My jaw literally dropped open when I heard Jessie Duarte’s recent outburst to a member of the press. Briefly, and from the perspective of an external listener, the context is as follows: a journalist for The Times was interviewing Ms. Duarte about the ANC’s online activities. At first, things were going OK. Then, JD started fishing for a fight and asked The Times reporter to hurry up and get to the point – which she already knew had to be negative, because The Times is that kind of paper. She was acting like a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs. Continue reading “Jessie Duarte loses the plot”
It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to
Well, Terror Lekota is certainly living up to his name, and good for him. It’s said he won his fearsome moniker when he was a youthful soccer player, and his recent actions show that it’s no idle boast. Since the ouster of Mbeki, he’s taken to the field with a vengeance and all I can say is, ‘Go Terror!’
Now I’m not about to throw my weight behind his campaign to ‘divorce’ the ANC and form a breakaway party. It’s still too early in the game to make a call about the viability and vision of his new team. I also don’t know whether he is motivated by ideology, principles, ambition, greed or a combination of all four. But I do admire his courage in tackling the almighty ANC and wish him well in his endeavours. Continue reading “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to”
Mbeki’s turning Japanese, I really think so
Once upon a time, I was prepared to give Thabo Mbeki the benefit of the doubt. He was a clearly intelligent man with noble aims to revive Africa and extract the dark continent from the dismissive rhetoric of western, post-colonial discourse. Admittedly, he did this by evoking the quinesstentially European concept of ‘renaissance’ and his speeches were somewhat academic, but the big lug had his heart in the right place. Continue reading “Mbeki’s turning Japanese, I really think so”