Jacob Thank you for the recent state visit. Joburg’s changed quite a bit since I was last there. (I was expecting to get hijacked, lol!) Sorry not to get to Nkandla and meet your people. But, please can you speak to your king? He’s causing chaos for my people on...
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Book Review:Gil Scott-Heron-the last holiday-A memoir
Like all of us, Gil Scott-Heron was a profoundly flawed individual, battling his demons while reaching out for a seemingly illusive truth. What worth is there in our lives for the well-grounded, immacutely groomed Oprahesque superhuman role model for us mortals who...
The Platinum Strike: A voice From the Ground
Amadla! Could you give some background to the ongoing strike and explain the factors that led to the continuing mass action? Mineworker (M): The un dermining by employers, by not coming to (fulfilling)their offer that the workers in 2012 died for. Impala, Anglo and...
Mining strike: Whose reality is ‘the real world’?
Everyone, other thaN lunatics, troublemakers and the economically illiterate, is supposed to know that the demand by the striking platinum workers for a starting basic wage of R12 500 is plainly unaffordable. Indeed, anything even near R12 500 is supposedly so...
Interview with Irvin Jim
At NUMSA's Special Congress in December you voted to hold socio-economic strikes, the first of which is coming up on 19 March to oppose the Employment Tax Incentive. Could you describe what a socio-economic strike is and why NUMSA is opposed to the tax incentive? I...
Why Did The Heaven’s Not Darken? Fear and Loathing in Girl Killer SA
The life and death of Rene by Andre Marias This newspaper headline refers to the rape and murder of my niece Rene, 28 years ago. She was four years old at the time of her death on Xmas Eve, 1986. As is so often the case, she knew her killer and he was known to the...
Raw transcript of the Jeremy Vearey interview
Interview with Jeremy Vearey, Major-general in SAPS. A!: Maybe you'd like to introduce yourself and your capacity. JV: I am Jeremy Vearey. I am also a Major-general in the police service. I am responsible for the gangster activity in this province. I'll go into what...
BRT, Metrorail and the city and country’s priority?
Dear Amandla! I have recently moved from Johannesburg to Cape Town to work as an educator. I worked in Soweto before this and was quite looking forward to relocating to a different place. I had heard a lot about Cape Town's beauty and the pictures testified to that. I...
Solving gangs one life at a time
Before we send the army in to 'solve' the crime problem in Cape Town's troubled townships or appease politicians and nervous shop owners with a police crackdown, we need to remember that we're targeting a city's adolescents, who have reason to wreak revenge on an...
