More than two weeks have passed since the savage 16 August massacre at Marikana massacre and much has been said by government, the mine, the unions, and some civil society organisations. But we have heard little directly from the Marikana strikers, and almost nothing...
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The Durban International Film Festival: Showcasing local film talent | by Crystal Orderson
From humble beginnings in two lecture rooms at the University of KwaZulu-Natal 33 years ago, the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) has become the must-attend event in the annual film calendar. For ten days in July this year, the who's who of the South African...
The Marikana action is a strike by the poor against the state and the haves | by Justice Malala
The shooting at Lonmin's Marikana mine exposes weaknesses at the heart of South African society The story of the London-listed Lonmin's Marikana mine shootings is that of a trade union that cosied up to big business; of an upstart and populist new union that exploited...
Book Review: 2010 and South African Denial | Reviewed by Mark Fredericks
South Africa's World Cup A Legacy for Whom? Edited by Eddie Cottle Published by UKZN Press, Durban. 2011. Benito Mussolini once described fascism as "the merger between corporate and state power". If we are to seriously consider Il Duce's words, then surely, South...
Film reviews
The Noise of Cairo Director Heiko Lange (2012) This film looks at the explosion of creativity in the 18 days that shook the world in Egypt 2011 and led to the fall of the Mubarak regime. It gives us the perspective of dancers, street musicians, poets, graffiti artists...
‘I Am an Illegal Alien on My Own Land’ | by David Shulman
In 1949, shortly after Israel’s War of Independence, S. Yizhar—the doyen of modern Hebrew prose writers—published a story that became an instant classic. “Khirbet Khizeh” is a fictionalized account of the destruction of a Palestinian village and the expulsion of all...
The “second transition” – let’s not get sucker punched into a false debate | by Jeremy Cronin
We are now already deep into the silly season of an ANC-led movement electoral year. At the forefront of trying to promote the silliness are some of the usual hacks in the commercial media - especially those with the attention span of a tweetable headline. Last night...
ANC vs City Press: What lies beneath | by Mandy de Waal
Some say it was the ANC's best chance to steer public attention away from its disastrous handling of the economy. Some say they just couldn't wait to spark an outrage so people would stop talking about textbooks being five months late in Limpopo. Some say the public...
Mike van Graan on The Spear | by Mike Van Graan
Brett Murray's The Spear, a picture of President Jacob Zuma with his genitals exposed, mimics the pose of the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin in a Soviet-era propaganda poster. Politicians, whenever they are exposed for having said something offensive, often...





