The word liberal traces its history back to the Latin liber, which means “free”. Author and founding member of the Liberal Party in South Africa, Alan Paton, described this body of thought as such: “By liberalism I don’t mean the creed of any party or any century. I mean a generosity of spirit, a tolerance […]
race
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
On asking the right questions
Recently the BBC published an article by Hugh Schofield entitled “Why does France insist school pupils master philosophy?” His answer, seen through paternal eyes, is that it has opened a “world of knowledge” to his daughter. Reading the article in/from South Africa one could ask, as is the liberal trend, whose knowledge is being reproduced, […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Where is the black conservative in South Africa?
By Melo Magolego The deafening umbrage surrounding the DA’s use of Mandela in DA posters makes me curious. What has made people so flustered about the appropriation of the Mandela brand by the DA? I find reasons focusing on the veracity and accuracy of the claims about the track record of Helen Suzman wholly uninteresting. […]
Posted inEquality
The black ‘middle class’ and its white tendencies
There are two groups of people that I have a serious problem with in this country: white people and the black “middle class”. I won’t discuss my problem with white people because that could take forever as there are actually many problems I have with that group of people. What I want to discuss today […]
Posted inEquality
Blacks must stop sucking up to whites
I would have loved to write this article in my own native language, but Thought Leader does not make allowance for its black columnists to write in a language understood by most of the 42 million blacks in our country. It is a guideline of the blog that we must write in a language historically […]
Posted inGeneral
Racists
“Jean-Louis Belavoix had stood up amid the applause that followed Bates’s exhibition, and had begun all at once to speak in a loud voice. ‘How absurd, Mr Bates!’ He called down. ‘Are we really to believe that men differ from each other simply because of the funny angle under their noses? Is that why the […]
Posted inEquality
My daughter is black, I am white
By Janine Preesman My daughter is black, I am white. She currently speaks three languages, Dutch, which is her home language because it is mine, Afrikaans, because she started attending a pre-school that was predominantly Afrikaans and now, English, because since the beginning of this year she started attending a new pre-school, which is English […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
JSC race, merit debate must not bring judiciary into disrepute
As SA matures, South Africans must take time to reflect on the foundation they’re erecting their democracy on. Such introspection demands asking tough and uncomfortable questions. They cannot be answered based only on politics, knowledge or experience. The answers will require foresight and a vision of a future (and better) South Africa. One such uncomfortable […]
Posted inEquality
Black people are poor, not stupid
I am terribly annoyed by academics and political analysts in this country. It has become a Herculean task for me to even read their works and research based on the conditions of black people, particularly in the townships and rural areas. Most of these academic papers and articles, whatever issue they deal with, however different […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
There are many Oranias in SA
By Athambile Masola As a product of a Eurocentric, former white educational institution, I was once very quick to embrace non-racialism (that race should no longer be used as a marker to understand our experiences). I’ve been living in Cape Town for over a year and have come face to face with the politics of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The problem in SA is not the ANC
The oldest liberation movement on the continent, the African National Congress, is facing a crisis of great magnitude. Not only are there power struggles within the organisation but a sense of resignation towards the organisation in broader society. The masses have evolved from a state of defeatism — induced by the post-1994 euphoria — to […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
White South Africans are victims too
On March 17 1992 the National Party, under former president FW de Klerk’s leadership, asked white South Africans a difficult question in the form of a referendum. The question was: “Do you support the continuation of the reform process which the state president began on February 2 1990 and which is aimed at a new […]