Research

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...

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...

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...

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,...

By Keabetswe Magano Two years ago I had the opportunity to meet and witness the brilliance of Bennie Bunsee, the man with 50 000+ books in his home. At first I thought we were meeting him in a small community library but it was his home. There were book shelves filled...

By Erik Fredner In the year since Nelson Mandela's death on Dec. 5, 2013, the impetus to commemorate the South African leader has increased around the globe, with memorials already completed in South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, Peru, the Netherlands...

By Gabeba Baderoon “I recognized Cape Town the first time I saw it,” Deborah Thomas revealed at a lecture she gave in the city in July 2014. A sociologist who works in Jamaica, she knew instantly that she was looking at a place shaped by slavery. What do you see when...

By Jimmy Mathews Death, even when we expect it, always comes as a shock. The SABC spent years preparing for the inevitable passing of Nelson Mandela. We had plans for every eventuality, and teams ready to be deployed at a moments notice, but until it happened, we...

by Faizal Dawjee Reviewing Anthony Sher’s one man show about guilt-ridden Holocaust survivor, Primo Levi, John Heilpern writes in the New York Observer: “The high-minded intellectuals with their nice clean hands who blame Levi for his apparent “suicide” are one of...

These are series of photos. Click here for more information about the book Love in the Time of Treason - The Life Story of Ayesha Dawood by Zubeida Jaffer

By Sa’diyya Shaikh
 and Shuaib Manjra The notion of an ‘Open Mosque’ is an alluring idea: such a mosque which is inclusive, non-discriminatory and embracing of human diversity naturally resonates with us as Muslims, feminists and proponents of human rights. There is...

A paper delivered by Mathatha Tsedu on December 1, 2013, at the Vodacom Journalism Awards 2013, Johannesburg. Thank you Programme Director. Acknowledgements are in order for the Editors, Vodacom Executives, Judges of these awards, Journalists, Finalists and fellow...

These trees are a remnant of the hedge planted in 1660 by Jan van Riebeeck as a boundary to the newly established settlement at the Cape. Jan van Riebeeck, an employee of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), arrived at the Cape in 1652, to set up a refreshment station...

1. We, the undersigned, are all committed cadres of the African National Congress, having served our glorious movement for many decades. Throughout our lives, and whenever the need arose, we did not hesitate to raise our hands to be counted among those who could be...

What is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome? Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is caused when a pregnant woman drinks alcohol. The alcohol can reach any part of her body and the baby within 20 minutes after she has taken a drink. The alcohol is toxic (poisonous) for the unborn baby and...

By Makhudu Sefara , editor of the Star 7 June 2013. Johannesburg - On the sidelines of a lunch I attended in Sandton this week, an executive asked me: “What on earth was Sanef thinking, writing a petition to the Competition Commission?” And, before I could respond, he...

The Real Mismatch The Supreme Court should not force universities to trade affirmative action for socioeconomic diversity. Schools can have both. By Lee C. Bollinger   Graduates from Columbia University's School of Public Health Photo by Keith Bedford/Reuters The...

The 2012 Helen Suzman Memorial Lecture Jonathan D Jansen University of the Free State “So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” Psalm 90 v 12 Introduction   The first and only time I met the politician Helen Suzman was in a principal’s office...

University of the Free State Vice-Chancellor Jonathan Jansen was in Cape Town on Tuesday to deliver the fifth Imam Haron Lecture, held annually to commemorate the memory of the Muslim activist, murdered during Apartheid, whose name it bears. Jansen wasn’t pulling any...

Similar struggles against the Bantu Authorities Act were fought in the Transkei, where the resistance of the peasants culminated in the Pondo revolt which broke into the open early in 1960. At first the government pretended that nothing untoward was happening in...

Martin Prew Firing the education minister will not rectify flawed procurement and intervention powers. The grief that has been heaped on Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga from all quarters seems to be justified on the surface. The facts seem clear. Eight...

Faranaaz Parker If education really is SA's top priority, it's clear what needs to be done. We need a new education minister, writes Faranaaz Parker Last week I stood in a queue at the supermarket and waited as the young woman behind the till painstakingly tried to...

CECYL ESAU History Department, University of the Western Cape / Institute for Justice and Reconciliation I was arrested with a number of comrades in April 1986. I was charged with commt- ting acts of ‘terrorism’ against the apartheid state. Initially we were fifteen...

by Imran Khan My generation grew up at a time when colonial hang up was at its peak. Our older generation had been slaves and had a huge inferiority complex of the British. The school I went to was similar to all elite schools in Pakistan. Despite gaining...

After praising, and thanking God, the Prophet, may God send His praises upon him said: “O People, lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore, listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and take...