Tag: History

HUGH MASIKELA WAS NEITHER “A FREEDOM FIGHTER NOR POLITICAL ACTIVIST”

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 […]

A CURRICULUM BUILT ON ERASURE: RECLAIMING OUR BURIED HISTORY 

If you want to destroy a people, you start with their identity — because in identity lives memory, and in memory lives power. And that is exactly what history has always been: not just dates and events, but the story of who we are allowed to believe we are. For too long in South Africa, that […]

LAFA ELIHLE KAKHULU: FROM LAMENT TO NATIONAL RE-AWAKENING

In a marriage, betrayal is rarely accepted all at once. It reveals itself slowly — through disbelief, excuses, rationalisation, even denial. One clings to what once was, determined to “work at it.” And when acceptance finally comes, it is not relief that arrives — it is pain. Deep, unsettling pain. This is where many of […]

THE DIALOGUE THAT MUST NOT BE REFUSED AGAIN

In September 2001, as the rubble of the Twin Towers still smoldered and the logic of civilizational war was becoming American policy, Iran’s President Mohammad Khatami rose before a United Nations conference and made a different argument. The UN General Assembly had just endorsed his country’s proposal for a Dialogue of Civilizations. The moment, Khatami said, […]

THE U.S.–ISRAEL STRIKE ON IRAN THREATENS THE WORLD

The joint military operation launched by the United States and Israel against Iran marks one  of the most dangerous escalations in modern Middle Eastern history. It is being sold as a  “defensive necessity.” In reality, it is a calculated gamble which has catastrophic consequences—legally dubious, strategically reckless, and morally indefensible.  This was not an act […]

FARE THEE WELL, BRA JOE

Bra Joe Latakgomo was a gentle giant of Black journalism. Orally, he was not a man of many words. Almost a reserved personality, he treated people with respect. Even his objects of scorn, such as apartheid and its white establishments, he condemned with a sense of correcting, rather than ridiculing.  Joseph “Joe” Seshego Latakgomo breathed his last breath at Kalafong Hospital in Atteridgeville near Pretoria on […]

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 […]

THE SILENT DECLINE OF OUR NATIVE LANGUAGES

Now that the festive season has passed, I find myself reflecting on an unsettling reality I encountered in rural communities: many young people cannot speak their native languages, and in some cases, this inability is celebrated rather than questioned. For some parents, their children’s fluency in English, often acquired through private schooling is treated as […]

INDIGENOUS MUSIC DESERVES MORE THAN A HERITAGE MONTH SPOTLIGHT

Every September, South Africa celebrates Heritage Month. It is during this time that indigenous music briefly takes centre stage: the Zulus’ maskandi, Bapedi’s tsa manyalo (Lekompo), Tsonga rhythms, and other traditional genres appear across radio, television, and newspapers. Artists are interviewed, their music played, and their stories showcased. Yet, once the month ends, the spotlight […]

AZAPO’S OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA

Greetings Mr President, To act in this uncharacteristic manner is a desperate attempt to grab your highly contested and congested attention and redirect it to the voice of the voiceless. The fact that you cut your political teeth in the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), of which I remain an activist, gives me the assurance that […]

THE COST OF HYPOCRISY: GAYTON MCKENZIE AND THE WEAPONISATION OF THE K-WORD

When I first heard that Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader and Sports, Arts, and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie had repeatedly used the K-word on social media – South Africa’s most vile and violent racial slur – I wasn’t shocked. Instead, I was enraged! Not because I expected any better from him, but because once again, black pain has been put up for public debate, […]

“HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI” EXPOSES THE SIMMERING INEQUITIES IN THE UN SYSTEM

The first week of every August month in history exposes, in my view, the depths of the failures and deep-seated false pretenses of international diplomacy as a vehicle for civil resolve of differences and consensus-building mechanism. It was on August 6 and 9 respectively, 80 years ago when the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima […]