In 1994, when Madiba was cobbling together a government of national unity (GNU) , his position was unenviable. No matter which way he played it, it was clear he could not please everybody. Through his reconciliatory offensive he was able to allay white fears around the trepidation of a swaartgevaar that supposedly wanted to grab …
Antjie Krog’s Country of my Skull is one of those haunting books one never gets used to. Brilliantly written, it fleshes out the pain and suffering that was the mainstay of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In graphic detail the horrors of the evils of apartheid; the smashing of women’s breasts against drawers, …
Sandile Dikeni: The Great Karoo Writer You’ve Never Heard of Read More »
From day the election results beamed across the large screens, we saw it coming. No amount of feigned smiles or handshakes could spare the GNU from the fate of getting off to a rocky start. That’s if – what with all the rats and mice eyeing the cheese – the wheels could hold to begin …
A flaccid anticlimax, then, last month’s general election. SA’s youth – in their heyday the cause of apartheid’s mad scientists wetting themselves – would lately listlessly show the middle finger than to vote, for anybody. Or animate a viral video where scores of them set all kinds of ANC regalia alight to celebrate Youth Day. …
Two weeks ago I perched myself in my office – really a detached room that functions as little more than an unpretentious sleeping area – to file a story on what ought, in hindsight, to have been the story of the year so far – the 2024 election opinion polls. I’d glossed over a few …
The Polls, GNU and Cold Beers as History Unfolds. Read More »
First thing that crept into this writer’s mind at the resurrection of ‘government of national unity’ (GNU) were the televised images of Rooivalk helicopters hovering eerily over Lesotho on the orders of the late Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Those of a certain age will remember the dramatic scenes with a sense of mild dread. Shenge, serving in …
Winter has swung by early, not just for the country than the ruling elite. And, as the results were trickling in at the IEC Results Operations Centre, one was carefully scrutinising the faces on the floor. Far from the wide, chirpy grins we’ve grown to know. Some were gutted, unmistakably uneasy. A throwback to former …
Sunday, 26 May. Three days before Colesberg heads to the polls and it’s do or die for the local ANC. And, at least one final score to settle, one more point to prove. Malema’s shindig! Though it drew a modest crowd, still left a bitter taste in the mouths of diehard punters. At the time, …
Big Posters. Booze. No Bloody Noses – Colesberg Votes! Read More »
With cognoscenti bogged down on the highly-anticipated 29 May, my thoughts have been mulling over Homeboy. Not Seth Morgan’s literary masterpiece than my own towering, stoic and long-dead uncle, Charles ‘T.O.’ Mayaba. The one whose politics were of a patently afro-nationalist tilt but not so dogmatic as to be over-imposed onto those of divergent persuasion. …
Even without the bourgeoisie elevated Michael Jackson platform Julius Malema clearly nurses a fetish for theatrics. Why else would he go all out even in remote enclaves like Colesberg to put on the sort of showboating that brings an entire town to a virtual standstill? Maybe that’s because even though he’s mostly labelled as a …
‘Ramaphosa is a Criminal;’ Malema Speaks in Colesberg. Read More »
