Capitalism is a strange animal. For over a decade since becoming politically self-aware I’ve backed it for its liberty and ability to create wealth while encouraging innovation. Yet with experience and time I’ve witnessed several ills of it and of late these are increasingly bothering me.
There is still value in capitalism so understand that this [...]
Jack Bloom has a good analysis of South Africa’s depressing foreign policy in the Weekly Standard. He gives a brief history our pro-dictatorial bias and, among other things, neatly captures the ANC’s hypocrisy on the Zimbabwe issue:
South Africa’s official policy on Zimbabwe is “silent diplomacy,” which boils down to very little pressure at all. The [...]
In the course of researching an essay on Islamic fundamentalist groups, I recently came across a set of theories, written by a Muslim academic, that attempted to explain the the historical question of why Islamic civilisation was overtaken by the West after the renaissance and still has yet to fully embrace modernity. A lot of [...]
There’s not much else to the statement beyond that, for as blindingly obvious to many as it already is I’m still surprised that others believe that the South African government would be prepared to intervene for the sake of morality. Especially since I’m tempted to believe they would be more quick to support Mugabe and [...]
This is Zimbabwe, by Sokwanele, is a blog that should be on everybody’s reading list. With traditional media largely barred from reporting in Zimbabwe, it provides an invaluable stream of information about the actions of Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF regime and the suffering of those living under it. Now, they’ve released a video pulling together various [...]
It appears that the controversy around the 2007 South Africa Blogawards and the public allegations of a conflict of interests has reached the public press through the Sunday Times as per It’s Almost Supernatural.
Until now Commentary South Africa has refrained from getting involved in the ongoing spats. However, due to the publication of the matter [...]
With the recent announcements of British, German and Swedish probes into corruption in SA’s controversial Arms Deal, we’ve seen another burst of interest from the media on the subject. A proper analysis of the deal and controversy requires another (long) post, so instead these are just a few interesting tidbits from the last few days.
A [...]
Zwelinzima Vavi’s interview in this weekend’s Mail & Guardian has generated plenty of discussion in the blogosphere (see here, here and here, for example), so I’ve only a got a few points to add.
First, it’s worth pointing out that Vavi’s plan is strategically sound. In fact, it gives us some insight as to why Cosatu [...]
Time for a bit of shameless self pimpage. We’ve been nominated for the 2007 SA Blog Awards for best writing and best political blog in 2006. If you think we fit the bill on either feel free to give us your vote.
Another Tsitsikamma night sky shot, this time overhead. The very top right hand corner has a portion of a roof in it but also roughly indicates north. I’m not sure whether the bright blue star is Sirius or not but Orions Belt is out of the picture to the far bottom right in the east.
It wasn’t the most violent crime the country has ever experienced, but David Bullard’s account of his own shooting is harrowing in its own way. I think it has something to do with the helplessness of the situation. Sometimes, when reading about crime, it’s easy to pick out things the victims should have done differently: [...]
The Business Day’s Linda Ensor claims as much in Saturday’s edition of The Weekender:
Government was left with egg on its face on Friday, following revelations that the R13,7bn Hawk and Gripen aircraft it bought as part of the strategic arms acquisition programme might end up being white elephants.
The defence department’s chief director of acquisitions, Maj-Gen [...]
Darren on SumbandilaSat Launches
mandla on Punish the SANDF Strikers
Morne on Time to Consider Property?
bfly on Housekeeping and Blog-Pimping
RvdW on Some Michael-Related Perspective
[L]ocal viewpoints on local/international affairs. That they aren't brain-dead like most local self-confessed 'intellectuals' is a bonus.
- Fifteen Minutes
[I'm] glad to report the arrival of a new blog written by a couple of 'conservative-libertarian' South Africans. Commentary is both well written and prolific and very much worth a visit.
- Southern Cross
[A] great new South African blog. Commentary.co.za brings us libertarian views on South Africa...
- Way South
Probably the busiest (in terms of number of postings) blog is Commentary... They write on everything from politics, sport, time travel and more.
- Fodder
Commentary.co.za is a fantastically well-written site with an indepth insight into South African politics. If you want the lowdown on what's happening in the corridors of power, this is the place to read it. These guys know their stuff.
- Cherryflava
Pompous, geeky and holier-than-thou.
- Gabbahead
