By Takura Zhangazha The failure of the African Union (AU) to elect a new chairperson for its commission on January 30 points to a seriously divided continental body. Had this been an election based merely on the popularity or campaign skills of the two candidates Jean Ping and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, it would not warrant analysis […]
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Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Weathering the South African Weather Service Amendment Bill storm
By Steve Pike The people have spoken, and the government has listened. But the question remains: has the South African Weather Service (Saws) listened? Positive outcomes in Parliament are pending after the public hearing last week on the draft South African Weather Service Amendment Bill, driven by assurances from ANC MP Johnny de Lange that […]
Posted inGeneral
“Philosopher” Stephen Hawking pronounces philosophy dead
At the recent philosophy conference at UCT in Cape Town, philosopher Callum Scott, from UNISA, presented an intriguing paper – “The death of philosophy: A response to Stephen Hawking” – on the 2010 book by physicists Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, The Grand Design (Bantam Books). In a nutshell, Scott offered a critique of Hawking […]
Posted inGeneral
Julius Malema: Why he will be missed
Juju bashing isn’t as much fun as it used to be. If you type Malema into Google, the second suggestion the browser makes is “Malema jokes”. The latest one is that his girlfriend has twins and Malema is wondering which of them is his. I’m not entirely comfortable with such jokes; I know some people […]
Posted inGeneral
Ubuntu, a cliché not a philosophy
Ubuntu, like many other words and concepts one comes across at a young age, has been a part of my reservoir of knowledge for so large a part of my life that it is impossible, save with the intervention of hypnotherapy, to pinpoint the first time I heard or understood it. One rarely came across […]
Posted inEquality
Why unequal gender relations are bad for everyone
Bathing in the warm, fuzzy glow of pay day, my boyfriend and I decided to head out for a drink this past Friday evening. We had set out later than planned, and it was a dark but warm night. The roads were busy, and we made our way from Illovo towards Melville via Parkhurst. The […]
Posted inGeneral
As uncertainty deepens, the human condition further worsens
In a compelling poem by the great African intellectual giant Amílcar Cabral, a powerful ‘story’ of Return is told. A relatively young Cabral, in his 20s, published a timeless poem that remains relevant – though written in 1949 – even today. It is worth presenting a couple of verses from it: Old Mama, come and […]
Posted inGeneral
Why is SARU waiting until January 27?
Detective Jimmy McNulty once said in The Wire, when referring to lives on the street versus the way politics interacts with those lives, “It just never connects.” He was known to be a brilliant detective, but self-destructive, at the cost of those around him, with his partner Bunk Moreland once stating, “You’re no good for people, Jimmy.” […]
Posted inGeneral
The weird, warm hospitality in Chinese toilet signs
I stared in awe and envy at the large sign above the public loo. “Come, easy go in rushing”. Me being me, the Freudian meaning first sparkled through my mind: “Take it slowly as you build up to a climax”. Well, I knew the sign could not have that steamy meaning even though loads of […]
Posted inBusiness
Why can’t we get ourselves out of this sticky mess?
By Roger Diamond The news is oozing with opinions on the Eurozone crisis, debt defaults, bailouts and why eating baklava is about to be banned. Although there is plenty of merit in getting stuck into the details of easing the pain of recession and finding short term solutions to employment, liquidity and keeping the monetary […]
Posted inGeneral
Would YOU let a bricklayer investigate your prostate gland?
According to a recent report, dentistry, as a profession, faces extinction. This is very worrisome. Much as we all hate dentists, we cannot live without them. Dentists do terrible things to our mouths, but we need them. We need their expertise. Without the art of dentistry, I would have looked much worse on photographs and […]
Posted inBusiness
Economics for ordinary people
I write a weekly economics preview for the Mail & Guardian Online. Every Monday morning, before South Africa’s markets open, I preview the noteworthy economic events and data releases likely to generate headlines and move markets in the week ahead. The economic events that I cover vary significantly from one week to the next. One […]