SANDF, the ANC’s employment force
Thirty years ago, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) existed for one primary reason: to defend the Republic, it’s people and territorial integrity against external threats and, if necessary, fight and win wars on behalf of the state. That was its constitutional purpose, its strategic justification. Everything else was secondary.
How well-informed do we need, or want, to be?
Media sources have never been more diverse, but are we better-informed?
The silence that condemns us all
There are moments when language fails, when violence outstrips the vocabulary available to describe it.
Sofa, so good, but Ramaphosa won’t wake up in the shower
30 years into the constitution, and South Africans are tuning in to the Phala Phala drama like Dallas in prime time. Podcasters add to it.
Russia’s shrinking geopolitical power
In 2022 shortly after Russia lunched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the Ukrainian military to overthrow Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelensky saying:
Dementia, and surprising things you can do to avoid it
The prospect of dementia is one of the more feared ailments we face. It is a hard thing to endure as its direct victim, or as one of the relatives who has to look after them and watch a loved one disappear.
The Hague Group’s Gandikota-Nellutla exposes her anti-Israel agenda
The executive secretary of the Hague Group, Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, has exposed her anti-Israel and anti-Jewish agenda when she acknowledged on a call with over 108 people that their work was secretly coordinated by questionable groups that have been sanctioned by the US government and are based in Ramallah.
The stain that is our racialism
Terence, fruit of my loins, is speaking to me on the phone. The call is mine. He visits us sometimes, but phones only when overwhelmed by a rush of filial piety. In common parlance, this is known as feeling sorry for himself because he is a hangdog in the familial dogbox.
Germany funded its defence turn, South Africa hasn’t
The Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, recently announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet has formally endorsed the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF) “Journey to Greatness” 30-year plan to rebuild South Africa’s armed forces and eventually reach a defence budget of 1.5% of GDP. Although this may seem like a step in the right direction, recent government spending behaviour has not encouraged enthusiasm for this bold ambition.
AI is not governable, Mr. Malatsi
Leaving aside the farcical release of an AI-generated AI policy full of AI hallucinations, why do we need an AI policy at all?