Mamdani’s suits and ties send a clever message

The Washington Post|Published

Mamdani’s suits are distinct from the ones worn by former New York governor Andrew Cuomo. Take the shoulders, for instance. Softer and less padded than Cuomo’s, ...

It's not just Venezuela, as US boat strikes spread fear across the Caribbean

The Washington Post|Published

In Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean island nation so close to Venezuela that on a clear day it’s visible, the second homes off the northwestern coast lie empty. ...

It's a whole lotta marble! - Designers on Trump’s Lincoln Bathroom

The Washington Post|Published

The reveal was startling, in part because of the total transformation and dramatic use of marble and because it comes on the heels of the demolition of the entire ...

Mamdani’s global city clashes with Trump’s red-neck nationalism

The Washington Post|Published

Prominent US right wingers have tarred the 34-year-old as a supposed “jihadist,” a “Jew hater". In their eyes, Mamdani’s Indian-Ugandan origins are suspect, and ...

We’ll always need the toilet: What sanitation says about society

Lebogang Maseko|Published

Beyond the flush lies a story of care, dignity, and survival. This piece explores why toilets are more than a private necessity, they reflect our values as a society. ...

Black Friday Bargain Caution

The Editor|Published

As South Africa builds up to the annual Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping frenzy, the prevailing economic climate demands a sober pause.

Melissa is a warning – violent storms are increasing

The Conversation|Published

Hurricane Melissa is tearing through the Caribbean, bringing record-breaking wind and torrential rain to Jamaica – the island’s first ever category 5 landfall. What ...

Africa’s air links are poor: can the G20 push for more direct flights

The Conversation|Published

In Africa, less than one in five continental airline routes are direct, so getting from one country to another often requires travellers to fly to Europe or the ...

The politics of forgetting

Opinion|Published

Beyond BEE: The DA’s post-racial vision and the politics of forgetting

Final farewell to Durban

Frank Chemaly|Published

The old picture today is from the Facebook site Durban Down Memory Lane and shows the Edinburgh Castle leaving the port of Durban for the last time, probably in ...

The world's first pop star: why did women go gaga for pianist Franz Liszt?

The Conversation|Published

One widely circulated drawing from the 1840s crystallises the image. Women swoon or faint, others hurl flowers toward the stage. Men also appear to be struck by ...

The dark history of medical illustrations

The Conversation|Published

They were pregnant. Some were prisoners. Others were the poorest of the poor, forgotten in death as in life. Yet dissection and depiction of their bodies have become ...

For US presidents, Nobel Peace Prize long fraught with politics

The Washington Post|Published

It was perhaps not a coincidence that the announcement Friday of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for which President Donald Trump has so openly campaigned coincided with ...

Guided by the Global Governance Initiative: Jointly Shaping a Just and Equitable International Order

Ambassador Jiang Feng|Published

The Global Governance Initiative is set to reshape international relations as the G20 Summit approaches in Johannesburg, writes Ambassador Jiang Feng.

Black Wednesday: The Impact of SANEF's Exceptionalism on Journalism and Democracy

Clyde N.S. Ramalaine|Published

To invoke Black Wednesday today is not nostalgia; it is moral accounting.  It demands that the journalism which once confronted tyranny rediscover its conscience, ...

Indian cuisine that brings back memories

Frank Chemaly|Published

We’d heard about a new Indian restaurant in Umhlanga called The Host. The Poet even insisted we hold off until she got back from India to try it.

When sovereignty starts leaking: what the flotilla, failing towns, and a few honest cops are trying to tell us

Prof Armand Bam|Published

This thought-provoking commentary uses the Gaza flotilla interception as a mirror for South Africa’s own crisis of leadership. Linking state paranoia abroad with ...

On World Homeless Day, shouldn't we at least listen to the homeless

Dr Raymond Perrier|Published

The much-vaunted plan by eThekwini to create a homeless shelter for 800 people in Lower Illovo – on which they are spending at least R10 million just for construction ...

Green Shoots: The revolution in your bin

Ashley Green-Thompson|Published

From waste pickers salvaging recyclables to neighbours learning to separate refuse, South Africans are slowly embracing the principles of the circular economy. It’s ...