TEDxSoweto 2014

Is it fair to be angry at Nelson Mandela for “selling blacks out”, as some say? What would the late former statesman’s response to recent racist tension in the headlines be? Would you take a trip around Africa on your own and put your trust in total strangers? And why are white people all of …

Read More

Humanising Hate Crimes

Xenophobia, bad governance, police violence, extreme poverty – we’re familiar with the terms and we know they are problems that must be dealt with. But it’s hard to go beyond the headlines when it’s not personal. … People like local commentator Sisonke Msimang have been writing about xenophobia from a South African perspective. Having spent …

Read More

Oops, I’m a racist! When perpetrators become victims

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 …

Read More

South African politics: Big Brother meets the Kardashians

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 …

Read More