Social transformation depends on people and their actions. Too often dogma, simplistic metaphors and inappropriate examples have been the staple answers of socialists and communists to the challenges facing our society. South Africa’s national democratic revolution in the context of our negotiated transition and the strength of global capitalism require not dogma but critical thinking, writes Phillip Dexter.
Slower house-price growth, repeated interest-rate hikes and uncertainty about new credit laws and systems have contributed to a slowdown in home-loan applications. Bond originators, however, see their industry becoming increasingly important. Six weeks after the introduction of the new National Credit Act its impact on the property market remains unclear.
Jacob Zuma’s theme tune, the not very rousing "Bring me my machine-gun", is certainly a questionable campaign jingle. But that bit of musical demagoguery has nothing on the latest edition of the South African Communist Party song book. South African politics, in a period of spy scandals and conspiracy claims, is a brutal game and there is a certain honesty in naming your enemy.
Deep in the Congolese jungle is a band of apes that, according to local legend, kill lions, catch fish and even howl at the moon. Local hunters speak of massive creatures that seem to be some sort of hybrid between a chimp and a gorilla. Their location at the centre of one of the bloodiest conflicts on the planet, the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has meant that the mystery apes have been little studied by Western scientists.
Sitting in the shade close to his 4×4, the portly ”land invader” overseeing two workers constructing makeshift shacks in the Mkondeni area near Pietermaritzburg was the antithesis of the dispossessed. No rags, no wheelbarrow containing all his belongings and definitely no hungry glint in his eye.
Violent crime in northern KwaZulu-Natal — thought to be the work of Mozambicans filtering through the porous border — reached new heights this week. An armed 14-member gang stormed the Thonga Beach Lodge in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, tied up staff and guests and made off with five 4×4 vehicles.
Former president FW de Klerk told the truth commission that he knew nothing of apartheid-era police crimes. That claim will be put to the test when former law and order minister Adriaan Vlok and former police chief Johan van der Merwe appear in court next month, say sources close to the investigation.
The Democratic Alliance is drawing up a secret 14-day programme to oust controversial Western Cape politician Truman Prince, after his successful appeal for reinstatement as Central Karoo District municipality manager. DA provincial leader Theuns Botha refused to give details, but said the plan would be put into operation next Monday.
About 5,2-million children under seven are not catered for in South Africa’s early childhood development (ECD) programmes. Only 1% of the R104-billion education budget is allocated for ECD. Yet a major report released recently shows that investment in ECD pays massive dividends in the health and emotional wellbeing of the children — and in national economic terms.
The wait for Apple’s iPhone in the United States was a non-story — but also, perhaps, the moment when teleÂvision news changed forever. In the queues were people with small cameras hooked to laptops using mobile phones to upload live video to the internet. They are ”lifestreamers”, people who simulcast their lives 24 hours a day.