 | On Tuesday 10 January 2012, an unplanned sequel to Black Tuesday* rocked our country: a mother died and at least twenty other people were injured in a stampede at the University of Johannesburg. The event, and the response by the Minister charged with responsibility for higher education, has all of the hallmarks of a fire in the Reichstag. It is for this reason that South Africans must fully unpack and consider the various underlying issues in this tragedy. Unfortunately, ...read more |
Doctor Nzimande, I Presume
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 by Paul Hjul, illustration by Alastair Laird, images by Greg Nicolson / Daily Maverick
Of Bacon, Snouts and Everything Hog
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 by Max Barashenkov, images by Moonbeaming.co.za
 | The last horn riff has rung out, the rude boys have skanked their last pit, the South African ska scene fades into a checkered memory. Hog Hoggidy Hog, the last tangible bastion of the genre, have played their farewell show on Friday, a final wag of corkscrew tails. After 17 years of honing their chops on local stages, they’re off to the more profitable sties of Europe, where a tight ska-punk outfit is still appreciated. ...read more |
Kola Boof and her Boobs
Monday, January 16th, 2012 by Lindokuhle Nkosi
 | Kola Boof, infamously immortalised in a documentary as “the whore of Africa”, has been linked to a long chain of controversial public persons. Muammar Ghaddafi (untrue, she says), Osama bin Laden (her story vascillates between being kept as a sex slave against her will, and admitting to being his mistress), Benjamin Netanyahu (she denies this), Sudanese opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, Bobby Mugabe (just friends) and most recently our very own dancing president, the right honourable Jacob Zuma. ...read more |
Unprofessional Humans
Friday, January 13th, 2012 by Roger Young
 | On Dana, Suttle and Zille. In the Wikipedia description of Woody Allen’s Zelig, the titular character, a human chameleon who seamlessly inserts himself into historical events, is described thus, “Zelig yearns for approval so strongly he physically changes to fit in with those around him.” Ladies and gentlemen, meet the professional mlungu, Devon Marshbank. ...read more |
Drug Mules
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 by Brandon Edmonds
 | A Black Market Eucharist for the 21st Century The population of Ecuador is Roman Catholic. As much as 95% in the CIA World Factbook. So it’s a safe bet that the 48-year old Ecuadorian man who was arrested at OR Tambo airport on Christmas day and who, according to News24, “during excretion (in custody) let off plastic containers that had liquid cocaine” was himself a believer. ...read more |
Love is What I Got
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 by Daniel Neville, images by Laura McCullagh
 | The first rumours of a Sublime tribute gig rumbled almost 6 years ago, sometime while sipping on ice-cold beer on the sands of the now defunct Cool Runnings in Obs. This was when the now tsunami-like wave of indie bands that dominate the Cape Town stages were but recently fertilized fetuses. A time when bands like Hog Hoggidy Hog, 7th Son, LP Show, The Rudimentals and Half Price were counted amongst the bigger bands the local scene had to offer. ...read more |
It Could Be Worse
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 by TO Molefe, illustration by Rico
 | Sitting at the counter inside the Vida looking out on the Street, I notice walking on the pavement a man – except he is not a man. He is far less. He is a bergie. Uncertain, he hesitates before (and this is me, assuming) hunger presses him forward. He approaches a young man sitting at the tables outside. The young man has a perfectly coiffed quiff and is wearing round eyeglasses. Hand cupped under hand, the lesser man asks for ...read more |
Sold Turkey
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 by Themba Kriger
 | “We should throw our own party!” is most often a schnapsidee, literally an idea born at the bottom of a bottle of booze, that much like “we should open our own bar” or “let’s start our own magazine”, tends to get forgotten as the initial excitement wears off and the reality of such an endeavour kicks in. ...read more |
In Defence of Coons
Monday, January 9th, 2012 by Lindokuhle Nkosi, images by Sydelle Willow Smith
 | We’re all familiar with blackface. John Strausberg refers to it as “displaying blackness for the enjoyment and edification of white viewers”. The polish-darkened skin, exaggerated pink lips and ol’ “shuck and jive” routine. The happy, heel-to-toe tap-dancing darkie. You know the send-up stereotype: lazy, drunk, only responding to the Master. The Tin-Tin smiling savages, the banjo playing vaudeville coons whose existance revolved around working for white people, and entertaining them. ...read more |
Last Sunday
Sunday, January 8th, 2012 by Luke Daniel
 | Last Sunday, Kwa Mlamli, Gugulethu, 16h26. ...read more |
