Articles
Ashley Forbes on Ebrahim Ebrahim’s 80th birthday
By Zubeida Jaffer Ashley Forbes was 24 years old when he was imprisoned on Robben Island. He stayed in a single cell in B Section with Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim who was then serving a second period of imprisonment. He had served 15 years from 1964 and then kidnapped from...
Bantu women on the move
The grand narratives about history are misleading. Apart from the pass protests of the early 1900s and the 1956 march, history would have us believe that black women were not active participants in South Africa’s history. Athambile Masola digs into the archives.
No single ideology provides easy answers to the crisis
By Zubeida Jaffer What is happening in our country and in the world? Daily we are bombarded with shocking new revelations of misconduct of some politicians, civil servants and some business people. Human civility, integrity and right action are flying out of the...
On Being South African
By Zubeida Jaffer Who am I? I am a child of God and am part of the universe. I was born into a Cape Muslim family. I am neither white, nor black, nor pink, nor blue. I am a human being, part of a common humanity. I am a woman, a journalist and a story–teller. Let me...
Prof Lalu pays tribute to Peter Williams
17 March 2017 By Professor Premesh Lalu I cannot tell you how much I loved Peter Williams. Together with Rashieda Labans and many others, we were idealistic and romantic in a world that apartheid had stripped of all emotion. We were young, passionate and awake to the...
AN OPEN LETTER TO PREMIER ZILLE: AFRICANS WERE NOT PASSIVE HUMAN BEINGS WAITING TO BE RESCUED
Dear Helen, I would like to thank you very much for the thoughtless tweets that you sent out recently. It has helped me draw a line in the sand. I have always reached out to others across racial and political lines in the belief that we all have to learn to live...
Healing a divided city
By Zubeida Jaffer* Healing the historical divisions in Cape Town requires careful thought and sensitive intervention. Apartheid has divided this city into separate racial pockets that remain intact ten years after democracy. Enclaves of non-racialism are emerging but...
A personal reflection on the passing of Judge Essa Moosa
By Zubeida Jaffer I write this message to comrades and friends who gathered in Athlone today to mourn and celebrate the life of Judge Essa Moosa. I could not attend the memorial service because I am in Bloemfontein but feel the need tonight to share in this moment. I...
Paying tribute to Essa Moosa, the quiet revolutionary
“You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.” Chinese Proverb “Our Tree is shedding its beautiful and glossy branches. We need to ensure that it grows beautiful and fresh shoots.” Linda...
Johnny Issel on freedom
“ What spurred us on then – the need and urge for freedom – still burns within us and it will burn in us for a long time to come. I want you to be strong. Do not be distracted by anything. Let us continue moving on and finally I believe we shall see what we...
Notes on Davos
Public Eye In the year 2000, the "Public Eye on Davos" was created as a counter-summit to the World Economic Forum (WEF), and over the years it grew into an internationally recognised online campaign, as it named and shamed unscrupulous companies with its awards. The...
Politics of memory and honouring women’s history
Panel discussion at Inyathelo 25 November 2016 Remembering the prominent role played by ground-breaking women, and calling for renewed activism and solidarity, were recurring themes at a breakfast discussion on Friday 25 November at Inyathelo, the South African...
When Julius Malema sets the tone
By Zubeida Jaffer The hatred of two men threatens to tear South Africa apart. The standoff at parliament last week saw too former friends slug it out as enemies bringing one of the country’s most important institutions to a standstill. President Zuma encouraged Julius...
Meeting Mandela In His 90th Year
By Zubeida Jaffer, March 20, 2008 – The Weekender He sat upright, his face glowing in his large high-backed chair like an emperor waiting for his subjects to be brought into his presence. Dressed in a pale-blue traditional silk Madiba shirt and a dark pants, Nelson...
The Meaning of John Berger
January 3, 2017 – The Con Mag John Berger, who died on January 2, turned 90 in November last year. A Jar of Wild Flowers (Zed Books), a collection of essays written by his friends and artistic collaborators in celebration of Berger, and edited by Yasmin Gunaratnam and...
Our work in South Africa
A speech by Charlotte Maxeke The title of the speech is " Our work in South Africa".
Address by Charlotte Maxeke at the Conference of European and Bantu Christian Students Association
Address took place at Fort Hare, June 27 – July 3, 1930 (Extract published in Christian students and Modern South Africa) “Social Conditions Among Bantu Women and Girls.” In speaking of Bantu women in urban areas, the first thing to be considered is the home, around...
Why the fuss about DAVOS?
By Zubeida Jaffer Why is there such a fuss about the importance of the World Economic Forum? The annual meeting at Davos will only ever make a difference to our lives if the rules of economic engagement are changed. And there was no substantial talk of that in 2017....
Hungry Students: A Public Health Crisis
Only 15% of our students make it all the way to graduation day. Part of the reason is that most of them are just too hungry to learn. By Linda Fekisi & Zubeida Jaffer When Samantha gets up at dawn to start the journey from her home in the shadow of the Lesotho...
Maxeke: SA’s first female black graduate
Original post from : http://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/maxeke-sas-first-female-black-graduate-2088160
The Fifth Annual Imam Abdullah Haron Memorial Lecture
“Has tolerance no limits?” Why the education crisis persists Jonathan D Jansen University of the Free State 2 October 2012 Introduction Two events of seismic proportions shook the Western Cape in the closing days of September 1969. The first was the...
Stop the Palestinian Occupation
By Zubeida Jaffer The crisis in the Gaza has its roots in the events of the two world wars. At the end of the First World War, Lord Arthur Balfour, the British foreign secretary, drafted a declaration that recognized the establishment of a Jewish homeland in...
The Soft Punch: The pitfalls of assimilation
Transformation in South Africa has taken on vague and even negative connotations. Two decades of democracy and we seem to have reached a cul de sac. It’s a raw nerve… when you touch it expressions of pain and anger escape. After four years at the University of the...
Mr FW de Klerk’s speech
This is a copy of Mr.FW de Klerk's speech dated: 1 February 1991.
We, the People: Insights of an Activist Judge
By Albie Sachs In his new book, activist and former judge Albie Sachs builds on South Africans’ renewed faith in the power of the Constitution. We, the People: Insights of an Activist Judge will be launched at Cavendish Square on Tuesday 22 November 2016 and Sachs...
It’s all about food sovereignity, not food security, stupid
By Zubeida Jaffer Activists from around the country are gearing up for a national dialogue on the right to food in November. They plan to kick start a movement for food sovereignty in South Africa. The African Centre for BioSafety in collaboration with the Foundation...
Things can fall apart
by Zubeida Jaffer* A plan in the making has finally come together. When President Zuma addressed the nation, he brought together the different elements of work of his economic ministers. Last year's SONA spoke about the government's commitment to job creation. This...
Egypt
A troubled country. The boats decorated with bright colourful lights sail endlessly down the nile through the night. Cairo never sleeps. Looking out over the Nile, from the 14th floor where I live, everything appears very normal. But the handful of people in those...
Rudyard Kipling, in Just So Stories (1902)
My first encounter with 5 W’s and an H was when I was a student at Rhodes University in 1978. By then some of my classmates were familiar with the problem solving method because they were taught this in High School English. I don’t think there can be any journalist...
MK Commissars stand similar to one taken 47 years ago led by Hani
By Shepi Mati and Zubeida Jaffer The last time MK Commissars took a strong stand in pointing out the enormous discontent in the ranks of the ANC was in the late sixties. This initiative led to the now famous Morogoro Conference in 1969 which redefined the way forward...