By now anyone in South Africa without their head in the ground will have read about the controversial Brett Murray painting hanging limply (yes, I made that joke) in the Goodman Gallery in Joburg: We can all understand why the ANC would be angry about the piece. I mean, the proportions are clearly WAY out, and I’m sure...
read more
It seems to be becoming a fashion for South African countries to create parallel ‘traditional’ legal systems. Last year the Malawi government was widely condemned over local courts bill that gave legal authority to ‘lay courts’. Part of the reason for the criticism was the bizarre crimes that were recognised, such as...
read more
At the end of last year, the UN World Food Programme began warning that up to 1 million people in Zimbabwe would face hunger and malnutrition after poor rains last year. Many poor families have also struggled to fill the gap left after remittances from family members working in South Africa ceased with the resumption of deportation...
read more
As I type this President Zuma is delivering his state of the nation address (SONA), and many South Africans enter into the hours-long pageantry of a time-honoured tradition held within Parliament. TV stations will follow the parade of fully-plumed dignitaries waddling up the steps to their respective seats, where they can spend...
read more
To say that 2011 was a dramatic year in politics is putting things mildly. From the Arab Spring in January to the political unrest in Cote D’Ivoire following the April elections, to the death of Kim Jong Il in December and the Christmas day bombings in Nigeria, one could easily have assumed that perhaps the first few months of...
read more
Driving around Johannesburg on Wednesday, it was difficult to miss the blaring headline shouting out in big, bold sans serif from The Citizen’s signboards: ZUMA WANTS A WARSHIP Intriguing, no? On reading the article, you would have been greeted by a lede that ups the ante even further: Jacob Zuma wants an aircraft carrier, and...
read more
Recent Comments