Now that the season of realpolitik is upon us in South Africa and the rainbow nation myth is receding we must ask ourselves whether we still need a framework of reconciliation that presupposes friendship across the races as an important and useful barometer of the health of the nation. Some will argue that the question of friendship …
Last month, a male passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Burbank called out “ooh sexy” while the flight attendant demonstrated the use of the life vest. When she told him to be “respectful”, he responded: “I’m just fooling around.” The aircraft was diverted to offload him. This was not the first time …
The Kenya National Research Fund recently called for proposals in perhaps one of the most reassuring indications that the country is on the right track in solving some of its most pressing problems. The world over, investment in research and innovation is regarded as a catalyst for growth and improvement of human opportunity. I think …
The United Nations has named comic book heroine Wonder Woman as a new honorary ambassador to promote messages about women's empowerment and gender-based violence. There is something to be said for having role models to inspire women to break the shackles and overcome barriers, but we do not need to look to fiction for this. …
The story of Africa is mainly told through numbers we do not own. These numbers represent each child born, each teenager entering the workforce, each adult marrying and starting a family, and each death from a disease that has been eradicated in richer countries. These numbers currently belong not to our national statistical offices, but, …