There was insufficient newspaper reporting yesterday on the reasons for the dismissal of the charge against Mr. Sherrod Duncan for referring to a person as a ‘trench crappo’ and a ‘jagabbat’ to determine whether this type of vulgar abuse is legally permitted. Or whether it is vulgar abuse at all. For example, it is not […]

What are these tools? I was a member of the Elections Commission for the 1973 elections. I was also a member of the Elections Commission for the 1992, 1997 and 2001 elections. I have witnessed first-hand the ‘tools’ used in the darkest days of election rigging in 1973, the incipient steps in 1992 to put […]

First coined as an acronym for some emerging economies in 2001, BRIC countries formally emerged in 2009 at a diplomatic meeting in Russia involving Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa became a member in 2010 when the group’s name changed to BRICS. Its primary focus at that time was reforming the global financial system, […]