Racists, decolonise your minds!

During the past few weeks I seem to have spawned a fan club of charming individuals who leave comments on my Thought Leader blog informing me that because I am white I have no right to tackle issues such as the Zimbabwean crisis.
It’s interesting because they don’t demand that I censor myself on the basis [...]

Niki Daly on cross-cultural storytelling

Niki Daly, the world-famous South African children’s book illustrator and storyteller, gave a wonderful talk at the Obs Library in Cape Town on Tuesday. I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity as his books were a special part of my childhood. Masha du Toit, multimedia navigator at my wonderful college, Vega, was also there. She [...]

Malaysia’s lessons for South Africa

Malaysia’s governing coalition which has been in power since independence in 1957 has suffered a blow to its hegemony in the latest elections. In the federal legislature, opposition parties more than quadrupled in representation – from 20 in 2004 to 82. Opposition parties now govern 5 states, up from 1 in 2004.
The key cause of [...]

Timeless lessons from the bard

I watched the Maynardville production of The Merchant of Venice on Thursday evening. Roy Sargent’s poignant and compelling interpretation of the play holds many contemporary lessons for us, most notably of the danger of grudging racial co-existence acting as proxy to true reconciliation.
Without reconciliation the barriers remain – as do the hate and hurt [...]