This week, “compound” joined refugee as an apparently innocuous word that has become the centre of a debate around racism. The circumstances under which they were used are quite different, but both presented our national spin doctors with gift-wrapped opportunities to distract the public and their supporters from real issues of delivery and corruption. In […]
Nkandla
Posted inNews/Politics
South Africa, a democracy only in form
I’ve come to despise elections because they’ve been used to warp democracy. Invariably, each time I’ve said this, one of you lot has had a conniption because you’ve misinterpreted this as me saying people should not vote. Don’t assume. Read — and exercise your atrophied comprehension muscle. There’s an accounting principle known as substance over […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zumaville: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
It’s with utter disgust and disbelief to think that “sane” people could take such acts or decisions. This by itself is not the decisive factor, it’s the fact that you have individuals and organisations that see absolutely nothing wrong with this. How is it that this clique — bound by corruption, incompetency, greed, looting, lack […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The ANC: Standing on the shoulders of pygmies
How inspiring it is to watch one generation building on the achievements of another. In this case, an African National Congress (ANC) government embracing the jurisprudence of secrecy so finely spun by its predecessors, the National Party (NP). One can just imagine the worried frowns in President Jacob Zuma’s cabinet when City Press revealed that […]
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Chief Zuma’s Nkandla the last straw
While growing up I remember noticing the glaring inequalities in my village of Ga-Mamabolo, rural Limpopo, when it came to the local chief and residents. There was an abnormal respect for the chiefs and indunas that led them to think they could siphon money from the residents to enrich themselves, with impunity. For example there […]
Posted inNews/Politics
To Mangaung and beyond
So what happens after Mangaung? What happens to the main role-players whose names are being bandied about in the media and their supporters? How will the results affect the contesting leaders, the ANC itself and most importantly how will it affect SA? There are only two results that can emerge out of Mangaung if the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Going bonkers over bunkers
So, this is where we find ourselves in 2011. We have, north of the continent, the now deceased Muammar Gaddafi — notwithstanding his bunkers from which he ultimately had to run away from, not because they did not provide him with enough comfort, but because they could not withstand the people’s will. We now, unbelievably […]