Category: Politics and government
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In South Africa, “political objectives outweigh law”
John Robbie had a very interesting interview with political analyst Mzoxolo Mpolase that highlighted a growing trend in the ANC: this notion that politics and political objectives should trump the law: It echoes a tweet I shared this morning and on which I commented that the ANC seems to be yearning for the days of…
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Bureaucracy and South Africa’s new Immigration Act rules
I just read an interesting overview of South Africa’s new Immigration Act rules which have just kicked in which require international travelers entering and leaving South Africa to produce birth certificates and identity documentation for kids and parents. Two things stand out for me. The first is the administrative headache traveling to and from South Africa with…
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“Narrow, fragile, and right-wing-Orthodox …”
Israeli politics fascinate me far more than I understand the dynamics (which I barely do). Times of Israel’s editor, David Horovitz, has an interesting op-ed piece titled “Netanyahu promised a ‘better, more stable government.’ And we got this?” which has me wondering if estimates of our return to the polls for another election in 2…
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Appeasement didn’t work with Hitler, why should it work with Iran?
The information about the framework agreement concluded between a US-led collection of major powers and Iran doesn’t point to the best deal US President Obama could achieve. All he has managed to do is repeat a tragic historical mistake roughly 78 years after British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement policy failed to avert the Second…
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South African anti-Semitism means the country is like most others
I came across the Citizen’s article titled “Alleged anti-semitic attack in Rosebank ” on Facebook today. According to the Citizen: The assailants allegedly hurled antisemitic insults at the youths and physically assaulted two of the three youngsters. “[The Jewish boys] were wearing kippah [yarmulke],” said Kahn, who stated that the attack was motivated by antisemitism,…
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A good experience at Home Affairs is possible
Update (2014-10-13): I received some feedback on how to expedite applications you submit to Home Affairs so read through to the end of the post for those tips. We’ve had to apply for birth certificates and other documents from the Department of Home Affairs for a little travel we have coming up so I’ve spent…
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Could the old Apartheid government have saved us from Zuma's ANC?
Someone I was chatting to after the 2014 elections, last week, made an interesting comment. He said that if the old Apartheid-era National Party had educated all South Africans better (and not just white South Africans), the ANC under Jacob Zuma would have had a more challenging time selling themselves with all the corruption in…
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The ANC Abuses Its Power To Protect Its Control
I just read an article in Mail & Guardian titled ANC at pains to silence booing and noticed this stark reminder that the ANC sees itself as synonymous with the State and has no difficulty using national intelligence agencies to retain power: At the time, ANC insiders said that a team of state intelligence operatives…
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