Egypt Solidarity Demonstration
Last Friday, when I called the Egyptian embassy in South Africa for comment on events in Egypt and also their sentiment on proposed demonstrations outside the embassy, I was asked by a worried diplomat whether any South African political parties had been planning to join the demonstration. The protest last week was a spontaneous act of support by a handful of Egyptians living in South Africa. The demonstration set for later today is likely to be more organised and much better attended, various trade unions as well as activist associations have put their weight behind the protests...
Read MoreSandmonkey: Egypt right now
Egyptian blogger, Sandmonkey, who was arrested (and subsequently freed) had his blog account suspended. The following was his last post, salvaged with the help of John Treat: I don’t know how to start writing this. I have been battling fatigue for not sleeping properly for the past 10 days, moving from one’s friend house to another friend’s house, almost never spending a night in my home, facing a very well funded and well organized ruthless regime that views me as nothing but an annoying bug that its time to squash will come. The situation here is bleak to say the...
Read MorePretoria protest at Egyptian embassy
As the world trains its eyes on Egypt, a solidarity protest will be held today at 13:30 outside the Egyptian embassy in Pretoria. It’s unclear who exactly is organising the protest but a call to an advertised number gleaned this information: ”It is a friendly protest, supporting the desired change in Egypt, asking for freedom and corruption elimination. We will be in front of the embassy at 270 Bourke Street.” A call to the Egyptian embassy, meanwhile, revealed that the embassy was unaware of the planned protest but welcome it and ‘will listen to...
Read MoreBut is it Halal?
Lucy Bushill-Matthews, whose biography I bungled while introducing her, at Islamic Relief’s Sisters of the Deen event in Mayfair yesterday regaled the 500-strong audience with her typically witty observations of the idiosyncracies of Muslim life in South Africa. Her first brush with Muslim life in South Africa, she recalled, was the conclusion of a meal at Nando’s. She was taken aback to see halal insignia proudly emblazoned, on the back of an unassuming wet-wipe. As far as South African Muslim life goes, much of it is spent lusting after a McDonalds happy meal while your...
Read MoreA good girl, bastardised
Some who follow me on Twitter react with an exaggerated befuddlement over exactly which of the venerable President’s bevy of children ‘Zuma’s Bastard’ refers. Not among the spawn of Zuma, but perhaps of Satan and also the title of an upcoming book by Azad Essa from the Two Dogs stable, ‘Zuma’s Bastard’ is the work of a friend, suitably outfitted by the winning cover design of another friend, Saaleha Idress Bamjee. More essentially though the publishing process of ‘Zuma’s Bastard’ has led me to realise that this sense of significance achieved...
Read MoreWriting for our supper
Journalism is a particularly difficult industry to break into. Fresh out of university, brandishing first class degrees and sporting the sort of confidence only the young, and stupid, dare exhibit we soon learn that without a contact, or two, and some measure of good luck even the most talented among us struggle for a byline. The Pulitzer prize featuring so promintently in our ten-year plans is cruelly deemed highly improbable for at least the next fifty years. Complacency soon makes way for reality. There are few media professionals who find immediate success in the higher echelons of the...
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