After knocking off work today, and despite another day of sluicing rain and gusting wind (the 7th in a row, which surely must be a record in this town), I drove all the way out to the Pet Warehouse in Kenilworth to look for a snuggly igloo for our kitty-cat. You may well ask why…
June 2008 World: A recent newsletter from the local Democratic Alliance councillor for our neighbourhood said that Helen Zille, currently the Mayor of the City of Cape Town, is a finalist in the World Mayor Competition, which closes on the 30th of June. According to the list of finalists, she appears to be one of…
All the publicity surrounding Jacob Zuma’s trademark song, “Awuleth’ Umshini Wami” (Zulu for “Bring me my machine gun”) reminded me of the hoo-hah about an Afrikaans language song that hit the airwaves around October 2006. Titled “De la Rey” and performed by the South African musician Bok van Blerk, it caused quite a controversy in South Africa. It…
After all the negative publicity generated by the declarations of ANCYL President Julius Malema and COSATU Secretary General Zwelinzima Vavi that they were willing to take up arms and to kill and die for Jacob Zuma and to ensure that he comes to power as the next President of South Africa, I was rather appalled…
Nelson Mandela will be celebrating his 90th birthday on 18 July this year. Last night saw the 46664 concert in London’s Hyde Park. In addition to being a massive birthday celebration in honour of Mandela, it is also a charity event to raise awareness of the spread of HIV/AIDS in South Africa and to raise…
Jacob Zuma, currently the President of the African National Congress, has a trademark song that he and his enthusiastic supporters sing and perform with much foot-stomping and toyi-toying at all public appearances and rallies (including at JZ’s various court appearances on rape charges and corruption charges). Called “Umshini wam” (or more fully “Awuleth’ Umshini Wami” in Zulu, which…
Wow. I finished reading Khaled Hosseini 2007 novel A Thousand Splendid Suns in one day. I started reading the opening sentence on Saturday evening: “Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami.” And the final sentences 24 hours later on Sunday evening: “But the game involves only male names. Because, if…
Loud whoops of delight echoed through the house this morning! I’d just spotted the following headline in the Weekend Argus – “They prowl the empty streets at night – on the Net”. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, this is the famous tagline of “Squad Cars”, a series of police stories on South…
SAS Queen Modjadji I, the last of the three new type 209 submarines acquired by the South African government arrived at the Simon’s Town Naval Base on Thursday 22 May. She was preceded by the SAS Manthatisi (which arrived in April 2006) and the SAS Charlotte Maxeke (April 2007). She carries the name of the…
After last night’s meeting of the Pinelands Residents and Ratepayers Association, at which Bertie Lourens of Wasteplan spoke about the progress made with regard to the recycling campaign, we finally got onto the mailing list of the DA’s Councillor for Pinelands, Brian Watkyns (I’ve tried a few times since we’ve moved here, and finally it’s…
We attended the General Meeting of the Pinelands Residents and Ratepayers Association last night. It was a very interesting meeting, with the guest speaker being Bertie Lourens of WastePlan, the chaps who are in charge of the waste recycling project that is being piloted in a handful of suburbs across the Cape Peninsula (Pinelands, Parklands,…
Shoes in a puddle The moon – suspended Hitching a ride Fur and feather A fish eagle catching supper A kiss of coffee
If you’re a bit tired of all the doom-and-gloom and the crime-and-grime in our fair country at the south end of Africa, and when you feel like emigrating – or at least drowning your sorrows in a pint (or more like a six-pack) of Windhoek Lager, I recommend that you pay a quick visit to…
The dismal situation in the refugee camps has received a lot of publicity. Like most South Africans with email access, I’ve also been receiving daily requests from various places to donate money, clothing, blankets, food, anything that could make their lives a little easier. When I saw a video-clip online of a little girl being…
Grains of Sand 
You must be logged in to post a comment.