Last week, DA chief whip John Steenhuisen announced small changes to the DA’s shadow cabinet. Most notably senior DA MP, and Wilmot James’ unsuccessful leadership campaign manager, David Maynier, was moved from defence to finance; while newcomer, Michael Cardo, was moved to economic development. Gareth van Onselen, a fierce critic of incumbent DA leader Mmusi […]
Lindiwe Mazibuko
Posted inNews/Politics
How Helen Zille turned the DA upside down and inside out
Politics nowhere is for sissies. But South African politics is particularly vicious — a cesspit of blind hatred and vitriol, possibly unsurpassed among the democracies. Today’s leaders of both the governing African National Congress and the opposition Democratic Alliance have been particularly targeted. That they stoically endure this abuse is a measure of the resilient […]
Posted inEquality, General, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Was Helen Zille done in by her race obsession?
Helen Zille’s shock resignation as leader of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA) has triggered intense speculation as to who will replace her. Given the party’s federal congress is less than a month away, palace intrigue dominates all discussion. However, most suggest that Mmusi Maimane, the party’s parliamentary leader, is the hot favourite to win. Zille’s […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Reducing Zille-Mazibuko saga to race a dangerous game
By Kameel Premhid and Dan de Kadt In a recent article for the Mail & Guardian, Verashni Pillay, an associate editor, argues that “white mentors need a wake-up call”. Her central thesis is that white mentors are prone to feeling a sense of ownership over their “black protégés” and that they struggle to cope when […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
What Lindiwe Mazibuko means to me…
By Lindelwe Dube While there might be some merit in the speculation over Lindiwe Mazibuko’s reasons for departing, it’s important the impact she’s had on young, black women is not lost in the noise. Politics is often thought of as a business for old men. Her entry into and triumph in a male-dominated environment, which […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mazibuko: W(h)ither the truth?
What is the “truth” regarding Lindiwe Mazibuko’s resignation as parliamentary leader? Last week I wrote a short opinion piece on the Sunday Times’ bombshell revelation “Shock as Mazibuko quits DA”, critiquing the paper for its misleading headline, articulating my splenetic disrelish of this new episode of “South African-politics-as-Days-of-Our-Lives”, and praising Mazibuko for her courageous decision […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Cinderella and the ugly sisters take it public
The South African electorate had its Cinderella moment at the May 7 Ball – briefly courted and feted. Now it’s back to the domestic drudgery of the other 364 days of the year – abused and ignored until the local elections role around in two years’ time. Unfortunately, unlike as in the fairy tale, there […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SA owes Mazibuko a thank you
The Sunday Times carried the headline “Shock as Mazibuko quits DA”. The print version of the paper carried the sub-heading “Move kept under wraps and party leader Zille told only later yesterday”. Beyond this the front page of the paper conveyed precious little information — half of the expanse of the page being taken up […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The Democratic Alliance does the Time Warp again
The normally smug and steady Democratic Alliance has over the past month metamorphosised into South Africa’s political equivalent of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. This dizzying plunge through a Verwoerdian time warp was triggered by the Employment Equity Amendment Bill (EEAB), which prescribes swingeing penalties for private sector companies that don’t meet the government’s rigid […]
Posted inEquality
Forget the skirt, arrest the fashion police!
If Lindiwe Mazibuko and Angie Motshekga appear poles apart politically, there is one reality they have shared socially — being subjected to public sexist insults. Mazibuko’s case is only the latest in a number of public incidents where women are dismissed on the basis of body, age and dress — that age old language of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
10 African leaders turning to twitter
By David Smith Nana Akufo-Addo (@nadaa2012) Leader of the New Patriotic party and presidential candidate in Ghana. 1 640 tweets 35 following 6 132 followers The opposition leader is hoping social media can propel him to victory in forthcoming elections. One of numerous recent tweets declared: “In #48days, we will go to the polls to decide between […]
Posted inGeneral
The DA rocks
The leader of the Democratic Alliance may still be proved correct when she trumpeted that the party’s march on Cosatu House “will come to be seen as a turning point in South Africa”. In Johannesburg last Tuesday, the march led by Helen Zille and MP Lindiwe Mazibuko escalated into a violent street fight after members […]