South Africans are constantly moaning about the state of the country and the behaviour of our politicians etc. But the truth of the matter is that the entire planet is in the crapper and, all things considered, we aren’t doing so badly. That’s why I’m starting a new thread on this blog called ‘It Could Be Worse’ – a collection of bad news stories from around the world. If nothing else, this should give the whingers among us the perspective to understand that we’re all in the same boat… Continue reading “Greek politician gets slap happy”
Send in the Clowns
I love clowns. They are part of ancient tradition in entertainment that makes us look at ourselves and laugh, thus throwing our true nature into stark but non-threatening relief. In many repressive societies, clowns are the only ones who can question authority with impunity or provoke independent thought without fear of censure; such is the power of humour. Even Shakespeare regularly used the character of the clown, fool or jester in his tragedies to draw out various themes and to provide some much needed comic interludes.
But quite apart from their historical and metaphysical function, a clown’s purpose is to make us laugh. And that’s why I love Julius Malema and Jon Qwelane. Those guys are hysterical! Continue reading “Send in the Clowns”
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”