation’ means: E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India
With all the talk about “decolonising” university curricula (see http://thoughtleader.co.za/bertolivier/2016/03/23/decolonisation-the-new-ideology/), which has again cropped up among the demands of the protesting students, I thought it might be productive to remind students and academic staff alike of one of the most eloquent – in fact, together with Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, exemplary – critical literary […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Swazi court strikes the balance between protecting freedom of expression and national security
Last Friday, the Swaziland High Court handed down a significant judgment on the rights to freedom of expression in the context of the protection of national security. The court struck down a number of provisions in the Sedition and Subversive Activities and Suppression of Terrorism Acts on the grounds that they unjustifiably limited the rights […]
Posted inGeneral
“Hair Rules”
by Victoria J. Collis-Buthelezi On Tuesday last I attended a meeting at which a well-meaning colleague seemingly complimented me on my hair. It was in a two-day old flat-twistout and as such looked somewhat more like a stretched ‘fro. “I like your hair,” he began. Not bad, I thought, then came, “ … especially in […]
Posted inEquality, General
The things we do in the name of transformation
I came across the recent cover of Independent Education and I was troubled. It is a picture of a black boy donned in Scottish garb while participating in a parade. The blurb inside the magazine explaining the front cover reads: “About our cover: Grade 10 student Sanele Mboto is the current drum major of the St […]