By Njabulo Ndebele Thank you for inviting me to participate in this important gathering this morning. In the midst of so many other commitments, I decided to prioritise an unexpected invitation to do what I was asked. I was asked to express my understandings of the...
The grand narratives about history are misleading. Apart from the pass protests of the early 1900s and the 1956 march, history would have us believe that black women were not active participants in South Africa’s history. Athambile Masola digs into the archives.
17 March 2017 By Professor Premesh Lalu I cannot tell you how much I loved Peter Williams. Together with Rashieda Labans and many others, we were idealistic and romantic in a world that apartheid had stripped of all emotion. We were young, passionate and awake to the...
“You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.” Chinese Proverb “Our Tree is shedding its beautiful and glossy branches. We need to ensure that it grows beautiful and fresh shoots.” Linda...
“ What spurred us on then – the need and urge for freedom – still burns within us and it will burn in us for a long time to come. I want you to be strong. Do not be distracted by anything. Let us continue moving on and finally I believe we shall see what we...
Public Eye In the year 2000, the "Public Eye on Davos" was created as a counter-summit to the World Economic Forum (WEF), and over the years it grew into an internationally recognised online campaign, as it named and shamed unscrupulous companies with its awards. The...
Panel discussion at Inyathelo 25 November 2016 Remembering the prominent role played by ground-breaking women, and calling for renewed activism and solidarity, were recurring themes at a breakfast discussion on Friday 25 November at Inyathelo, the South African...
January 3, 2017 – The Con Mag John Berger, who died on January 2, turned 90 in November last year. A Jar of Wild Flowers (Zed Books), a collection of essays written by his friends and artistic collaborators in celebration of Berger, and edited by Yasmin Gunaratnam and...
A speech by Charlotte Maxeke The title of the speech is " Our work in South Africa".
Address took place at Fort Hare, June 27 – July 3, 1930 (Extract published in Christian students and Modern South Africa) “Social Conditions Among Bantu Women and Girls.” In speaking of Bantu women in urban areas, the first thing to be considered is the home, around...
“Has tolerance no limits?” Why the education crisis persists Jonathan D Jansen University of the Free State 2 October 2012 Introduction Two events of seismic proportions shook the Western Cape in the closing days of September 1969. The first was the...
Transformation in South Africa has taken on vague and even negative connotations. Two decades of democracy and we seem to have reached a cul de sac. It’s a raw nerve… when you touch it expressions of pain and anger escape. After four years at the University of the...
This is a copy of Mr.FW de Klerk's speech dated: 1 February 1991.
By Albie Sachs In his new book, activist and former judge Albie Sachs builds on South Africans’ renewed faith in the power of the Constitution. We, the People: Insights of an Activist Judge will be launched at Cavendish Square on Tuesday 22 November 2016 and Sachs...
A troubled country. The boats decorated with bright colourful lights sail endlessly down the nile through the night. Cairo never sleeps. Looking out over the Nile, from the 14th floor where I live, everything appears very normal. But the handful of people in those...
In the lead up to the 60th celebration of the 20,000 women who marched strong against the pass laws, and as we see the resurgence of women-led activism on campuses across the country, Zubeida Jaffer’s new book on the historical activist, Charlotte Mannya Maxeke, could not have come at a better time.
The publisher of The Journalist, Zubeida Jaffer, last week entered the fray following a public spat between two UCT academics, David Benatar and Xolile Mangcu, over issues of transformation and decolonization at the university. The pieces have appeared on the pages of...
In the house of the hangman one should not speak of the noose…One wants to break free of the past: rightly, because nothing can live in its shadow, and because there will be no end to the terror as long as guilt and violence are repaid guilt and violence; wrongly,...
IN KRUGER’S CLUTCHES “Strip! No, everything. Your socks also. Yes, you may keep your underpants on.” They leave. The clanging of the keys in the first set of doors, and then in the second … Footsteps die away, and an unearthly silence descends on the place. The...
By Keabetswe Magano Two years ago I had the opportunity to meet and witness the brilliance of Bennie Bunsee, the man with 50 000+ books in his home. At first I thought we were meeting him in a small community library but it was his home. There were book shelves filled...
The Publisher of The Journalist, Zubeida Jaffer has received a Media award for her fearless commitment to journalism and a free media. The Publisher of The Journalist has called for action to secure the release of close to 50 journalists who are jailed in Turkey....
By Erik Fredner In the year since Nelson Mandela's death on Dec. 5, 2013, the impetus to commemorate the South African leader has increased around the globe, with memorials already completed in South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, Peru, the Netherlands...
By Gabeba Baderoon “I recognized Cape Town the first time I saw it,” Deborah Thomas revealed at a lecture she gave in the city in July 2014. A sociologist who works in Jamaica, she knew instantly that she was looking at a place shaped by slavery. What do you see when...
By Jimmy Mathews Death, even when we expect it, always comes as a shock. The SABC spent years preparing for the inevitable passing of Nelson Mandela. We had plans for every eventuality, and teams ready to be deployed at a moments notice, but until it happened, we...
by Faizal Dawjee Reviewing Anthony Sher’s one man show about guilt-ridden Holocaust survivor, Primo Levi, John Heilpern writes in the New York Observer: “The high-minded intellectuals with their nice clean hands who blame Levi for his apparent “suicide” are one of...
This week The Journalist begins a series on Editorial Independence. It has been sparked by the eTV saga, starring Marcel Golding as our newfound ‘champion’ of media freedom. The Minister’s statement is run here to provide context for the analysis by Zubeida Jaffer and...
These are series of photos. Click here for more information about the book Love in the Time of Treason - The Life Story of Ayesha Dawood by Zubeida Jaffer
By Sa’diyya Shaikh and Shuaib Manjra The notion of an ‘Open Mosque’ is an alluring idea: such a mosque which is inclusive, non-discriminatory and embracing of human diversity naturally resonates with us as Muslims, feminists and proponents of human rights. There is...
A paper delivered by Mathatha Tsedu on December 1, 2013, at the Vodacom Journalism Awards 2013, Johannesburg. Thank you Programme Director. Acknowledgements are in order for the Editors, Vodacom Executives, Judges of these awards, Journalists, Finalists and fellow...
These trees are a remnant of the hedge planted in 1660 by Jan van Riebeeck as a boundary to the newly established settlement at the Cape. Jan van Riebeeck, an employee of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), arrived at the Cape in 1652, to set up a refreshment station...