This week three young men – Mark Burman, Ross Bartlett and Michael Weaver – who were involved in yet another blackface incident at a historically Afrikaans university – issued an apology, of sorts, for their behaviour. The statement is worth reading on their Facebook page. Intended to convey contrition it achieves the opposite: it stands …
This week three young men – Mark Burman, Ross Bartlett and Michael Weaver – who were involved in yet another blackface incident at a historically Afrikaans university – issued an apology, of sorts, for their behaviour. The statement is worth reading on their Facebook page. Intended to convey contrition it achieves the opposite: it stands …
South Africans are caught between forgiving violence because we understand that the divides in our society are unsustainable, and abhorring violence because we fear that ours will be the next throats to be slit. Some people are born empathetic. I was not. I never cried for the losses of strangers until I became a mother. …
The substance of the Seriti Commission is important. But those of us who watched a remarkable moment of grace yesterday when Advocate Hoffman was overcome with grief will have been reminded of why this country is so special. "Engrave this upon your heart: there isn’t anyone you couldn’t love once you heard their story." –Mary …
Ramphele’s assumption that she will be accepted into civil society, where she can continue her project of ‘active citizenship’ without having to be directly accountable to a real live constituency, speaks volumes. The good doctor is not wrong in this regard. Sadly, many civil society groups will accept her because the sector is not yet …