Join me as I shout Viva Msholozi!
12 December 2012
Let me be the first to say it: the re-election of Jacob Zuma as ANC president is the best possible thing we can hope for in building a better country.
Aakash Bramdeo is a former colleague from e.tv news who moved on to the SABC before being offered the editorship of Post in Durban — which was the newspaper which published my first story back in 1980. Before accepting the job, Aakash picked my brain as to what he could do to make the paper relevant to a wider readership. "Get a columnist who reflects the audience you're trying to attract," I said.
Shortly after accepting the position of editor, Aakash called me and asked, "when can you start?"
"View from the Top" ran in Post every week from 1 May 2011 to 9 April 2014 (which coincided with Aakash's departure from Post to edit the Sunday Tribune).
If you gaze into the abyss . . .
20 December 2012
One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Our beloved first president who, 50 years ago on 16 December 1961, became the founding leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe is a prime example of this maxim.
You can also be like Nostradamus
2 January 2013
Do you know that this year will see the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK? Or the 40th anniversary of the first Concorde supersonic transatlantic flight?
It will also be 30 years since the unveiling of the private correspondence of Michel de Nostradame.
i have pass my matric... Now what!?
9 January 2013
Some people have this troublesome tendency of linking unrelated bits of information and drawing conclusions that upset politicians and journalists.
Vegas wager ... betting on the future
16 January 2013
Some 45 years ago in June 1967, then Motorola chairman Bob Galvin delivered the keynote address at the first ever Consumer Electronics Show in New York City.
Over the years, many products that we've taken for granted debuted at the International CES.
Would you buy a used platinum mine?
23 January 2013
Last week, Anglo American Platinum announced that it planned to stop production at four of its shafts in Rustenburg (which could result in the loss of 14 000 jobs), and to sell a mine considered unsustainable.
Non-disclosure a threat to democracy
30 January 2013
There are many issues that the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance disagree on, but there is one point on which they close ranks – the question of whether political parties should be required to disclose who donates money to their coffers.
Toss a coin . . . and a cripple walks!
6 February 2013
A guy comes up to my car window with a large garbage bag tied around his neck. He pauses and looks entreatingly in my direction. He then moves his hand to his mouth presumably to indicate hunger (although in Italy, the same expression generally translates to "what the f… are you doing?"). He then clasps his hands together and does a half-hearted curtsy.
Is there some kind of begging school somewhere that teaches guys this stuff?
Fix the broken windows, Mr President
13 February 2013
The liberal theory around why urban social decay happens is that these ills occur as a result of social injustice and poverty. (In our country, social injustice and poverty are in turn blamed on racism.) So the argument is that if you fix poverty and social injustice, these problems go away.
Ignore the barking dogs, Dr Ramphele
20 February 2013
Dear Dr Ramphele.
So here you are with an extraordinary track record by current standards of the human race – student activist, medical doctor, community activist, researcher, head of the University of Cape Town, leader at the World Bank – now wanting to devote the next phase of your life to help rebuild your country.
And what do you get?