Thought Leader

By Takura Zhangazha The failure of the African Union (AU) to elect a new chairperson for its commission on January 30 points to a seriously divided continental body. Had this been an election based merely on the popularity or campaign skills of the two candidates Jean Ping and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, it would not warrant analysis…

By Athambile Masola As a language teacher, I have been following the furore about African languages being axed from schools with great interest. I have been reading and trying not to be cynical about every new article announcing that yet another school will no longer offer isiZulu or isiXhosa in the foundation phase. There have…

By Steve Pike The people have spoken, and the government has listened. But the question remains: has the South African Weather Service (Saws) listened? Positive outcomes in Parliament are pending after the public hearing last week on the draft South African Weather Service Amendment Bill, driven by assurances from ANC MP Johnny de Lange that…

Once upon a time before apartheid, around 200-million years ago during what is known as the Early Jurassic epoch, there lived a number of dinosaurs known as Massospondylus. How do we know this? Simple, there is a group of scientists known as palaeontologists, who make wine connoisseurs look like humble citizens, and they said so,…

Political parties seethe with factional intrigue and jockey for position. As a result, party leadership is like a tightrope walk. The challenge is to retain cohesion by keeping mavericks leashed, while not stifling contrarian views that are not only inevitable, but can actually revitalise the party. With this against the tricky reality that unlike chief…

It’s been a glorious summer in Cape Town. The heatwave had one and all at swimming pools and beaches all over the Cape. Long Street was packed with clubbers and tourists from all over the world. Drinks flowed freely: Hennessy, Bacardi, Hunters, Carling, you name it. Sadly, it was spoiled by talk of our beloved…

Let me state right upfront that I really do have better things to do than write about THAT poster. Four strategies (one of them for a campaign to celebrate our Constitution, which I’m excited about because it’s the closest yet I’ll get to putting the theory I explored in my thesis into practice). Various commissioned…

The strange nature of South African democracy in its static economic condition makes the position and function of so-called intellectuals and thought leaders within it very complex and almost dysfunctional. Those who consider themselves intellectuals are not, at face value, critically engaging with the patriarchal, racist and capitalist superpower structure which makes it almost impossible…

The object of this Act is to: Promote transparency and accountability in governance while recognising that state information may be protected from disclosure in order to safeguard the national interest of the Republic. – (2(b), Protection of State Information Bill 2010) Financial reports uncovered in the arms probe show presidential spokesperson and then transport minister…

For every occasion, there is an instance so poignant only the willfully blind and the intentionally deaf can miss it. Such moments tend to happen outside and in spite of the rehearsed and the orchestrated. They can be dramatic or surreal. In the FIFA World Cup of 2006, such a definitive moment occurred in the…