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 […]
DONT BLAME GOVERNMENT: 33 YEARS OF BLACK ABDICATION OF POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY
Blaming “the so-called government” has become a tired excuse. After 33 years since 1994, condemnation without action is exhausted. Yes, the state has failed in many areas. Eskom’s load shedding has cost the economy an estimated R899 billion between 2007 and 2023, according to the South African Reserve Bank. Municipal debt to Eskom hit R82.7 […]
MAMA’S SPIRIT, HALF A BAND: ZENZI MAKEBA’S TRIBUTE AT WITS
On a warm afternoon at the Chris Seabrooke Theatre, Wits University in Johannesburg did something rare: it filled a state of the art small intimate auditorium to celebrate an African artist without apologizing for her Africanness. The Miriam Makeba Tribute, a collaboration between the Makeba Foundation and the Wits School of Arts, was relatively well […]
HUGH MASIKELA WAS NEITHER “A FREEDOM FIGHTER NOR POLITICAL ACTIVIST”
![Bra Hugh Masekela [Image: Wits Uni / Daily Maverick]](https://gsmn.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/WitsUni-Hugh-citation-1024x595.jpg)
It is unfair for anyone to think or expect that Tribute to Hugh Masekela was about the celebration of a political icon. Yes, Bra Hugh, as the legendary musician was affectionately called, was …er a highly conscientized politically conscious artist. But he was neither a freedom fighter nor a political activist. More than anything, when […]
SPOKES, A SELFLESS SERVANT OF THE STRUGGLE THROUGH THE MEDIA
We buried Theophilus Sjuja Spokes Mashiyane. He was my childhood friend, a university mate and later a media colleague. We buried the bones, flesh and blood. But his spirit lives in our memories, hearts and souls. Friends and family spoke about his life, his achievements and intentions. However, I am not too sure if the […]
THERE ARE NON-REVOLUTIONARIES HERE
The neo-colonial reconstruction of reconciliation has destroyed the soul of Black people. As a result, Black people are obsessed with being peaceful and nice to both oppressors and collaborators. In his analysis of current political devevloments and electoral trends where there are hundreds of political parties, outspoken author of the best-selling autobiography, The Oddessey : […]
THE OLIPHANT IN THE ROOM
I think she was fully aware that she had an array of options. And she chose to be bold and daring … taking power head on. Nay, she dragged it by the scruff of its neck into a public spectacle. Worse, they had suspended her with immediate effect. They did not follow process. Sit her […]