Articles

Paying tribute to Essa Moosa, the quiet revolutionary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our work in South Africa

A speech by Charlotte Maxeke The title of the speech is " Our work in South Africa".

Why the fuss about DAVOS?

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

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...

The Fifth Annual Imam Abdullah Haron Memorial Lecture

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

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

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...

We, the People: Insights of an Activist Judge

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

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

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

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)

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

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...

Mbeki says Biko is a Xhosa prophet

Mbeki says Biko is a Xhosa prophet

By Zubeida Jaffer* Steve Biko is a Xhosa prophet. Author and commentator, Moeletsi Mbeki made this extraordinary statement at the Franschoek Literary Festival this past weekend. His presentation was peppered with little quips and at first I thought this was just...

A shallow local democracy

A shallow local democracy

In both July editions of The Journalists we have carried stories on the progress and challenges of local government in several towns, villages and cities throughout the country. Here Zubeida Jaffer, publisher of The Journalist, goes in search of answers to key...

Charlotte Maxeke written back into history

Charlotte Maxeke written back into history

In the lead up to the 60th celebration of the 20,000 women who marched strong against the pass laws, and as we see the resurgence of women-led activism on campuses across the country, Zubeida Jaffer’s new book on the historical activist, Charlotte Mannya Maxeke, could not have come at a better time.

Philosophy curriculum ‘not detached from continent’

Philosophy curriculum ‘not detached from continent’

The publisher of The Journalist, Zubeida Jaffer, last week entered the fray following a public spat between two UCT academics, David Benatar and Xolile Mangcu, over issues of transformation and decolonization at the university. The pieces have appeared on the pages of...

South Africa, Post-Trauma

South Africa, Post-Trauma

In the house of the hangman one should not speak of the noose…One wants to break free of the past: rightly, because nothing can live in its shadow, and because there will be no end to the terror as long as guilt and violence are repaid guilt and violence; wrongly,...

Extracts from 69 Days by Rev Chris Wessels

IN KRUGER’S CLUTCHES “Strip! No, everything. Your socks also. Yes, you may keep your underpants on.” They leave. The clanging of the keys in the first set of doors, and then in the second … Footsteps die away, and an unearthly silence descends on the place. The...