LOVE AND VIOLENCE: DR MBUYISENI NDLOZI’S AUDACIOUS BID TO BE THE BIKO-FANON OF A LOST GENERATION
I did not attend the launch. I watched it on TV. But this book matters. Not because it is perfect. Because it is necessary. Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi’s Love and Violence: A Revolt Against Permanent Juniority arrives at a moment when his generation – the born-free, the tenderpreneurs, the unemployed graduates, the greedy beneficiaries of democracy […]
TO ZUKILE MEMELA: THE GAMBU MAN WHO RAISED HIS HAND FOR DIEPKLOOF
Zuki, last born of my brother. You are my blood. I saw that you raised your hand. Not for a photo. Not for a title.You raised your hand to run for Ward Councilor in Diepkloof. A very tough and volatile township. And I do not need to tell you what that means. But I wish […]
THE CONVERSATION THAT MUST HAPPEN: BIKO ASKS MBEKI: WHY?
It is 49 years after Steve Biko was murdered on a mat in Room 977. The strange thing about history is that sometimes it stages conversations that never happened. Two voices echo through the same country, breathe the same air, claim the same liberation and yet never sit at the same table to account. Still […]
THE MYTH OF THE ARTIST AS A SPECIAL CITIZEN: ARTISTS ARE NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE BRICKLAYER
The death of any 96-year-old is sad. The death of a 96-year-old artist who lived in a shack is even sadder. But sadness is not analysis, and grief is not policy. I feel we cannot be angry at Gayton McKenzie or the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. Condemning them after the death of Bra […]
VUKA AZANIA: A SECOND COMING OF BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS OR JUST ANOTHER ELITE TALK SHOP?
The launch of Vuka Azania landed with the weight of history. In its own way, it is an early start to Steve Biko’s 50th Anniversary of …er, his death and the devastating blow on Black Consciousness. When you think about it, it is not entirely new. It isn’t. But it sounds like an echo — […]
VOLUNTEER SLAVERY BY ANOTHER NAME: THE TWO-FACED ATTITUDE BEHIND EXPLOITATIVE LABOUR
![AI image of exploitation in the workforce [Image: Linkedin]](https://gsmn.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/image-64-1024x576.png)
We need a new language to put words to something many South Africans have seen but could not name. The Privileged – both black and white – have said “prayers” and raised the hands and voices to the heavens to God to save undocumented immigrants. They have fled communities they stayed in for years to […]
FROM 67 MINUTES TO 67 DAYS: A SEASON TO BE ACTIVE CITIZENS
On 18 July every year we pause for 67 minutes. We serve soup. We paint a wall. We post a selfie. We feel like we honored Madiba. On 19 July we wake up to the same South Africa: the same broken schools, the same empty fridges, the same potholes, and the same fear. Citizens are […]
THE “TOWER OF BABEL” OR THE BREAK FROM THE LEASH? BLACK JOURNALISTS, OWNERSHIP, AND THE FRAGMENTED MEDIA FUTURE
In the last decade, something quiet but profound has happened in South African media. One by one, names we grew up reading in the daily and Sunday papers have reappeared — not on mastheads owned by Naspers or Arena, but on their own websites, newsletters, and YouTube channels. Len Maseko. Jovial Rantao. Abbey Makoe. Zubeida […]
EXAMINING AFRICAN MEDIA’S COVERAGE OF SA’S IMMIGRATION CRISIS
We have to reexamine the role and responsibilities of African media coverage of the recent 30 June protest marches in South Africa. We have seen this happen in the 1980s. South Africa had one of the biggest concentration of foreign correspondents. It was a turbulent time. When journalists “parachute in” to cover a story, they […]
TWO WOMEN, TWO APPROACHES: CAN SOUTH AFRICA’S FUTURE HOLD BOTH?
South Africa’s public life is, in a small way, being reshaped right now by two beautiful, articulate, and attractive political activist women in their prime. They do not agree on method, but both believe in their heads that they are fighting for the same country. The question is whether their differences can become complementarity. The […]
The Soweto Uprisings: Counter RISE 76: SIFISO MXOLISI NDLOVU’S “COUNTER MEMORIES” FINALLY ON STAGE
RISE 76’s director Tiisetso Mashifane wa Noni is a súper star on the rise. She has risen to staggering heights. The young, multi award winning director who adapted the work for the stage was always going to meet history with ambition. She must have done her own extensive research: archives, TRC reports, autopsy records and […]
1976 STRUGGLE FATIGUE
It is 50 years after June 1976 and the children of Soweto are increasingly growing aware that the fiery and prophetic fire and spirit of much vaunted revolution has faded. The African National Congress power is on a serious decline with its hands weakened on all the levers of State power by coalition government. Looking […]