Opinion

BY SELLO HATANG: Thanksgiving is not only about celebrating what we have received: the doors that opened, prayers answered, battles won and blessings that found their way to us. Sometimes, thanksgiving is simply looking back at the road travelled and realising that, despite everything, we are still here. This past weekend reminded me of the importance of giving thanks. Not in a ritualistic way, but in a way that is intentional, meaningful and deeply lived. Life moves so quickly that we sometimes rush from one achievement to the next without pausing long enough to acknowledge the people, moments and experiences that made the journey possible. We celebrate the destination and forget those who helped us along the road. Yet nobody arr...

BY NDZIPO THEMBANI KALIPA: South African citizens are caught up in a country that has increasingly become a centre of corruption and criminality, as reflected in the revelations emerging from the Madlanga Commission. These revelations raise serious concerns about the quality of service delivery to society and, in particular, the widespread abuse of mandatory practices, constitutional principles, good governance, ethical leadership, and lawful enforcement by public officials who appear to have failed to uphold the oaths they took to serve and protect the people. We must respectfully return to the foundational values and ethos of our liberation legacy. We should not praise leaders merely for their historical association with the liberation struggle w...

BY ZOLA PINDA: Prof Xolela Mangcu. (Image: Facebook/Xolela Mangcu) A Long Association, Not a Sudden Encounter Professor Xolela Mangcu and I are not strangers who encountered one another through a recent disagreement. We have known each other for many years and have shared a friendship and association that extended beyond intellectual and public life. At various times, we played golf together at estates in Johannesburg and at Sun City, and enjoyed the ordinary conversations that come with such occasions. That history matters because it provides the context in which I responded to his recent writing. My intervention was not the reaction of someone who had suddenly discovered Professor Mangcu through an article. It came from a relationship i...

BY SELLO HATANG: Every athlete dreams of standing on the podium: the medal around their neck, the national anthem playing and the crowd applauding. It is the moment the world sees. Yet nobody begins on the podium. Before the podium come the early mornings, exhausting training sessions, painful defeats, discipline, sacrifice and countless hours of work when nobody is watching. There are injuries to overcome, doubts to silence and disappointments that test whether the dream is strong enough to survive. The medal may be won in seconds, but the journey towards it often takes years. The podium is therefore not simply a platform for celebrating victory. It is a monument to preparation. It reminds us that success is rarely an event. ...

BY NDZIPO THEMBANI KALIPA: 'No Peace' sign symbolises the past wars at Tokoza township's Khumalo Street. Photo taken shortly before South Africa's first democratic elections in April 1994.(Image: by Joao Silva/DigitalJournalist/Digitalfilmmaker) The veterans of Tokoza and Phola Park, including former ANC-aligned Liberation Peace Corps members, have expressed deep frustration about the neglect of their communities and the failure to recognise the contribution they made during the political violence and township struggles of the 1990s. These veterans and residents believe that since 1994, their constituencies have not received the level of service delivery, recognition, and leadership they deserve. In response to this frustration, the communit...

The blood of the womb furnished me with a family. The blood of the covenant, however, bestowed upon me brothers who have endured the test of time. BY MBANGWA XABA Mbangwa Xaba, the writer I have spent the better part of my life wrestling with the true meaning of family. As a boy, I subscribed to the conventional wisdom: family was a birthright, sealed by blood, etched into a surname, and anchored to the roof under which you were raised. I assumed, as most children do, that those bound to you by lineage would be the very ones to shield you when the world turned hostile. Sometimes, the people who rescue you are not those who share your DNA. Sometimes, kinship is not bestowed at birth—it is forged in the crucible of hardship. It i...