By Russel Botman Close on 20 years after South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy through a negotiated political settlement, our country finds itself at a crossroads again. Progress in many areas has been commendable, but in others the pace of change has been far too slow. And in some areas things have actually deteriorated. […]
Jacob Zuma
Posted inNews/Politics
Malawigate, the president is human, all too human
“Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don’t know and I don’t care.” — William Safire One Khoi-Khoi Ramailane publicly posted on Facebook (FB) on 24/10/2013 about the furore regarding the president’s unfortunate remarks earlier in the week. I am sure you know about these remarks and I needn’t quote them again. […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
When Uncle Mac gets spun
Oh, the president’s wit. The president’s wit. What is it, about the president’s wit? Let me just try get a few things out the way: Is there something about his lack of delivery that gets us all riled up instead of laughing? Is it timing? Is it that he does not know his audience well […]
Posted inNews/Politics
President Zuma, not in our name!
It is a very sad day in the life of Africans when those who are tasked with the responsibility of championing unity undermine it. This morning was saddening for the delegation of South Africa that is attending the Land and Agrarian Reform Conference taking place in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana, a delegation that […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mangcu’s attack on Zuma petty
I am disturbed by Xolela Mangcu’s column in which he commands president Jacob Zuma to write a book within six months. He argues that it is Zuma’s responsibility to carry on this tradition of ANC leaders, all of whom have written a book, a journal or made literary contributions to knowledge production. This argument must […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Zuma doesn’t read and other myths
“This is not a pipe,” reads the caption beneath the painting. With only a cursive scribble and signature — “Magritte” — you begin to wonder if this isn’t one of those overdone visual puns. Magritte, the Belgian painter and provocateur is right. This is not a pipe; it is an image of a pipe. One […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Are Africans corrupt?
In a World Economic Forum Davos session titled “De-Risking Africa” — on which presidents Jacob Zuma and Goodluck Jonathan, Sunil Bharti Mittal (Bharti Enterprises), Graham Mackay (SABMiller), and Louise Arbour (International Crisis Group) sat as panellists — President Jacob Zuma took exception to the session’s basic assumption that Africa has a “special case” of corruption. […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, News/Politics
Anatomy of power: Sexual misconduct in South Africa’s polity
Irregular employment practices, furtive, adulterous sex in the workplace, rape, blackmail, secret meetings, power and conspiracy — they’re all there, the ingredients central to any riveting political scandal. But Zwelinzima Vavi’s sexual liaison with a female subordinate is so much more than entertainment for the excitable twitterazzi. Indeed, the sexual misconduct that it illustrates and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
It’s not easy being an ANCYL member these days
Things are getting very interesting in South African politics. They are confusing too. The emergence of the Economic Freedom Fighters has made things worse. Now, imagine that you are a young person, an active member of the ANCYL and also a young worker participating in a Cosatu-aligned union. At every level of your activism you […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Malema’s problems will be over soonish
Let me tell ye how it shall be! The sun will be a blazing mass in the sky, rivers and oceans will run dry, massive swarms of locusts will roam the planet as human beings wither and die, blood will boil and turn to scabs as animals suffocate and drown in their own vomit … […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Finding truth in a culture of secrecy
By Vinayak Bhardwaj The release of the “Nkandla files” reported in last week’s Mail & Guardian was the product of a long battle against a fast-calcifying culture of secrecy in our public bodies. Through bureaucratic delays, misinterpretations of the law and the overuse of “national security” as a basis for non-disclosure, public and private bodies […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Of thieves, crooks, thugs and so on
Business people the world over work to build political connections in order to gain competitive advantage. There is no law that prohibits the creation and existence of such mutual relationships between business and politics. Both are intrinsically linked and cannot exist without the other, especially in a pretentious free-market system. The lowering of ethical standards […]