south africa

Dictators and Democracies

Bust of Julius Caesar
Read time: 12 minutes

The Romans were in trouble. The small nation, still confined to only a small patch of land in western central Italy, was being threatened by its neighbours. War was looming. Less than a decade before, the Romans had abolished the monarchy and banished their king, vowing never to be ruled by a tyrant again. They instituted a republic. With the new system of governance came many freedoms. But the decision making machine sometimes moved slowly. Now was a time for action. They decided to elect a man called Titus Lartius as dictator. For a limited time, he was given absolute authority over the Romans. By doing this, the Romans had a man who could make quick decisions and take the swift action necessary to steer them through the crisis. War passed without casualty as Lartius worked to strengthen Rome's position, making their enemies less eager to attack. Before his six month term as dictator expired, Lartius stepped down from the position, and life returned to normal in the Republic. Read more …

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Dignity in Dying

Clinicians in Intensive Care Unit
Read time: 10 minutes

The South African High Court recently passed a landmark ruling that would legally allow a doctor to help a terminally ill man to end his life. A high level summary of the case can be found here. This ruling is not new legislation and euthanasia remains illegal in South Africa. However this ruling opens the door for future cases which will be decided individually (until, perhaps, legislation is proposed, which would undoubted reference this ruling). In this article I would like to share my thoughts on this case. Read more …

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Being Ineffective with the Xenophobic Attacks

Africa without South Africa
Read time: 12 minutes

Like a man suffering from post traumatic stress disorder startled by a loud noise, South Africa was jolted last week. A combination of controlled power cuts and xenophobic attacks reminded the country of 2008—a dark time in our post 1994 history. Again people fell on their keyboards, denouncing the violence of the xenophobic attacks, shaming the perpetrators and pleading for a more humanistic attitude and solution. Again I add my voice to theirs, because I worry about how the bourgeoisie perceive the problem. Read more …

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Know Your Anthem

The South African flag
Read time: 4 minutes

South Africa has, as far as I am aware, the most unique national anthem in the world. What makes it so unique, is the fact that it is in fact two different songs appended to each other. The first is Nkosi Sikele' iAfrika, which was the party song of the African National Congress (ANC): once a group designated a terrorist group by the Apartheid government, and currently the ruling party in South Africa. The second is The Call of South Africa (Die Stem van Suid-Afrika), which was the previous national anthem of South Africa. These are sung in five different languages (of the eleven official languages which South Africa has): Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans and English. Read more …

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