By Aslam Fataar As South Africa marks another Freedom Day, we are invited to reflect not only on the democratic gains of the past but also on the unfinished work of justice, dignity, and beauty in public life. For many young South Africans, especially those navigating...
By Heather Dugmore Working through the night on the rooftop of the Engineering building at Stellenbosch University, physicists Dr Yaseera Ismail and Professor Francesco Petruccione set a new world record by establishing the longest-ever secure quantum satellite...
By Aslam Fataar Among those gathered at Cape Town International Airport to welcome Ebrahim Rasool, wife Rosieda and son Tanwir, on their return from the United States—following Ebrahim's sudden designation as persona non grata—was a galvanising sense of solidarity....
By McGlory Speckman (Photo by Zubeida Jaffer) As we celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Kairos Document in September 2025, we must look back at its impact on what it called ‘State Theology’ and how it influenced people’s behaviour. A case in point is the...
No government can guarantee our happiness. That depends on our own efforts and luck. But government can make it harder or easier to attain happiness.
This is far from the first time that the AstraZeneca vaccine—and media reporting about it—has caused confusion.
By Frank Vogel* In an extraordinary act, Goldman Sachs — a leading U.S.-headquartered global bank — publicly declared not only that it accepts responsibility for engaging in massive global bribe-paying, but that it will also take the unprecedented step of cutting...
By Ashley Forbes Death seems everywhere, as does suffering and despair. I recently visited an old comrade, a respected activist who feels isolated and severely depressed, grieves the loss of family and close friends who due to COVID19 have recently passed, and like...
By Ashley Forbes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s most recent intervention, though welcome, is not proportionate to the gravity of our situation. (President Cyril Ramaphosa’s letter to ANC members about corruption). In 1994 our people trusted their leaders to restore land...
By Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela “Where is the Palestinian Mandela?” is a question I have often heard from Israel’s defenders. What they are really asking is where is the Palestinian equivalent of Nelson Mandela – a man who, they believe, offered only olive branches...
By Shannon Ebrahim Zindzi Mandela was larger than life, someone I deeply admired and loved for her immense bravery and passion for justice. She was absolutely her Mother’s daughter, and that is how she would want to be remembered. Having spent the past two years since...
By Khadija Magardie The characterization of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on social media and even on the pages of some of our serious newspapers rings a sad and familiar bell. That is, to every black woman who has known a career of being constantly mansplained and...
By Ruschka Jaffer* Teachers at Fourways High School in Johannesburg are handing out awards of appreciation to their school leadership to thank them for guiding them through this pandemic. They are painfully aware that their experience is not the rule across the...
I watched as the virus spread from China in December 2019, to the Western world in January/February 2020, to our shores with the first confirmed cases of Covid-19 in KwaZulu-Natal on 5 March 2020, the unprecedented declaration of a State of Disaster by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 15 March 2020 and the “hard lockdown” on 27 March 2020.
By George Orwel* Imagine that you died and after many years of being away you are allowed a single glance earthward. You are so moved that you cannot help sobbing. That is what I am feeling right now when I think of Kenya, the country of my birth, and that is because...
13 December 2019 During the turbulent 80s Dr Haran Cloete was a student at UWC (University of the Working Class), where he was introduced to Prof Ben Turok through his book, Africa what is to be done? A seminal piece of work that displayed the prowess of a practical...
By Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool My accidental discovery and deliberative usage of my inner power – the Power Within – has been one of the more difficult of my life journey to share. The difficulty lies in both confessing how unconscious I was when uncovering my inner...
By Imran Khan My generation grew up at a time when colonial hang up was at its peak. Our older generation had been slaves and had a huge inferiority complex of the British. The school I went to was similar to all elite schools in Pakistan. Despite gaining...
By Dr Allan Boesak Honourable Judge Siraj Desai and the Board of the District Six Museum, Family of Essa and Dullah, Friends, Brothers and Sisters: What a privilege and honour to join you today in rejoicing in the life and work of two such remarkable and outstanding...
By Mphutlane wa Bofelo* Respected elders, beloved brothers and sisters in Islam. Al-salamu `alaykum, We thank Allah (swt) for the opportunity to gather on Eid-ul-fitr to collectively celebrate and reflect on the lessons we draw from Ramadan and...
Anyone who has had the opportunity to read Zubeida Jaffer’s book, Beauty of the Heart, the Life and Times of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke and Dr. Thozama April’s Doctoral thesis titled: Theorising Women: The Intellectual Contributions of Charlotte Maxeke to the Struggle...
By Vijay Prashad On Sunday, May 5, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton announced that the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force had begun to make their way from the Mediterranean Sea toward the coastline of Iran. Iran, Bolton said,...
By Professor Aslam Fataar And say not of those who are slain in the path of God’s cause. “They are dead”. Nay, they are alive though you perceive it not. (Q2: 154) This Quranic verse provides one very important way to productively work with the personal, social and...
IN 1967, a book by Caribbean writer VS Naipaul examined how newly-created elites in newly-independent countries that had laboured under colonialism began acting with as much greed, cruelty and ruthlessness as their former colonial masters. Naipaul named his book ‘The...
Have you ever wondered how wealthy the church really is? In his book, ‘The Vatican Billions’, writer and philosopher Avro Manhattan gives us a glimpse of the true financial worth of the catholic church: “The Vatican has large investments with the Rothschildsof...
In Brief Economic inequality is higher in the U.S. than in virtually all other advanced countries. The American political system, coupled with high initial inequality, gave the moneyed enough political influence to change laws to benefit themselves, further...
MHUDI Before we explore the underlying philosophy of the novel, it is important to understand exactly where Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje emotionally and physically found himself when he wrote this text. It was around 1920 while Plaatje was living for the second time in...
In segregated South Africa, Charlotte Mannya Maxeke dedicated her life to the struggle for women’s rights and education for all. Her pioneering role is only now being rediscovered and more widely reported once again.
The events near Chang Rai powerfully underscore that a “global community” very much exists – and that it can have very positive effects on the lives and well-being of people.
The Native Christian Mother (By. Mrs. Maxeke) Mr Chairman and Christian friends, it is certainly a great pleasure to be in a gathering of this kind, a gathering where Christian men and women are collected to study as to how the Gospel of Christ should be spread...