Making A Better World - Milton Louw

JOHANNESBURG – A powerful member of the African National Congress yesterday accused the new government spokesman of making racially insensitive comments that echoed the injustices of the apartheid era. The fallout could hurt President Jacob Zuma and his African National Congress who are facing local elections in May. Economic Planning Minister Trevor Manuel, the former finance minister, said spokesman Jimmy Manyi brought shame to the dreams of Nelson Mandela and tarnished the non-racial policies of the ANC by making disparaging remarks in a television interview about a mixed-race group of people classified as ‘coloureds’. “I know who Nelson Mandela was talking about when he said from the dock that he had fought against white domination and he had fought against black domination,” Manuel, himself coloured, said in an open letter quoted by the Star newspaper. “Jimmy, he was talking about fighting against people like you,” the letter said. Manuel was not available for comment and Man...

The coloured community of South Africa has recently been in the spotlight as a result of some inflammatory and exceptionally offensive statements by prominent ruling party representatives and journalists (Jimmy Many, Kuli Roberts). One can be forgiven for thinking these pejorative and demeaning perceptions of the Coloured community in South Africa could not possibly hold any real currency in the public sector, however, local non-profit organisation SAME (the South African Movement for Equality) says otherwise...and the group says it has conclusive and damning proof. SAME has in its possession conclusive and damning proof which shows that the institutional and disdainful disregard of the coloured community of South Africa is nothing new and is instead an entrenched and systemic malaise that extends deep within South Africa's public institutions, most notably, the SABC (the South African Broadcast Corporation). “Since 2008, SAME has been involved in discussions with the SABC at the ...

Women in civil society in Africa are particularly prone to intimidation and harassment says a new report released today by CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. CIVICUS calls on African governments, regional bodies, the international community and civil society to do much more to protect women human rights defenders on the continent. Released to coincide with International Women’s Day, the report outlines the major challenges faced by women in civil society in Africa. These include deeply entrenched patriarchal norms and an increased risk of sexual harassment and violence due to the nature of their work. The report argues that the overall environment for women in civil society in Africa is particularly challenging. “Even in countries with ratified laws and protocols on the protection of women’s rights, there are clear instances where government officials and security forces have shown lack of understanding of these laws, and in some situations, blatant disregard for th...

Jou ma se kinders - Eish, I miss daai lippies vannie Kaap - Sunday World (South Africa) 27 February 2011 Bitches Brew Column: Nomakula Roberts Being from Cape Town, I miss say I miss Cape coloured women. When I was young, I used to love playing with their silky hair and wished I could get rid of my kinky course variety. "What’s wrong with you?" asked my friend while applying skin lightener. "Black is beautiful, why would you wanna be any other race?" I ignore her and her weave and go back to my dreams of being yellow and speaking like I’m singing. Coloured girls are the future for various reasons: They will never leave dark foundation on your shirt after a hug; You will never run out of cigarettes; You will always be assured of a large family as many of these girls breed as if Allan Boesak sent them on a mission to increase the coloured race; They don’t have to fork out thousands on their hair as they mostly have silky hair that doesn’t need relaxers o...