PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA ANNOUNCES SA WILL HOLD THE NATIONAL DIALOGUE IN SEARCH OF A COMMON FUTURE
In a widely circulated media statement, President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke as follows: “My Fellow South Africans, today, I wish to address you about the National Dialogue, an initiative that has been in discussion by a number of leaders in our country and many other people for some time now. This initiative has been gathering great […]
SA CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY OF MOLEFE PHETO, THE MUCH LOVED AZANIAN “BULL FROM MORULENG”
Today, June 11, marks the celebration of a true giant of the anti-apartheid Struggle, Molefe Pheto, as he turns 90. The highly esteemed, affable nonagenarian is a renowned South African musician, teacher, and activist. Born on June 11, 1935, in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, Pheto has had a remarkable life dedicated to waging an anti-racist struggle […]
A TRIBUTE TO PROF NGUGI WA THIONG’O
“Keepers of African memory must do for their languages what all others in history have done for theirs“, Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o, at the 2003 Steve Biko Annual Memorial Lecture in Cape Town, South Africa. Of the many encounters I’ve had with Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o, personally and through reading his transformative books, his Steve […]
THE USNESS OF US: A TRIBUTE TO SOUTH AFRICA’S FOREMOST STRUGGLE POETS
There are verses that do more than speak. They breathe. They march. They bleed. They return across generations like incantations passed from mouth to ear, from prison cell to refugee camp, from jazz club to the guerrilla front. For those of us who came of age in exile, navigating the uncertainties of borders, belonging, and […]
TETE DIJANA TRIUMPHS AT THE 2025 COMRADES MARATHON AS NORTH WEST SHINES
The North West Acting Premier Kenetswe Mosenogi congratulates Tete Dijana on his remarkable victory at the 2025 Comrades Marathon. Dijana has once again made the North West province proud by securing his third Comrades Marathon title, having previously won in 2022 and 2023. Notably, the North West province dominated the top finishers, with four athletes […]
SOWETO’S NALEDI HIGH SCHOOL MOULDED MEN AND WOMEN OF INTEGRITY
Having scaled the heights of life, a summit of which I reached having climbed the ladder of success step-by-step, I look back at the role that my township Alma Matar Naledi High School played in shaping me to be a kind of man I became. Naledi High School was a place of growth and discovery. […]
ACTIVITIES LINED UP TO HONOUR CDE PHETHO, THE AZANIAN “BULL FROM MORULENG”
On Wednesday June 11 2025, mentors and mentees in the cultural sphere, are expected to descend on the residence of internationally acclaimed cultural icon Molefe Pheto at Bangadile Farm, in Magalies, to celebrate the illustrious life of the living legend turning 90 years of age. The June 11, 2025 event in Magalies will be the […]
LUXURY, LAMENT, AND THE LITURGY OF POWER: THE CHURCHES AND THE POLITICS OF POST-LIBERATION SA
When the Pulpit Echoed the Trenches During the liberation struggle, the Church, in many of its denominations, was more than a sanctuary. It was a site of resistance, a haven for activists, a platform where sermons were steeped in justice. Reverends, priests, and preachers defied the apartheid regime not just with words but with active […]
DEMYSTIFYING THE MYTH OF THE LEMBA PEOPLE: MEMORY, DNA, AND THE BURDEN OF BELONGING
In the Dust of Forgotten Villages In the hills of Venda, across Limpopo and into Zimbabwe, live a people shrouded in both reverence and obscurity, the Lemba. Oral tradition hails them as descendants of ancient Jewish traders. Anthropologists once dismissed them as mythmakers. Geneticists have complicated the story, revealing a lineage that echoes across deserts […]
NOSTALGIC REVISIT TO PRESENT-DAY MARABASTAD
It was a chilly morning on 28 May when Dr Mothobi Mutloatse and yours truly went on a whistle-stop walkabout of Marabastad. The mission was to try and retrace the steps of the late academic and author par excellence, Professor Es’kia Mphahlele, the author of the all-time classic, “Down Second Avenue”. Indeed our port of […]
ZAMA-ZAMAS OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE
An exploration of memory, myth, and the posthumous mining of liberation credentials Gold from the Grave These days, it seems that to die in South Africa is to finally receive your liberation stripes. A friend sent me a link to a social media tribute the other day. The dearly departed was someone we had all […]
AFRICA MONTH: CELEBRATING 62 YEARS OF THE AFRICAN UNION
The African Union (previously known as the Organization of African Unity) commemorates its 62nd year since it was established. Over this period, numerous developments have been undertaken, considerable setbacks have been interrogated, corrective courses of action applied, and new resolutions have emerged having political and commercial facets. One of the most significant moments in the […]