Archive for the ‘Current Events’ Category
by Amanda on Jul 29th, 2011
Max du Preez says he was cynical about attending “ensemble building” workshops in America, but found that the acting workshops work well as a metaphor for building peace and stability in a society. The actors are guided through a variety of exercises that aim to engender trust, understanding and empathy. Du Preez says the Truth and Reconiliation Commission was an exercise that managed to create this trust and empathy, but that somehow we have forgotten that empathy and forgiveness are part of an ongoing process, not a singular event:
Here I am, a shallow, cynical hack attending “ensemble building” workshops in America. But an old dog can learn new tricks.
The idea is to get a cast of actors to act like an organic unit; to interact, support and complement one another. After the second workshop it struck me that ensemble building is a metaphor for building peace, stability and harmony in society. Or conflict resolution. And this was what I was doing here: attending a summer institute on alternative conflict resolution hosted by the new Global Arts Corps, a body with strong South African roots.
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by Amanda on Jul 22nd, 2011
According to an article in the Cape Times, David Klatzow, author of Steeped in Blood: The Life and Times of a Forensic Scientist, has discovered new evidence which may just hold the key to unlocking the mysterious 24-year-old Helderberg case.
Press release:
Dr David Klatzow, forensic expert and bestselling author of Steeped in Blood, claims he has new evidence that could clear up the 24-year-old mystery about the fatal Helderberg crash and wants President Jacob Zuma to reopen the investigation.
Klatzow told the Cape Times yesterday that he had in his possession an affidavit from a former South African Airways pilot, Clair Fichardt, about what had happened to recordings of the pilots’ conversation, and that this was the “missing piece to the puzzle” in the investigation. Fichardt said: “I do believe [Klatzow] is on the right track, and in memory and honour of those who died, the truth must come out.”
The 28 November 1987 airline disaster came about when the Boeing 747 crashed into the sea just off Mauritius after a fire had allegedly started on board, and the cause of the crash remains shrouded in mystery and mired in controversy. All 159 passengers and crew were killed.
Presidency spokeswoman Zanele Mngadi said the department was not aware of Klatzow’s call for Zuma to reopen the probe. They would study the information and respond at a later stage.
Ends
City forensic expert David Klatzow claims he has new evidence which could clear up the 24-year-old mystery about the fatal Helderberg crash and wants President Jacob Zuma to reopen the investigation.
Klatzow told the Cape Times yesterday that he had an affidavit from a former South African Airways pilot, Clair Fichardt, about what had happened to tapes of the pilot’s conversation, and that this was the “missing piece to the puzzle” in the Helderberg investigation.
The affidavit quoted a former SAA pilot, now dead, who said the tapes had been given to then SAA CEO Gert van der Veer. Van der Veer testified to the Margo Commission of Inquiry into the Helderberg crash and to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that he had no knowledge of the tapes.
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Photos courtesy the Cape Times
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by Amanda on Jul 7th, 2011
Max du Preez has caught a whiff of revolt in the air and concluded that South Africa is ripe for a revolution, nay, deserving of one. However, du Preez worries that a South African upheaval will happen for the wrong reasons, and that what he is really smelling is “the smell of hatred, greed and revenge”, “the smell of rot”.
In the following column at News24, du Preez responds to a tweet by Sunday Times editor, Ray Hartley, and here it is:
Du Preez’s column:
South Africa hasn’t had its revolution yet. It is coming, a newspaper editor declared on Twitter this week, echoing the earlier stark warning by writer Peter Godwin.
I’m beginning to smell revolution too. Just a whiff, for now, but still.
But it isn’t the exciting, promising smell of the 1980s. The smell of freedom and possibility.
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by Amanda on Jul 6th, 2011
Max du Preez kritiseer in sy jongste rubriek in Rapport die filosoof Samantha Vice se stelling in die nuutste Journal of Social Philosophy dat wit mense hul aan die openbare lewe in Suid-Afrika moet onttrek. “Ek dink Vice ruk die dam onder die eend uit,” sê hy:
Suid-Afrika het ’n wit probleem. Die oplossing is dat bleekvellige burgers hulle moet onttrek aan die openbare lewe en hulself in skaamte en nederigheid probeer rehabiliteer.
Met die eerste oogopslag is dié stelling deur die Suid-Afrikaanse filosoof Samantha Vice genoeg om enige Afrikaner in sy pap te laat stik.
Nou ja. Kom ons almal haal diep asem, tel tot 100 en oorweeg dan wat sy sê.
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by Amanda on Apr 14th, 2011
Terwyl ‘n man gister in ‘n protesoptog oor dienslewerings in Ficksburg gedood is, vra Max du Preez dat mense die “gom van ras, etnisiteit en geskiedenis” tydens die komende plaaslike verkiesing moet afskud.
Du Preez het in ‘n rubriek in Rapport geskryf dat die “vetkatte” sal voortgaan om rustig te slaap, indien die gom bly kleef en mense aanhou om te stem vir die party wat hul plaaslike owerheid swak bestuur.
Hy is duidelik ten gunste van ‘n opskudding tydens hierdie verkiesing wat die ANC in sommige gebiede uit die kussings sal lig:
Niemand wil dit eintlik hardop sê nie, maar die komende plaaslike verkiesing is dalk die belangrikste verkiesing in Suid-Afrika sedert 1994.
Voor al die vorige verkiesings, plaaslik sowel as nasionaal, was die uitslag eintlik maar ’n voldonge feit.
Dié keer is dit beslis nié.
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by Amanda on Mar 3rd, 2011
Max du Preez, author of Pale Native, says that the South African government has revealed its own form of post-liberation discrimination.
Based on a “hierarchy of suffering”, coloureds and Indians are viewed as having a “second-class” citizenship by the ruling government, du Preez says, adding that this “ethnic chauvism” is often revealed in the words of ANC officials – like Jimmy Manyi, who declared that there is an “over-concentration” of coloureds in the Western Cape, which lead to a strongly-worded response to the ANC spokesman by Trevor Manuel.
Du Preez recalls the words of the former wife of ex-president FW de Klerk, who referred to coloured people as “uitskot-mense” (rejects), saying this mindset has prevailed in the post-apartheid era:
During the apartheid era, I was classified as a white male. I’m still pretty much regarded as one. One might actually say I’m a whitey in general and an Afrikaner in particular, although most Afrikaners would say I’m not a very good one. I therefore have no place writing on behalf of any population group, not even white Afrikaners.
But perhaps, with a bit of leniency from readers, I should be allowed to express an opinion about other population groups in this so-called rainbow nation and about how they are viewed and treated. The group in question used to have many names: Cape Coloured, Cape Malay, Griqua, Other Coloured, etc. Many nowadays prefer to be called So-called Coloureds. I personally like that, because, as all informed people must know, we are all “coloureds”, but not all So-called Coloureds.
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by Amanda on Feb 11th, 2011
Max du Preez, who authored Of Tricksters, Tyrants and Turncoats, takes a look at some of the more absurd stories that have been making the news lately:
In Buffalo in the United States a Muslim man who started a television station to promote cultural understanding and to counter negative perceptions of Islam was found guilty of beheading his wife.
In South Africa the president had his widely respected Cabinet spokesperson, Themba Maseko, removed and replaced him with one of the most controversial public figures in the country, a man who was fired from his job as director-general of Labour, accused of serious misconduct and perceived as someone who deeply dislikes South Africans with a lighter skin tone than his own, Jimmy Manyi.
The tests given to tens of thousands of pupils this week to assess their literacy and numeracy skills are riddled with very basic mistakes.
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by Amanda on Jan 4th, 2011
Journalist Max du Preez, author of Of Tricksters, Tyrants and Turncoats (recently published in Afrikaans as Oor krygers, korrelkoppe en konkelaars) thinks that being racially controversial in South Africa is akin to acquiring the rights to a gold mine. He predicts that Afrikaans author Annelie Botes (who recently sparked a row when she said that she doesn’t like black people) will experience an increase in sales following her controversial comments:
Sex sells? I’m not so sure any longer. But I do know that racism sells if you choose your brand of racism and your market well.
The ANC Youth League’s Julius Malema and his sidekick, Floyd Shivambu, have learnt through experience that the more they insult whites and other minorities, the more excited their primary constituency becomes and the more the Youth League’s power grows.
Malema and Floyd know that there are a large number of angry black people out there, especially youngsters, who feel the end of apartheid did not really benefit them much and who know their future is not promising.
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by Amanda on Oct 25th, 2010
Richard Calland, author of Anatomy of South Africa, dissects the real deal behind the Protection of Information Bill – otherwise known as the “secrecy bill” – and its implications for civil society. He argues that, though some are betting that the bill won’t pass constitutional muster, and that campaigning efforts like the Right2Know campaign are putting up a good fight against it, the Bill still presents a real threat to South Africa’s fledgling democracy:
Something is going on. Something potentially very remarkable, and very significant, is happening to civil society in South Africa.
Not only are new organisations emerging, and the sector re-calibrating itself after the docility and confounding ambiguity of the Mbeki years, but it is also re-prioritising.
The Right2Know (R2K) campaign is a good example of this.
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by Amanda on Oct 20th, 2010
Political commentator Max du Preez, author of Pale Native, spoke out against the pending Protection of Information Bill and Media Appeals Tribunal at the University of Fort Hare this week, condemning the ANC for saying things like “we can’t steal from the State because we are the State”:
THE Protection of Information Bill in its present draft would bring whistleblowing to a halt and prevent the free flow of information, controversial political commentator Max du Preez said yesterday at the University of Fort Hare (UFH) in Alice.
“I will go to jail fighting against the media tribunal,” he said during his talk, entitled The Decoding of Democracy.
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