Fikile Ntsikelelomoya

The end of apartheid brought about a new order and a new lexicon, in which some commonplace words have become swear words. People no longer say things, they "indicate" or "allude to" them. They do not talk about things or concepts; rather they discuss "the whole question of …" I personally mourn the death of words such as "intellectual", "ambitious" and "elite". Alas, such passing is a sign of the times.

Let us, for the purposes of the debate, accept that Ronald Suresh Roberts is an insufferable demagogue who sings for his supper at the edge of President Thabo Mbeki’s table. That said, the reason Roberts is currently occupying column space is not because he is in the running for the Mr Congeniality award. He wrote a book, fashioned as a scholarly piece of work, writes Fikile-NtsikeleloMoya.

One of human civilisation’s best moments must have been the day when two foes decided that, instead of clobbering each other with clubs to decide whose argument was better, they would defer to a wise elder to arbitrate. And even more importantly, that they both would live with the sage’s decision.