Friday, 15 January 2021
Niren Tolsi is a freelance journalist whose interests include social justice, citizen mobilisation and state violence, protest, the Constitution and Constitutional Court, football and Test cricket.
The icon who died on 25 November 2020 was more than just the greatest footballer of all time. From Argentina to Palestine he represented the experiences of the outsider, the oppressed.
The former president’s escapades at the commission of inquiry into state capture are a far cry from Nelson Mandela’s response when summonsed to testify in the high court.
With the renowned advocate’s death on 9 September, South Africa has lost a man of immense morality and a tireless campaigner for the downtrodden and the traumatised.
A film about the human rights lawyer from Cala, free to watch online during the Encounters Documentary Festival, chronicles the deep sense of justice that shaped his life.
The lawyer, whose sense of justice stayed with him till his death, was an unassuming but essential part of South Africa’s ongoing struggle for equality – and he never forgot his roots.
The reaction to Lungisani Ngidi’s call for CSA to acknowledge that black lives matter was unsurprising. The sport still has racist elements in its midst, including beneficiaries of apartheid.
The past, present and future collided powerfully at this year’s National Arts Festival, which bore the signature of our times as subjugated voices took centre stage.
Near Makhanda is a cricket pitch with claims to being the oldest in the country. Watered by blood and trauma, rolled with frontier nostalgia and contemporary paranoia, how does it play?
Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s founding member, who died this week, took his music from hostel rooftops to music’s grandest theatres and, now, to the skies.
From tales of good demons to the quirks of bunny chow fillings and ordering beef in Bangalore, there are many ways to stick it to the Brahmins and the BJP in India.
Fana ‘Styles’ Hlongwane may not like having his picture taken but this smooth operator does appear to like blue, as was evident at his reluctant appearance before the inquiry into state capture.
Arguments over whether the public protector’s remedial action can be ‘frozen’ until a court has decided on its legality revealed the stench of politics behind the legal matter.
Two art exhibitions reveal the intimate relationship between one of South Africa’s great modernists and the city of his life.
Delhi’s food – from the street stall mo-mo to potato bread at the country’s best restaurant – stirs together what the ruling party seeks to divide: people across class, religion and caste.
South Africa’s cricket governing body continues to excel at self-harm, which is affecting the senior men’s team that was crushed in India.
The South African batsman, like many of his countrymen, has struggled in a tough Test series against the No. 1 ranked India. But he remains defiant as a vice-captain who wants to lead by example.
The National Prosecuting Authority has won the latest round in the fight for accountability after the high court dismissed the former president’s application for a permanent stay of corruption charges.
Senuran Muthusamy had a remarkable Test cricket debut with ball and bat, including taking the wicket of India’s Virat Kohli. It was enough to make his captain sit up and take notice.
The Proteas’ legendary batsman brought more to the team than his record-breaking runs. But before he earned legend status, he had to endure being reduced to an ‘outsider’.
Regional party conferences in KwaZulu-Natal will have repercussions for the ANC and its stability under Cyril Ramaphosa, leading those who remain pro-Jacob Zuma to fight for their positions.
A clash of values was inescapable when Zandile Gumede unveiled a sculpture of Hindu child martyr Valliamma Munuswamy Mudliar.