Thought Leader

By Neil Achary Guy Scott, who is vice-president of Zambia and, incidentally, a white Zambian, has ruffled a few feathers by saying that he hates South Africa. In an interview with The Guardian, although he seemed to imply that he likes South Africans on an individual basis, he dislikes South Africa for the same reason…

For me, the iconic photograph of George W Bush was of the American president reading to a bunch of kindergarten kids. It was conceived as standard pre-election pap, a photo opportunity to show the caring side of the nation’s most powerful man. But as it happened the date was September 11, 2001 and the picture…

It is The Media’s fault for tarnishing South Africa’s image. If it was not for them the world’s wealthiest people would be investing all their trillions here. Even the local investors would invest in their own country. If it were not for the bloody media we would not know about any of this: What Safa…

By Ntsako Shivambu I am one of those so-called clever blacks who believe you are a tribalist, a traditionalist and a clueless politician that doesn’t have any leadership skills. But the reason I’m writing this letter is not to talk about that but what you said during the memorial service for the soldiers who died…

In 1963 Bram Fischer stood before a court and said “the defence … will show that the ANC is a broad national movement, embracing all classes of Africans within its ranks, and having the aim of achieving equal political rights for all South Africans”. Fischer was the lead defence counsel in the well-known Rivonia Trial…

The government does not need to fight or over-invest in the media. In fact, it can afford to keep its distance and insist on factual, accurate, correct and truthful reporting. It is an open secret that not only is the media overly juniorised but its professionals are so underpaid and demoralised they cannot uphold their…

Say it just like you would “The Lord’s Prayer” Our President, which aren’t in Nk*ndla, Hello, be thy lame? Thy taxes come. Thy e-toll be done in Gauteng, As it is in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Cape. Give us this day a policeman as commissioner. And forgive us our minister of women, As we…

It’s crucial that a parasite controls its intake. After all, if the host is sucked dry and consequently expires, so too does the parasite. It is this self-preserving biological imperative that lies behind the African National Congress’s intention to “name and shame” corrupt civil servants. This, it claims, will reduce the amount of R30-billion that…

A week is a very long time these days. In our addiction to new news, we’ve become a society with ADD, The half-life of any given story is a day, if that. Since the story that Oscar Pistorius shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day, we have spoken and tweeted…

Politics is a dirty game. It’s so dirty that no one, absolutely no one can play it and come out smelling like roses. DA leader and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille is learning the hard way. I’m not sure if it’s sheer arrogance, which has characterised DA politics in recent times, or just plain naiveté…