The Principal of the University of Natal during much of the 1960s, Professor Owen Horwood, and I had a less than cordial relationship and we had several run-ins. (For background, Horwood later joined the National Party (apartheid) Government as the Minister of Finance. He was married to Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith's sister. Quite a …
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Next week’s budget – between a rock and a hard place
When it comes to the budget next week, newly elected President Cyril Ramaphosa, and his promise of renewal, finds himself between a rock and a hard place. The government needs a budget to be passed timeously. But the budget before parliament will essentially be a Zuma Corruption budget. How can he or the ANC defend or …
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King Zuma’s reign ends
I had expected to feel excitement and even elation. But by the time King Zuma finally announced the end of his reign, I felt no excitement, only sadness and relief. It reminded me of Richard Nixon's resignation many decades ago. Sadness at the decade that Zuma had stolen from South Africa and her people. Sadness …
Another R20 Billion to Eskom? The answer should be hell no!
The new Eskom team is reported to be begging local banks to lend it another R20 billion to help it keep going. If I was a bank I would say “hell no, not until you publish your interim financial results, show me a believable survival plan, and get the new board members to personally underwrite the …
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Ixopo: more brief memories
Rock and Roll Sherry After I turned 18, a couple of friends and I used to play snooker at the Plough Hotel (it and the Offsaddle Inn were the two hotels in town). We also had a drink or three. The cheapest drink available was a sweet Rock and Roll Sherry. It cost one shilling a …
Ixopo: some brief memories
The rolling hills Alan Paton put it better than I can. At the start of his book Cry the Beloved Country: "There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it." Mushrooming in spring Especially during the first …
Exploding granite boulders
The granite boulders in the pine plantation must have lain on this hill above Ixopo for tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years. Yet there they are, shattered. The granite boulders have simply exploded. Why? A fire starts One spring, before the first rains, it is hot, and everything is tinder dry. A …
