As an undergraduate student, Bert Olivier discovered Philosophy more or less by accident, but has never regretted it. Because Bert knew very little, Philosophy turned out to be right up his alley, as it were, because of Socrates's teaching, that the ... read more
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On our Reader Blog, we invite Thought Leader readers to submit one-off contributions to share their opinions on politics, news, sport, business, technology, the arts or any other field of interest.

If you'd like to contribute, first read our guide... read more
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Mike Trapido is a criminal attorney and publicist having also worked as an editor and journalist.

He was born in Johannesburg and attended HA Jack and Highlands North High Schools.

He married Robyn in 1984 (Mrs Traps, aka "the government") and... read more
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PsySSA, the Psychological Society of South Africa, is the national professional body for psychology. Committed to transforming and developing psychological theory and practice in South Africa, PsySSA strives to serve the needs and interests of a post... read more
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During the day Sarah Britten is a communication strategist; by night she writes books and blog entries. And sometimes paints. With lipstick. It helps to have insomnia.... read more
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Avishkar Govender lives by the maxim, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” (It is a sweet and noble thing to die for one’s fatherland) and does not tolerate cowardice. Fearlessness and honesty are two prerequisites for integrity, and that is ... read more
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CRACKING CHINA was previously the title of this blog. That title was used as the name for Rod MacKenzie's second book, Cracking China: a memoir of our first three years in China. From a review in the Johannesburg Star: " Mackenzie's writing is shot t... read more
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This Jaundiced Eye column appears in Weekend Argus, The Citizen, and Independent on Saturday. WSM is also a book reviewer for the Sunday Times and Business Day. Follow @TheJaundicedEye.... read more
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Mandela Rhodes Scholars who feature on this page are all recipients of The Mandela Rhodes Scholarship, awarded by The Mandela Rhodes Foundation, and are members of The Mandela Rhodes Community.

The Mandela Rhodes Community was started by recipien... read more
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Sandile Memela is a journalist, writer, cultural critic, columnist and civil servant. He lives in Midrand.... read more
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Sentletse Diakanyo's blogs may contain views on any subject which may upset sensitive readers. Parental guidance is strongly advised..

Twitter: @Sentletse... read more
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Jennifer is a feminist, activist and advocate for women's rights. She has a Masters in Politics from Rhodes University, and a Masters in Creative Writing from UCT.

In 2010 she started a women's writing project called 'My First Time'. It focuses on... read more
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Feminist, filmmaker, writer, poet, activist and author, Gillian Schutte has a degree in African politics, an MA in Creative Writing and a Film Director's qualification from the Binger Institute, Netherlands. Winner of the Award of Excellence for her ... read more
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Vusi Gumede is a professor at the University of South Africa, also with the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute. He was previously an associate professor at the University of Johannesburg and he has also lectured public policy at the Graduate Sc... read more
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“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare asked in his day. You may find Koos Kombuis, also known as Joe Kitchen, pondering this question over a few glasses. This versatile artist is causing quite a stir, this time as a bilingual writer of children’s b... read more
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Sports Leader is no longer being updated, so if you want to continue reading my blog, follow the link below.

Cheers,

Adam... read more
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Martin Young is an ENT surgeon living an idyllic life in Knysna. He is a firm believer that "the unexamined life is not worth living", writes for a hobby and is happy to speak truth to power www.drmartinyoung.com or @MartinYoung... read more
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David Smith is a world famous artist and a British Olympic hammer thrower. He is a curler for Scotland and Manitoba. A pro wrestler fondly known as the British Bulldog. A Canadian economist and a Mormon missionary they call the Sweet Singer of Israel... read more
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Once upon a time, Ndumiso Ngcobo used to be an intelligent, relevant man with a respectable (read: boring-as-crap) job which funded his extensive beer habit.

One day he woke up and discovered that he had lost his mind, quit his well-paying job, pe... read more
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David Saks has worked for the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) since April 1997, and is currently its associate director. Over the years, he has written extensively on aspects of South African history, Judaism and the Middle East for lo... read more
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A teacher in Johannesburg.Interested in education,feminism and sometimes a bit of politics (with a small letter p).... read more
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... read more
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Bridget McNulty is a writer, content strategist and creative director. She is the editor of Sweet Life diabetes lifestyle magazine (www.sweetlifemag.co.za) and the co-founder of Now Novel online novel-writing course www.nownovel.com.... read more
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Siyabonga Ntshingila is a walking example of how not to go through life productively.

Having been chanced his lackadaisical way through an education at one of the country's finest boys schools and a noted university, he then proceeded to unleash h... read more
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A former journalist, in recent years founder and CEO of Absolute Organix.... read more
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LLB (UKZN), MIBL (UCL, France). A student of Anarchism. I write in my personal capacity.
[email protected] / @Brad_Cibane... read more
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Khaya Dlanga* By day he perpetuates the evils of capitalism by making consumers feel insecure (he makes ads). For this he has been rewarded with numerous Loerie awards, Cannes Gold, several Eagle awards and a Black Eagle.

Khaya has an ego-crushi... read more
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Lee-Roy Chetty holds a Master's degree in Media studies from the University of Cape Town and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. A two-time recipient of the National Research Fund Scholarship, he is currently completing his PhD at UCT and is th... read more
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Dr Christi van der Westhuizen is an award-winning political columnist and the author of the book Working Democracy: Perspectives on South Africa's Parliament at 20 Years, available for download at www.pmg.org.za.

Twitter @ChristivdWest;
Email chr... read more
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Durban photojournalist Gavin Foster writes mainly for magazines. His articles and photographs have appeared in hundreds of South African, American and British publications, and he's also instigated and researched stories for Carte Blanche.

Winne... read more
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Charlene Smith is a multi-award-winning journalist, author and media consultant. She has had 14 books published, one of which was shortlisted for an Alan Paton award.
Television documentaries for which she has worked have also won awards.
She has ... read more
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Jaco Barnard-Naudé is Professor of Jurisprudence and Co-director of the Centre for Rhetoric Studies in the Department of Private Law at the University of Cape Town. In the United Kingdom, he is the British Academy's Newton Advanced Fellow in the Sch... read more
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I have returned to South Africa.

I now teach Economic History and Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. I am happy to be back after a couple years away. I had been teaching anthropology at a Canadian University, but Africa ca... read more
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I am a political economist. In earlier incarnations, I worked as a journalist and photojournalist, as a professor of political economy and an international and national public servant. I rarely get time to write for this space as often as I would lik... read more
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Thabang is a very experienced and leading strategy consultant with more than 20 years of executive management experience. His forte and focus as an organizational strategist concerns helping organisations develop vision aligned strategies and deal wi... read more
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Marius Redelinghuys is currently a DA National Spokesperson and Member of the National Assembly of Parliament.

He is a 20-something "Alternative Afrikaner", fiancé to a fellow Mandela Rhodes Scholar (which has made him fortunate enough to be the ... read more
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Eve Dmochowska spends her day playing on and with the Internet, and thinks it is a rather fun way to make money.

She is the founder of Crowdfund, a crowd sourced fund to help local online startups get off the ground, and of the Geekspace, Joburg... read more
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Having spent the first half of his life in Swaziland, Jason earned a doctorate at the University of Virginia and now holds a fellowship at the London School of Economics. His research focuses on development, globalisation and labor, with an emphasis ... read more
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Anja Merret lives in Brighton, United Kingdom, having moved across from South Africa a while ago. She started a blog at the beginning of 2007 and is using it to try to find out everything important about page ranks, traffic and all things internet-ma... read more
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Tinyiko Sam Maluleke is a South African academic (currently attached to the University of South Africa [UNISA]) who suffers from restlessness, intellectual insomnia, insatiable curiosity, a facsination with ideas, a passion for justice, a crazy imagi... read more
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Tony led the change in corporate identity of South African Airways from the airline of the old South Africa to the flag carrier of the new South Africa.
Before that he was a competitive provincial sportsmen in swimming, diving, waterpolo, lifesaving... read more
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Fiona Snyckers is outrageously opinionated for a novelist-housewife. She is the author of the Trinity series of novels, and hopes to continue getting paid to make stuff up.... read more
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This is the Mail & Guardian Online's Talkback blog, where every week we post a tough question about a hot topic in the news. Answer it, debate with others and have fun!... read more
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Ryland Fisher is former editor of the Cape Times and author of the book Race. This is his second book, following on Making the Media Work for You, which was published in 2002. He is executive chairperson of the Cape Town Festival, which he initiated ... read more
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Nihil humani a me alienum puto.... read more
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Kagure Mugo is the co-founder and full-time curator of HOLAAfrica! She is a part-time pseudo-academic and part-time wine-bar philosopher. A nomad (who has been everywhere and belongs nowhere) with a firm belief that no-one will love Africa till she l... read more
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Mother. Campaigner. Political orphan. Blogger. Part Time Professional Black. Liker of Things. Lover of People. No Sense of Humour. Also on twitter @Kmoeti... read more
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Ben studied at Wits, the Hebrew University, London School of Economics and University of Pretoria. He has two master’s degrees and has written four books on anthropology. He was the founding member of Jews for Justice, which took a stand against ap... read more
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Jarred Cinman is software director at Cambrient, South Africa's leading developer of web applications. He co-founded Johannesburg's first professional web development company and was one of the founders of VWV Interactive, for many years the premier ... read more
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Brent Meersman is a writer based in Cape Town. He is co-editor of GroundUp.org.za and a columnist for This is Africa. His most recent novel is Five Lives at Noon (2013), and his previous novels are Primary Coloured (Human & Rouseau, 2007) and Rep... read more
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