Litnet

"Democracy is at risk of being replaced in many cases with despotic oligarchies and fascist elites. Our ‘imperfect, but still the best system of government’, to paraphrase Churchill’s definition of democracy, is even under threat in the EU, where right-wing parties with dubious links to history are poised to make electoral gains this year."

"I suggested that it might be useful to think of Modisane’s history like a kind of monstrous Large Language Model (LLM) – a bizarre and monstrous simulacrum of human intelligence trained on our basest reflexes and insecurities."

"You can’t go back in time to kill your grandfather with an axe because you dislike the historical context he furnished you with. If you could, he could have done the same to his grandfather, until the only ancestor remaining to provide you with a validating context would be lonely old Adam playing with his snake in the Garden of Eden."

"The question is ultimately a simple one: which groups of people has social media made it harder for you to see as fully human?"

"We have no idea how things are ultimately going to look in the Holy Land, but I believe we can use Blame me on history as a text to think about the durability of the human spirit, how to be witnesses to pain, and how to be witnesses who are also implicated in that pain."

"I wonder where South Africa would have been, had countries like Cuba, Ireland, Zambia, Angola or the Scandinavian nations not supported us against the murderous National Party’s apartheid regime."

"Kissinger arguably saved the world from nuclear war by defusing geopolitical crises on several occasions during the height of the Cold War."

"As a country we must stop paying lip service by having commissions and task teams and Zoom meetings. We need to implement existing policies effectively, and we need it to happen now!"

"The grim reaper is everywhere to be seen as these tragic events unfold. Beyond the rights and wrongs, the claims and counter-claims, this war, like all wars, has already resulted in the deaths of thousands of non-combatants ..."

"What about those who cooked, cleaned and built the houses in which they lived, he reminds us to consider. Without them, would those who achieved fame, or who sacrificed and contributed so much, been able to do all they did?"

"Russel asked how we might create an embracing, inclusive time horizon, irrespective of personal consequences, out of which we could serve humanity. Russel gifted us a type of human enfolding, based on recognition, intimacy and conviviality, a legacy for human and planetary co-existence."

"Addressing structural racism in South Africa requires a comprehensive and sustained effort from government, but also from us as citizens, who fundamentally believe that 'ons is nie almal so nie'. It necessitates policies that promote economic empowerment, educational equality and social parity."

"Like South African hardegatheid South African softness also maybe has a particular cultural significance."

"After all, what’s more convenient than blaming the ANC for the continuation of apartheid’s legacy? What’s easier than making the problem internalised black inferiority, black-against-black malgovernance, with zero reference to white supremacy?"

"South Africa’s agricultural sector is largely export-orientated. In quarter one of 2023, South Africa’s total agricultural product exports amounted to US$2,8 billion, up by 4,0% from US$2,7 billion in quarter four of 2022."

"Creating the conditions where this kind of multilingualism is fostered involves commitment, leadership in education policy, and an understanding that the long-term benefits of such an approach are worth the time, cost and effort, because it will contribute to social cohesion, individual well-being and the development of new opportunities for speakers."

"There is something so intricate and special about going to a butcher, reaching the glass cabinet, glaring at the various kinds of meat, stating your order, watching the items get weighed and finally paying."

"White supremacy must be stopped. Festivals should be safe, inclusive and welcoming spaces to all."

"The literary controversy by author Elizabeth Gilbert, of the popular book Eat pray love, seems to have passed unnoticed on South Africa’s literary scene ... She delayed its publication indefinitely after receiving flak from Ukraine supporters and citizens."

"African spirituality does not entail the idea of eternal damnation. It is anchored in the belief that even in death, a sinner can be forgiven and be reunited with his or her ancestors. The question is: would Africans be willing to forgive the sins Mangosuthu Buthelezi committed before 1994?"