Liberia’s first woman president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace campaigner Leymah Gbowee and youth activist Tawakkul Karman are the first women to receive the Nobel Peace Prize since 2004. These three women were chosen for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and women’s rights to full participation in...
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Article 21 of the South African Constitution is not such a tricky provision to understand. It says pretty clearly that as a citizen of the country, I am entitled to a passport. It also says that I am allowed to leave the country and re-enter the country. So I am pretty confident that I am allowed to reside outside of South Africa,...
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The hand-wringing delays on securing a South African visa for the Dalai Lama has drawn sharp criticism from several principled circles, invoking impromptu vigils outside parliament and banner-clad protests demanding his approval forthwith. And if principles were the only deciding factor in accepting the Dalai Lama’s application I...
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The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) is taking on a whole new market: air travel. South Africa will soon have a new wholly black-owned, low-cost, commercial airline. Zuma has hailed the new airline as “a practical example of economic and social emancipation”. Others have also welcomed the idea of affordable air...
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Every young woman I have spoken to has a story – stories of coercive circumstances; harassment, sexual propositions and overtures; emergency contraception; sexual abuse; controlling behaviour or intimidation. I am not writing on behalf of all victims or survivors of sexual assault, harassment or gender-based violence (GBV)....
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The recent debate over Tutu’s ‘white tax’ has an awful lot of people hot under the collar. I have no problem with people debating this and Richard Stupart’s thoughtful piece is a great contribution to the discussion. It’s an interesting philosophical question to bounce around the privileged coffee shops and wine-bars of...
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Generally, I hate the white privilege debate in South Africa. Not because I feel it is unwarranted – god knows it exists, is immense, and increasingly needs addressing. I hate the debate because, for the most part, I wholly distrust the motivations of behind many of the most strident voices arguing in the arena. Whether...
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When last were you, when addressing a problem with your printer or shiny new Apple junk-Mac, patched through to a call-centre in Alexandra? Numerous of those dreaded service-related calls have resulted in me being patched through to scripted Indians, incomprehensible Filipinos, and angry Glaswegians, but never to a cheerful...
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