The steady decline over the past five years in the number of matric pupils studying science has education experts worried. The number of pupils studying science fell from 229934 in 2008 to 182083 this year. Though there has been a slight increase in the number of matrics doing maths – from 229371 last year to
White Swedish national exploiting SA’s mining woes
The date for a national march by striking mineworkers will be confirmed by tomorrow, AngloGold Ashanti workers were told. “There will be a meeting tomorrow to confirm the date,” Democratic Socialist Movement spokesperson Liv Shange told thousands of striking workers. The movement was calling for nationalisation of mines, much to the joy of mineworkers. The
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Fed bomber? Not my son!
The father of a Bangladeshi man accused of attempting to blow up the New York Federal Reserve Bank yesterday said his son was the victim of a “racist conspiracy”. Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, 21, was arrested on Wednesday and faces charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide
US: A third world country in 20 years?
During the second half of the 20th century the United States was an opportunity society. The ladders of upward mobility were plentiful, and the middle class expanded. Incomes rose, and ordinary people were able to achieve old-age security. In the 21st century the opportunity society has disappeared. Middle class jobs are scarce. Indeed, jobs of
March turns violent as thousands protest service delivery
Over 7 000 protesters, carrying sticks and knobkerries, arrived at the Benoni Customer Care Centre, at the corner of Elston Avenue and Tom Jones Street, in separate groups on October 17, to hand over a memorandum. The town was brought to a standstill for two hours, from 8am, and almost all the shops were closed
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US: Violent crime rises sharply, reversing trend
The violent crime rate went up 17% last year, ending a general decline in violence that began nearly 20 years ago, according to a new federal survey of crime victims in the United States. The Justice Department’s National Crime Victimization Survey also found an 11% increase in the rate of property crimes, including household burglaries
Post Racial? Hollywood didn’t get the memo
The movie industry really has me, Roschelle, second guessing this post racial era we’ve been living in since the last presidential election. Hollywood. The industry is viewed by many as the most progressively liberal set of folks (producers, directors, movie stars, etc.) you ever want to meet. But they are not post-racial enough. What do
Black Americans feel less empowered under Obama
Four years after Barack Obama was elected president, this is not exactly a “post-racial” America. A new study from Washington University in St. Louis finds that under Obama, many black Americans feel less free than whites when it comes to political participation. From 2005 to 2011, only 45 percent of blacks said they believed the
The world’s richest man was a black African
When we think of the world’s all-time richest people, names like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and John D Rockefeller immediately come to mind. But few would have thought, or even heard of, Mansa Musa I of Mali – the obscure 14th century African king who was today named the richest person in all history. With
Issues of race dominate interviews for judicial positions
Issues of race, ethnicity and transformation dominated the Judicial Service Commission’s first day of interviews for judicial positions. On Tuesday, the importance of Zulu ethnicity being a prerequisite to holding one of the top two positions in the KwaZulu-Natal division was raised during the interviews of judges Achmat Jappie and Mjabuliseni Madondo for the vacant
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Romney stumbles on Libya
White House challenger Mitt Romney stumbled and missed his mark as he attacked Barack Obama’s handling of last month’s deadly attack on a US mission in Libya. The Obama camp had been flailing for a month to explain its response to the September 11 assault on the Benghazi consulate, at first blaming it on protesters
‘Some girls, they rape so easy’
The controversial comments led Republican vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman, to withdraw his endorsement of Roger Rivard just hours before Ryan was set to debate Vice President Joe Biden. It was the second time Ryan has withdrawn an endorsement from a fellow Republican due to offensive rape comments. Missouri congressman Todd Akin
Pretoria PEN and the new occult censorship
by Dan Roodt I belong to a writer’s organisation called Pretoria PEN which has been affiliated for the past six years to PEN International, a world-wide network of authors and journalists. Some of the people who have been presidents of PEN chapters or “centres” as they are called, have been famous writers such as Günter
Floyd Shivambu on ANC’s tribal politics
A few years ago, the ANC made a huge blunder in electing Jacob Zuma as President of the ANC in December 2007. Ironically, the re-election of President Thabo Mbeki in the same Conference would have been a huge blunder, portraying an incapable ANC that cannot outgrow its individual leaders. This is an unfortunate part of