Dear Donald Trump, Thank you! In the days following the election I have seen numerous articles highlighting the follies of your choices, the irresponsibility of your comments, the virulence of your campaigning and the divisiveness of your words. In spite of all this, I would like to take a moment and say thank you. Thank […]
nation building
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
Selfless leadership could fix South Africa
The #FeesMustFall movement is a dress rehearsal for the revolution South Africa will face unless we fix our socio-economic conundrum of inequality, poverty and unemployment. This will require leadership! It will require “bridge builders” who are not beholden to vested interests and can lead for the common good. It will require technical skill to empower […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Mandela delivered the transition we desperately needed
It’s not surprising that the anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death generated reflection on the course we’re following as a nation. Some veered on the negative. But rather than denigrate those who express them, we should instead pay attention, listen and engage rationally with them. Doing so will anchor further freedom of speech, which is the […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
The national question in South Africa
It is not easy to ignore the national question in South Africa, particularly presently, both in the context of 20 years of democracy and also given the troubling discourse by certain seemingly regressive people and or institutions. It is also hard to overlook this paramount issue of the national question when one observes the socio-economic […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Klein Karoo National Arts Festival: Close, but no cigar
Just before the weekend I learned that the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival (KKNK) had recently posted a Facebook statement informing the public that Steve Hofmeyr would not be performing at this year’s festival. The post continued to say that Hofmeyr had not, in fact, applied to participate, but that even if he had, the […]
Posted inGeneral
Finding heart beyond heat and ice
By Barbara Nussbaum South Africa’s high drama over Speargate has touched people deeply. Opinions have been thrown in every direction, from every corner. As we engage further in public debate in the media, we need individually and collectively to identify the many layers that make the complexity of the moment so profound. We need to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why I love e-tolls (and you should too)
CEOs are not the sort of people we usually pay much attention to. Unless you’re Steve Jobs, excitement about corporate reshuffling doesn’t extend much beyond the business community. Except when you’re CEO of the most hated organisation in South Africa right now. Then you become the top trending topic on Twitter and everybody is happy […]
Posted inGeneral
Biff and Knorr: Building a nation
There is absolutely no truth in the spurious claims made by some analysts that South Africans lack sufficient common ground with which to transcend their differences in race, culture and religion and become a united people. Quite the contrary. There are in fact many strange and idiosyncratic occurrences which we all have to endure on […]
Posted inLifestyle
‘Come Dine With Me’ like Lamb(s) to the slaughter
Come Dine With Me South Africa on the BBC Entertainment network, part of the DStv package, is undoubtedly the funniest show on television and this is down to the fact that its narrator, David Lamb from Sussex in England, delivers razor sharp commentary on everything and anything the contestants get up to. The 42-year-old Englishman, […]