Feint and Margin

As I was reading the daily papers over the past week I came I across a story that reminded me of one of South Africa’s finest sons, a true patriot, a genuine revolutionary, a visionary leader and an exemplary intellectual: the founder-president of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe. The story in question [...]

Recently, I have started volunteering at my church working with high school learners around Johannesburg. During  one of the times we had together,  these teenagers started discussing the things they would like to do with their lives. Most of their dreams were focussed on a need in the world, and how their unique traits can add to the resolution of [...]

  What is a life worth these days? From what I can gather it’s somewhere between 7 – 8%. Yet those who did not survive the strike can be seen as casualties of war, having given their lives (however involuntarily) to the greater good and advancements of the workers’ rights. Yet it is not only [...]

The first parliament was elected in England, in 1275; and this signified the beginning of the spread of democracy globally, with aspirant vows of freedom, equality and human rights. A key component of democracy has always been that ‘majority rules’. Which as practical and rational as it is in theory, but poses a problem when minorities’ rights are impeded on…..

In the early 19th century a British naturalist went on a voyage to the Galapagos Islands. At the age of 22 and with a gifted mind, he observed interesting trends from the unique species. He took several samples and studied them back at home. A couple of years later, he released a volume of his [...]

Let’s not beat about the bush, if it wasn’t for Mr. Mandela’s conciliatory approach in the years following the 1994 presidential election, things could have gone a lot worse a lot faster. He is hailed around the world as a peace maker, a master diplomat, and an expert politician. With help from the likes of Luthuli, Biko, [...]

It was interesting to me as I was reading one of the South African weeklies last week; to read the story about Nelson Mandela and the two women who it is claimed are his as yet unacknowledged children. According to the information given, the Nelson Mandela Foundation has already verified that one of the women, [...]

The following piece of advice rings true in most households throughout the world: Never discuss politics or religion in the same conversation; and if you can help it, don’t discuss them at all. Given my exceptional track record in stepping on toes, I thought I might as well take a stab at religion as well.

There is a very real, and terrifying possibility that should the bill and the proposed tribunals become law, and the opposition fails in its Section 80 referral of the law to the Constitutional Court (or indeed, even if that is successful), and a test case is sent to the ConCourt instead that the highest court on matters constitutional may in fact rule in favour of the ANC. Just ponder that one for a moment…

Due to the furore over the recent announcement of bills that the South African government are planning on passing, namely the Information Protection Act, the Media Appeals Tribunal Bill; and the Public Broadcaster Act, our President Jacob Zuma has come out in strong defence of these bills and has called for a media debate. I [...]