Private parts are just that. They are private. And even though the president is not exactly a private citizen, his privates have no place in the public arena. Not everyone agrees of course. It is, after all, the way of democracy but it seems even democracy has a nasty divisive side to it. The Spear […]
Jacob Zuma
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Murray’s painting mirrors Zuma’s life
I had already started writing my angry views about my president unzipped and exposed. When I started, I wrote it as a man, a black man, Saartjie Baartman’s brother, as someone raised by my grandmother with a moral stick. And I had joined in solidarity with those who are angry about the way President Jacob […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
High Court of the Executive: Zuma’s remission of sentences
On April 27 1994 all South Africans could vote for the first time to mark a new era of equality and justice for all. This stands in stark contrast to how the rule of law, criminal justice and equality in the execution of criminal sentences are viewed by the executive today. Last Friday it was […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Frank Chikane’s cautionary tale
Thabo Mbeki “looked like a soldier who was ready to die, if he had to, for the sake of his country; a lamb to be slaughtered for a cause”. This is Frank Chikane’s description of his leader waiting for word from the ANC on whether Mbeki was to step down from office. Chikane, who was […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
The ANC is not a broad church but a narrow cult
One of the most frightening episodes of my entire life was the time when, years ago, as a young man, I got sucked into a bizarre fanatical religious cult. No, I’m not talking about the Dutch Reformed Church. Neither am I referring to Facebook. Neither of these organisations were quite as demented as the particular […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Playing the victim: Malema’s survival strategy
ANC Youth League president Julius Malema and company have the ruling party exactly where they want it to be – i.e. they have got the ANC to mete out the harshest punishment possible. To their credit, I’m sure the ANC itself knows exactly where Malema wants it to be. It has become clear that Malema […]
Posted inNews/Politics
A lesson in political brinkmanship
President Jacob Zuma’s biggest strength is simply that most of us, including embattled ANC Youth League President Julius Malema, underestimate him. We look so much at his blunders and gaffes that we forget that he has in fact been a leader in the ANC for decades and has vast experience in that regard. We also […]
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The days of our politicians’ lives
By Gosiame Legoale I have a president who has an affinity for showers and an appetite for women, matched only by my imagination when boastfully declaring to any who would care to listen exactly how many skirts I’ve accounted for. I have a deputy president who has no official deputy first lady to utilise as […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Courting disaster: Is there a con in Constitution?
No head of state, whether they’re a monarch, an elected president or the ruler of a party in office, can be happy seeing their decisions made null and void or the laws they pass overturned by some other authority. In his 2010 State of the Union address, President Obama said, “With all due deference to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
How spooky is President Zuma?
Boss, the old apartheid Bureau of State Security, is back, says Laurie Nathan, director of the Centre for Mediation in Africa. A process of ‘Stasi-fication’ is underway, claims DA MP David Maynier. What they are referring to is the proposed Intelligence General Laws Amendment Bill, the latest assault by the executive through the legislature on […]
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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 inNews/Politics
Dreams From Mangaung
For every occasion, there is an instance so poignant only the willfully blind and the intentionally deaf can miss it. Such moments tend to happen outside and in spite of the rehearsed and the orchestrated. They can be dramatic or surreal. In the FIFA World Cup of 2006, such a definitive moment occurred in the […]