When two people decide to have a child, is it fair that one of those people gets more paid time away from work to bond with that child? Is it also fair that this situates parental responsibility firmly in the hands of the parent with more leave? In South Africa, women are given up to […]
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Posted inGeneral
SMS the crime fighter
The latest South African crime statistics for 2010/2011 could probably best be summarised as “improving, but could do better”. While there have been reductions in the murder and attempted murder rate, assault, robbery and attacks on policemen — fighting crime should still be at the top of South Africa’s agenda. With SMS being so suited […]
Posted inGeneral
Currie Cup final — good luck to both teams!
When the first overseas team to tour South Africa in 1891 arrived they carried with them a particularly precious bit of cargo. They had a golden cup given to the British Isles squad by Sir Donald Currie, owner of Union-Castle Lines, the shipping company that transported them to the southern tip of Africa. The gold […]
Posted inGeneral
Balotelli fireworks set Old Trafford on fire
Sir Alex Ferguson called it his worst result ever and, considering the fact that two more Manchester City goals would have been enough to win the 2011 Rugby World Cup, it’s not hard to understand where he is coming from. On Sunday, City laid siege to Old Trafford like men possessed while United were given […]
Posted inLifestyle
Why don’t Bryanston people pick up dog poo?
People in Bryanston, I have noticed, don’t pick up dog poo. The people in Parkhurst do. There, not picking up after your dog is considered highly antisocial and will earn you plenty of hipster opprobrium. No sitting at Vovo Telo sipping latte for you. Why do the residents of some suburbs pick up dog poo […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The price of no more Gaddafis? No more Mandelas
Gaddafi may have lost his final battle last night, but South Africa lost the war. As the last country to stand with the embattled “father of the nation” in spite of the West’s determination to get rid of him, South Africa’s international reputation was dragged through the mud as harshly as Gaddafi’s bloodied corpse was […]
Posted inGeneral
Taking on ‘Gareth Cliff on Everything’
It is far easier to collect books than to actually read them. Recently, even the most bookish of my friends report some measure of difficulty in reading a book from start to finish. These are not people who have spent their lives eschewing books. Many of us spent our teenage years lapping up classics with […]
Posted inGeneral
Understanding the brand conversation
Successful migration to a consolidated communications infrastructure begins and ends with successful communication. This sounds like a simple statement, but it carries with it many layers of complexity. Internal communications, the lifeblood of any organisation, is the first mission-critical factor. It should incorporate staff at every level, from security workers through to maintenance, marketing and […]
Posted inLifestyle
Are horoscopes harmless nonsense?
“You’re in your element, especially as it seems things are coming together in your career,” intones the Your Stars section in my mother’s copy of You magazine. I like that. That makes sense, especially as I have just made some major changes at work. Pity then that this is for Capricorn, so doesn’t apply to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Was Loyiso Gola the Zuma assassin?
Over the weekend South African President Jacob Zuma confirmed that, while he was still the deputy president, there had been a plot to have him assassinated, which was only thwarted because his loyal bodyguards refused to become involved. Along the lines of Valkyrie without the knobkerrie. Yet by mid-morning Monday only News24 and iAfrica have […]
Posted inGeneral
God wants your vote
Does God have a vote? That’s the provocatively flippant title to an analysis on the role of religion in a secular South Africa, published in the liberal Helen Suzman Foundation’s Focus magazine. To any South African the answer would seem blindingly obvious. Not only does the local version of the deity have a vote, but […]
Posted inLifestyle
My year of panic
Yesterday I spotted Nianell, the singer, on the front page of a magazine with revelations of her panic attacks and depression. It’s interesting how many celebrity depression stories are running these days, usually in You and Huisgenoot. There once was a time when nobody would come out of the depression closet, but now it’s much […]