I’ve been talking to a lot of people lately. The young tech entrepreneurs and artists I met at Culture Shift. The 40-something filmmaker, writer and consultant I first encountered at an idea orgy (where ideas mate to produce new ideas). The marketing guru inspired by the potential for technology to inspire new social movements. The […]
Madiba
Posted inGeneral
Those who hate Mandela
I have never thought harder about whether or not to publish a piece. I do not want to write this piece, but feel compelled because I cannot sit quietly by as Nelson Mandela is rubbished by people who would divide and rule us. We should not jump to their bait, but be aware of the […]
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
Mandela and the Dalai Lama
So damaging was the fall-out over South Africa’s denying the Dalai Lama a visa when he wished to attend a peace conference a couple of years ago that it was hard to imagine such a blunder being repeated. At the time, it was perhaps the most egregious example of the last administration’s penchant for shloeping […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Dalai Lama’s visa delay shows up SA leaders’ moral bankruptcy
It was wonderful to see those two old pals and rogues, Archbishop Tutu and the Dalai Lama in a photo on the front page of the Mail & Guardian online, September 27. Excited, I thought they had met up in South Africa. Alas, it was an old picture and the story made it clear that […]
Posted inGeneral
When do we start owning our true character?
South Africans, well most of us anyway, say we see former president Nelson Mandela as a symbol of dignity, pride, measure and humility. Which of course is why when the great statesman was in hospital last week, we were egging on the media vultures who hovered at the hospital hoping to pick up and sensationalise […]
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For heaven’s sake, leave Mandela alone
By Tim Fish South Africans are melodramatic. We celebrate our successes with exceptional vigour. Think of the TshabalaIa goal celebration against Mexico or Bafana Bafana’s victory against France in the World Cup. On this end of the spectrum the melodrama is to be admired and embraced. It is good to celebrate victories. It is unifying. […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Me and Nelson Mandela
I love to cook and so there came a point during the struggle, where I gave up full-time journalism, became a full-time activist, part of the underground, and after long, endless meetings, would cook for strugglistas. Murphy Morobe loved my veal Marengo, Cyril Ramaphosa would call at 11pm after going to mines and speaking to […]
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Queer for Madiba
The Community of Mandela Rhodes Scholars (CMRS) is a rather queer and gay snapshot of a utopian society. Queer in the sense of it being “different” or “strange”, and gay because CMRS gatherings are often jubilant and joyous occasions. But beyond the archaic and now dated uses of these terms, the CMRS has proven to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Letter to Madiba
I jumped up and down, vigorously waving my arms and flashing my biggest smile towards you when you appeared briefly at Soccer City with Mamana Graça at the final World Cup game between Spain and the Netherlands. Nearly a hundred thousand people at the stadium and millions of others all over the world were doing […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Thank goodness the Madiba magic failed
Bafana’s blessed departure gives SA a chance to display maturity in another way, by not always expecting to be the centre of attention.
Posted inNews/Politics
‘Winnie had no business criticising Mandela’
Recently, we had the privilege to witness what could be called a catfight between two legendary women. The one, Nadira Naipaul — a writer — had the pen and the other, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela — a symbol of resistance — had the word. Between the two lies a truth that has only been whispered for the […]