Simple equality of opportunity will fail to address the reality of racialised socioeconomic inequalities
Affirmative Action
Posted inEnvironment, General, News/Politics
Two dozen questions for the President
Dear President Ramaphosa, I have two dozen questions for you, please feel free to answer them in the comments section below. 1. Where are the success stories from Affirmative Action and Black Empowerment, that say the deserving beneficiaries as connected have started new businesses, not simply borrowed money to buy into existing businesses, that were […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Stealing black people’s pain
By Gcobani Qambela and Simamkele Dlakavu The results of the last South African census revealed a South Africa deeply divided along racial lines, with the black majority “still at the bottom of the rung” according to President Jacob Zuma. In terms of average annual income, a white household earns about R365 000 while a black household […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
The white angst of Red October
Singer and aspirant politician Steve Hofmeyr delivered a heart-wrenching ode to the splendours and disappointments of Afrikaner white masculinity at the Red October march in Pretoria. But to get an even better sense of the thinking behind the campaign, just look at the two sponsors of its website: Comfizone and the Pistols Saloon. It’s so […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
JSC race, merit debate must not bring judiciary into disrepute
As SA matures, South Africans must take time to reflect on the foundation they’re erecting their democracy on. Such introspection demands asking tough and uncomfortable questions. They cannot be answered based only on politics, knowledge or experience. The answers will require foresight and a vision of a future (and better) South Africa. One such uncomfortable […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Black diamonds sold out
The deep rumbles of discontent that have exploded into an orgy of violence among the poor in Marikana and other flashpoints are the stigma of the depravation of “black diamonds” who constitute the growing black middle class. Over the last 18 years, especially with the advent of affirmative action and black economic empowerment, we have […]
Posted inNews/Politics
How far we’ve fallen
By Rafique Gangat As SA’s first career diplomat of colour, I am pained to learn of what is happening to my beloved country. I took part in the painful struggle for freedom and eventually shared in the joy of liberation and democracy in 1994 and since then worked tirelessly to build the new SA. My […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Only an apartheid president would defend apartheid
It’s amazing how many whites keep singing the song that apartheid was a heinous crime against humanity, that it was inhumane, and that they didn’t support it. It’s also amazing how they become silent corroborators when apartheid villains like FW de Klerk go on international public platforms not only to justify apartheid but to actually […]