Originally appeared on my News24 column, 2010-11-03 11:04

There are two sides to the lobola debate. Some say it must be abolished because the tradition has lost everything it is meant to stand for. There is a feeling that this tradition has become about greed and not about relationships between families, as was the original intention.

Some say that we cannot abandon this custom because if we do, we lose everything that is African about us. These are the people who are fighting against what they view as the increasing Westernisation strangulation of African customs. They are opposed to the… ( Read on! )

originally appeared in my Cape Times column on July 16 2012

SIX YEARS ago, I packed my bags in the Mother City and headed for the City of Gold. I left Cape Town behind despite its beauty, my many friends and the many beautiful women who adorn the city. About the many beautiful women allow me an aside. I went to Cannes, France in my first year in Joburg. While I was there, many people who had visited Cape Town would say: “That place has some of the most beautiful women in the world.”

In Cape Town, I had the most diverse group of friends. In fact – at the risk of sounding like that guy… ( Read on! )

Originally appeared on my news24.com column on 2012-01-13 08:00

People like to say that Nelson Mandela is a sell-out. That he sold black people down the river. That he lived a cushy life in prison. That he turned soft in prison and decided to sell out. That he alone is to blame for the fact that black people are still talking about economic freedom today.

Saying that he sold out demonstrates a lot of people’s ignorance when it comes to the history of the ANC and the negotiation process. By claiming that he “sold out”, this crowd indirectly suggests that there was no ANC without him;… ( Read on! )

originally appeared on my news24 column on 2011-05-11 10:40

Most young guys will not marry a woman with a child. I am talking about people between the ages of 18 – 35 here. Some guys may not admit publicly that they are highly unlikely to marry a woman with a child (not everyone is Joseph who married a pregnant Mary) even though they may have a child themselves. Therein lays the hypocrisy.

But that is not the issue at play here. The discussion is about women who have children with other men out of wedlock, and then end up breaking up with those men and get left with babies to raise.

Now,… ( Read on! )

*originally appeared on my news24 column on  2011-05-31 14:05

There’s a great and funny scene in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown with Robert De Niro and Bridget Fonda in the kitchen. Bridget Fonda’s character is showing De Niro’s character pictures stuck on a fridge and he pretends to be interested. Bridget Fonda then turns to him and nonchalantly says, “Wanna fuck?” interrupts De Niro mid-sentence.

He is slightly perplexed but doesn’t show that he is. You can almost hear the silent stutter on his face as he tries to answer. He says, “Yeah”. Three minutes later they are… ( Read on! )