History Matters

JACOB DLAMINI – Business Day 11th June 2010 IT IS one of the many ironies of South African politics that the bitterest battles of our age have been waged within the ranks of the anti-apartheid movement itself — not between the movement and its foes. It is within the ranks of the African National Congress [...]

Attacks on sexuality rights are undermining constitutionalism, writes Raymond Suttner May 30, 2010 11:05 PM | By Raymond Suttner While noting government indecisiveness, especially at the top, we must recognise that much is still happening below and above the surface that might have far-reaching effects and require attention beyond this period. One way of addressing [...]

We lack a unifying national identity, but there is a way forward, writes Ivor Chipkin May 10, 2010 11:49 PM | By Ivor Chipkin. Time live The Big Read:There is renewed interest in the question of whether “South Africans” exist. Both the Helen Suzman Foundation and the Gordon Institute for Business Science have recently made [...]

by Omar Badsha and Jon Soske During the latter half of 2010, a series of events commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the first Indian indentured laborers in Natal will take place across South Africa. The preparations have already inspired wide-spread debate; individuals from a variety of communities and political perspectives have raised similar questions: to [...]

– By Bennie Bunsee The Indian Question in South Africa is part of the National Question in the country whose principal political task post apartheid is nation-building based on racial and social harmony and overcoming the racial fragmentation in what is both an African and multi-racial society and respecting the diversity of cultures and languages [...]

The Times – 8 September 2009 Yusuf Dadoo’s legacy is our tradition of non-racialism, writes Yunus Momoniat AT A conference last week, delegates mulled over the legacy of Yusuf Dadoo, a leader of the Transvaal Indian Congress, a communist leader and respected activist. The key theme of the conference was the question of non-racialism and [...]

Moipone Malefane Sunday Times, Published:Aug 09, 2009 ANC Youth League president Julius Malema’s criticism of President Jacob Zuma’s appointment of “minorities” to strategic economic positions was not a spontaneous outburst — but is part of a debate raging within the party’s official structures. The Sunday Times can reveal that the issue was discussed by the [...]

Mac Maharaj: In Confidence Published:Jul 11, 2009 Sunday Times What is worrying today is the heightening race consciousness and dissatisfaction. There seems to be increasing racial polarisation July 18 — the 91st birthday of Nelson Mandela — marks the first international Mandela Day as an occasion when each of us takes a step, through some [...]

John Saul I have been, for most of my adult life, a student of southern African, including South African, affairs, I was pleased but also intrigued to receive an invitation from Ingrid and the South African Association of Canadian Studies to come to SA to give several talks and seminars in this country (and also [...]