There is the high veld, the middle veld, the low veld, the bush veld, and now thoughts from the thorn veld,
THE LATEST report from Reporters without Borders (RSF) provides encouraging reading for South Africans. Of 180 countries surveyed, we come in at 35; a tribute to the work of journalists and robust constitutional protection. But […]
BACK in the day, as they say, I was a busy and productive writer: letters to the editor and opinion pieces in the newspaper, articles in journals and chapters in books, and a couple of […]
David Benatar, The Fall of the University of Cape Town: Africa’s Leading University in Decline (S.l.: Politicsweb Publishing, 2021) IN his conclusion to this history of the University of Cape Town (UCT) since 2015, David […]
Phakamisa Ndzamela, Native Merchants: The Building of the Black Business Class in South Africa (Cape Town: Tafelberg, 2021) MOST South Africans probably think of black business people as those who have grown rich in the […]
‘PLEASE consider wearing a face mask in this shop …’ I did consider and I did wear one, but no one else came to the same conclusion. Apparently, the pandemic is over. In late February, […]
Clinton van der Berg, Guns and Needles: A Journey into the Heart of South African Sport’s Steroid and Drug Culture (Cape Town: Penguin, 2022) SOUTH Africa has a major problem with drugs in sport: the […]
Keyan G. Tomaselli, Contemporary Campus Life: Transformation, Manic Managerialism and Academentia (Cape Town: BestRed, 2021) THIS book is a reminder that the medium is indeed sometimes the message. Keyan Tomaselli, for many years the well-known […]
Luthando Dyasop, Out of Quatro: From Exile to Exoneration (Cape Town: Kwela, 2021) ONE Saturday afternoon in 1980, Luthando Dyasop left home in Mthatha on foot. A week later after a circuitous journey he arrived […]
IF Vladimir Putin thought his army would breeze through Ukraine to Kyiv and beyond to be received as liberators, he must have been disabused by now. Instead, his name will go down in infamy alongside […]
Imraan Coovadia, The Poisoners: On South Africa’s Toxic Past, 1973‒2020 (Cape Town: Umuzi, 2021) THE USE of poison as a political weapon is characteristic of fragile societies enveloped by suspicion and conspiracy. Imraan Coovadia opens […]