According to Julius Malema, the African National Congress Youth League leader, ‘The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) decision to test Semenya is racist and sexist’. One cannot blame anyone to be annoyed at what has gone on. But it is not racism or sexism, it is downright disgraceful behaviour from the IAAF and jealousy from those that were beaten especially the Italian and Russian competitors who are quoted of saying   Read More ...

Back in December 2007, when Zuma swept through like a wave and won the bitter electoral battle for ANC supremacy at Polekwani, this was considered at that time by political commentators and academics alike as the “Zuma Tzunami”. In April 2009 at a meeting at UCT, Julius Malema was quoted as saying “Jacob Zuma is unstoppable. Zuma is a biological tsunami.” In the run up to the South African Presidential   Read More ...

This week saw the official hand over of responsibilities for fighting political corruption in South Africa from the “old” Scorpions to the “new” Hawks. Will the Hawks succeed where the Scorpions failed? What is the difference between the two organisations? “The Scorpions” was an elite anti-corruption squad falling under the prosecuting authority, not the police – set up by Thabo Mbeki when he came to power in 1999 to tackle   Read More ...

We know who we are. Our ancestries are part of a delicate tapestry; interwoven, we find a touch of European flair, the spice and mystery of the East and the magic and beckoning of Africa. No matter where we, or our forbearers, have come from, we all have the privilege of calling ourselves ‘South African’. We are so fortunate in that, we are exposed to so much diversity; nobody has   Read More ...

Apathy. This is a word associated with a ‘don’t-care’ outlook, an attitude of simply not caring about what is happening around one, disinterest, disengagement (or an apparent ‘checking out’) from society and a refusal to try and change what has gone wrong; sometimes, it’s the ignoring of a problem, burying one’s head in the sand, so to speak. Picture a world in which every person you knew, regardless of their   Read More ...

Our country stands out as a pinnacle of success and hope against a turbulent backdrop of corruption and violence that is the rest of Africa. As stated in a recent column by Mac Maharaj in the Sunday Times (dated June 7th, 2009) , “ [o]ur transition from white minority rule to democracy in 1994 has been hailed as the most successful power-sharing deal in Africa”. This alone, surely, has garnered   Read More ...

The recent spate of striking has left most people, especially those who require doctors the most, divided on the issue. People understand that doctors work in unhygienic, cramped conditions; work without substantial-enough pay and examine patients without basic equipment (gloves, towels, etc.), and yet they are angry that doctors have been striking for weeks. Is it fair to ask these brave doctors to endanger their lives everyday? I think we   Read More ...

We all thought that the “PdV” acronym stood for Peter de Villiers, South Africans current rugby coach. Since last week-end, PdV has a new significance – Public defender for Villains (on the rugby field). Schalk Burger normally a magnificent tough but fair rugby player let the South African rugby fans down by his behavior on the field and has made the series victory over the B&I Lions a little hollow   Read More ...

People all over the world have been in awe of South Africa’s seemingly seamless transition into democracy, the passing of the baton from the previous government to, the then and current ruling party, the ANC and, most of all, they have been impressed with our Constitution, which has been deemed the most liberal in the world. Indeed, it is a thing of beauty, as was its predecessor, the Freedom Charter.   Read More ...

The death of Michael Jackson, the King of Plastic and Pop (some may argue that both these areas are not wholly mutually exclusive and, hence, may consider this description of him redundant), as we have seen as consumers of any and all media, has been just as overly publicised as his life. Why? Sure, he wrote some perfectly-pitched, sappy, catchy songs with emotively-charged lyrics; he even sold millions of albums   Read More ...