The bad news first. In the wake of Oscar Pistorius' killing of his girlfriend, there has been much discussion of misogyny and the culture of violence toward women in South Africa. Read the opinion piece in the New York Times on 20 February, 2013 by Eusibius McKaiser. The Mail & Guardian has further commentary here.
Now the good news. Mampehle Ramphele recently announced that she is forming a new political party, Agang, to be launched in early June. An interview with her can be found here. Perhaps an effective opposition to the ANC can finally emerge. An open letter to Dr. Ramphele asks all the right questions and raises all those prickly issues no one really wants to face. That letter is at this link.
The winner of the documentary film category at last night's Academy Awards was Searching for Sugar Man. This is the story of a musician from Detroit, Sixto Rodriguez, who was never well known outside of the taverns he played, except in South Africa. Unbeknownst to him, a huge fan-base evolved and two people set out to find him, bring him to South Africa, and perhaps help get the royalties due to him.
Now the good news. Mampehle Ramphele recently announced that she is forming a new political party, Agang, to be launched in early June. An interview with her can be found here. Perhaps an effective opposition to the ANC can finally emerge. An open letter to Dr. Ramphele asks all the right questions and raises all those prickly issues no one really wants to face. That letter is at this link.
The winner of the documentary film category at last night's Academy Awards was Searching for Sugar Man. This is the story of a musician from Detroit, Sixto Rodriguez, who was never well known outside of the taverns he played, except in South Africa. Unbeknownst to him, a huge fan-base evolved and two people set out to find him, bring him to South Africa, and perhaps help get the royalties due to him.
