I am a passionate and positive South African with a desire to inspire change in our country. Whether it is writing articles and blogs like these, working one-on-one, in deep rural communities, schools or boardrooms, my work aims to inspire all South Africans – and give them practical tools – to move from negativity to positivity; from violence to nonviolence; from passive to active; from armchair critics to co-architects of a better future.
I invite you to join me in creating the future we all dream of!
Pravin Gordhan a National Treasure
We have a national treasure in the National Treasury. There is little doubt that Pravin Gordhan now embodies this highest of unofficial titles; a title that we have applied to only a handful of men and women in the past few decades. I realised just how fast this man...
Black Lives Matter…Really?
We know now that #blacklivesmatter. We know this because – in the wake of waves of social media exposure of black people being indiscriminately targeted by white policemen in America - the world has proclaimed that #blacklivesmatter. But do they matter – really; on a...
Colour Diversity Should Equal Choice
I had my head buried in a magazine so only half heard the conversation. When it finally permeated through the intellectual fug of doctors waiting room literature I must confess I was utterly bemused. A woman – one of the doctor’s patients – was asking if the...
Ford Under Fire
An open letter to the executives of Ford South Africa regarding the handling of the Ford Kuga crisis: Over the past months, several of your customers (allegedly around 50) have watched in horror as their vehicles exploded around or in front of them. Having spent...
Moving Beyond Ourselves to Find Joy in 2017
As I awoke on boxing day morning and the sad news of George Michael’s passing hit social media, I began to consider the validity of the “enough-of-2016-roll-on-2017” lament. I do not believe that one year is any better or worse than another on any kid of grand scale;...
Most Slap-able Faces of 2016!
If you have read this column before you will know that I promote positive dialogue and peaceful change. However, practising what I preach is a daily effort and I fail more often than I succeed. However, this is not my fault. This is the fault of a small handful of...
What is Done by One is Done by All
The now infamous coffin assault case which saw two white men torture a black man by forcing him into a casket, left me feeling ill. I felt ill for several reasons amongst them the fact that I - like many others - have often had the dreaded nightmare associated with...
Trump, Brexit, Zuma – the World’s Saving Grace?
“When even the custodians of the story no longer believe the story, you know its days are numbered. It is a shell with no engine, running on habit and momentum.” Charles Eisenstein. David Cameron’s Britain? Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton’s America? Jacob Zuma’s ANC? It...
Thuli’s Greatest Legacy
“Just as the power of water often lies in the ability to bend around obstacles, sometimes the most powerful step you can take is a step back”. Advocate Thuli Madonsela posted this quote on her Twitter timeline just hours after last Wednesday’s release of her State of...
He who is without blame cast the first stone
Much of my passion is about promoting peace and non-violence in our country and there I was reacting in a decidedly non-peaceful way to something as petty as queue hoppers. In effect, I acknowledged in that situation a violent response to injustice is easier – better perhaps – than a non-violence. This was abhorrent to me; shameful in fact; a denial of the infinitely powerful processes of peaceful conflict resolution.
Learn to Be Peace
“The peace movement can write very good protest letters, but they are not yet able to write a love letter.” Thich Nhat Hanh – Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet, scholar and human rights activist The recent story of Dr Lisa Augustine took me back to 2007. I remember it...
Youth Unemployment: The South African Tragedy
Are we as citizens of our country simply meant to sit back and watch as these young people slowly sink into the mire of poverty; turn to substance abuse and perhaps even a life of crime? Is there nothing we can do to arrest this descent? Is there no part we can play – even if it is simply a case of “doing for one what we wish we could do for all.”