By Ahmed Riaz Mohamed Judge Billy Mothle concluded on 12 October 2017 in the Pretoria High Court that Ahmed Timol—who died after ‘falling’ from the 10th floor of John Vorster Square Police Station—was indeed murdered in 1971 by security branch personnel who first systematically tortured and then pushed him from the building to his death. […]
reconciliation
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
(Ir)Reconciliation Day: A call for a more sober reading of December 16
Today, South Africa observes Reconciliation Day with what can only be assumed to be a healthy dose of sobriety. 2016, infamous for its never-ending, unsuspecting and often unwanted surprises, has also proven to be a contentious year in the socio-political economy of the country. With unemployment reaching a 13-year high last quarter, a number of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Waging peace: A human undertaking
“You and I are simple social by-products,” said Vusi as we engaged in a heated discussion over the weekend. A younger me would have tried to disagree by presenting examples of human exceptionalism. But the week before had been the best mirror to stare at myself and relate to his words. Despite the distance and […]
Posted inEquality, Health, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Black anger management
Many ugly and unfair things were done to blacks under apartheid. The miracle that some people do not believe happened in 1994 is that black people, generally, forgave whites for their sins. They chose to let bygones be bygones, release the hurt and trust that the gesture would significantly contribute to nation building and reconciliation. […]
Posted inEquality, General
The question every white South African has to ask
“What if I were black?” I am beginning to understand as a white person why the fundamental causes of the inequality that persists in South African society have to be addressed, and the critical role that we whites have to play in bringing about changes towards removing inequality. Without white buy-in to the notion of […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Blacks ‘portraying’ victimhood: Gwen Ngwenya’s tall (reckless) ask of a nation
Unfortunately I am about to do something that I’m not often a fan of doing, namely engage in debate on the internet. One thing I’ve learned about the online space is that it is where people often come to take a mental dump due to its accessibility. God bless us all if Twitter decides to […]
Posted inGeneral
A TRC for everyman?
It is happening. Last night in a church in Parktown North, three white Afrikaans men tried to explain how it feels to be white to an audience of almost-exclusively black South Africans. The previous night, in a church in Pretoria, three black men opened up to what it was like to be black, and what […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
I too, am Africa
To debate colonial statues or white privilege in South Africa will not help us to transform society, unless it helps us build the much needed coalitions to do so. Frequent racist incidents and the racial rhetoric in public debates show that our coalitions of trust are floundering. It is not the raw frankness of our […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
10 useless responses to #RhodesMustFall
By Ntokozo Qwabe As the Rhodes Must Fall movement at the University of Cape Town (UCT) approaches its third week, I thought it necessary to put down the 10 most useless responses people have made to it thus far, and jot down useful counter-responses to them. These counter-responses are collated and developed from real responses […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Resilient racism will derail our national transformation project
The Constitution, in its preamble, states that we need to “heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights”. We therefore adopted the theme “a better life for all” as our driving vision to transform our society and eliminate the inequities of the past. […]
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
South Africa’s civil war option
There is something deeply troubling about highly intelligent, rational, and well-respected people contemplating the benefits of civil war. I have observed this at least twice in as many days on my Facebook newsfeed. While certainly not representative of a national mood — or, at least, I hope not — that many of my black friends […]
Posted inEquality, General
Racism, sexism and homophobia: Which prejudice is worse?
By Matthew Beetar Racism is more of a problem than sexism. But sexism is more of a problem than xenophobia, which is less of a problem — occasionally — than homophobia. Transphobia we deal with sometimes, and ageism — what is that even? And dealing with ableism — let’s not take this “reconciliation” thing too […]