There is the high veld, the middle veld, the low veld, the bush veld, and now thoughts from the thorn veld,
IN the early 1970s Donald Sutherland and Gene Wilder starred in a film entitled ‘Start the revolution without me’. This sentiment must have entered the local political equation because somewhere along the line we missed […]
IN the apartheid era they were called Communists and told to pack for Moscow. In post-liberation South Africa they are abused as racists. Liberals have never had an easy ride, but adherents of a political […]
THE way in which former supporters of apartheid and the security state have shrugged off the past and adopted a born-again attitude, which appropriates much of the terminology of their democratic opponents, is one of […]
A recent exchange in The Witness raised the role of liberals in the liberation struggle. It has become fashionable to demean their contribution, characterising liberals as guilt-ridden fellow travellers of the apartheid regime. Indeed, a widely held […]
SO Tony Leon is in favour of the death penalty. His admission may be interpreted in at least two ways. As a citizen he is entitled to his personal view and perhaps he simply wishes […]
COMPILE as complete a picture as possible of human rights violations committed between 1960 and 1994: that was the basic remit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In the Pietermaritzburg region, the protracted BTR-Sarmcol strike […]
THE last few months have seen the deaths of two of the most notorious members of the security forces of the apartheid era: Lothar Neethling, head of the forensic unit of the South African police and […]
THE protracted hospitalisation of Nelson Mandela is having an extraordinary effect on the nation. Given the stature of the man, we should perhaps not be surprised. But disturbing trends are evident. Take, for example, another […]
Millard W. Arnold (ed.), The Testimony of Steve Biko and No Fears Expressed: Quotes from Steve Biko (Picador Africa) APARTHEID was a theatre of both fear and farce. Steve Biko, by then a banned person, […]