Nelson Mandela was born last week 99 years ago, when the telegraph was the means of mass communication. But much of the commemoration of his July 18 birthdaywas in cyberspace across social media platforms. One such meme sent to me on the birthday, appropriately encased in a black border, bore the legend: “It ’s little use having 1 Mandela day and [...]
Imagine you own a large and successful plumbing and sanitation company. You decide to go big with the launch of your new corporate headquarters. You invite your major clients and the media to the event. Then, moments after the event commences, disaster strikes. In full view of the assembled dignitaries, the pipes burst, spewing water [...]
FRIDAY night’s prime-time television performance by President Jacob Zuma, on the back of the devastating Constitutional Court judgment the day before, was something to behold. It is capable of almost endless interpretations, although the path forward remains unclear. Gone was the customary giggle, the chuckle and the rictus. Zuma’s qualified and exceedingly rare apology was [...]
You need a rhino hide to survive at the top in politics. With so many darts, though many are injected with the truth serum, shot at Jacob Zuma, it’s a wonder he’s still walking, never mind standing. But with the equivocal support –backing him but investigating his favoured émigré family the Guptas, from his national [...]
SA has no record at all of any minister ever resigning on a point of principle. So the concept of a 'resignation speech' remains alien to our political culture On November 13 1990, the former deputy prime minister of Great Britain, Geoffrey Howe, rocked the House of Commons in his quiet, measured and, this time, [...]
