Articles
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Discovery(ing) the greedy, grubby side of life assurance
I have learnt, the hard way, that people selling life assurance can never be trusted. I base this on my sad and recent experiences with Discovery Life. In 2003 I took out a life policy with Discovery Life, against my mother’s wishes. I checked several times with the agent selling the policy, at the time, that when I was too old to work, the premiums would end, and the benefit would stay as it was, without growing, until my family needed it. I was assured repeatedly that this was so. So, for 21 years, I paid in every month. Not once in that time did anybody from Discovery contact me.…
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Broken Inheritance: What We’ve Done to the Children of Freedom
South Africa is a country of the young. Statistically, the majority of its population is under the age of 35. One would expect that such a youthful demographic might signal a bright horizon — a generation that could carry the country forward with energy, innovation, and purpose. But lived reality tells a far more disturbing story. The youth of today, particularly in our black townships, do not reflect hope — they reflect dysfunction. They are not heirs of a dream, but victims of its betrayal. In these townships, young black people dominate the landscape, but it is not with the fervour of the 1944 generation who radicalised the ANC, nor…
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Cycling Hangzhou– a South African touring their Chinese city
Oh, what to do for the holiday. As we do not want to go home or anywhere too far because we are saving for that particular trip for the July holidays. We decided to traverse the city on bicycles. From the lower southern edge of Hangzhou all the way north to Lingping mountain. We planned it for the three-day holiday. Each day carefully calculated as to the distance and the sights to be seen. Where to stop for a rest, where to stop for lunch. Carefully planned a detailed route which included over which bridge we are going to traverse the river. Some of the bridges are not very bicycle…
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SOUTH AFRICA
Mr President, it’s time to get our right royal house in order ahead of G20 South Africa’s long-standing relationship with the United States was thrust into the global spotlight during a high-stakes encounter between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Donald Trump at the White House. The meeting drew widespread media attention and offered an opportunity to reset bilateral ties amid tensions and misperceptions. For me, it sparked vivid memories of my own visit to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1996, during President Clinton’s second term. As an international journalism fellow hosted by the USIS, I toured 12 American states, engaged with policy and media professionals, and witnessed the unveiling of democratic South…
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Madagascar – the sad, the plague and the hope
The city of Antananarivo, being the capital of Madagascar, has called me for more than 50 years. Thus, with great contentment, I visited Madagascar in April this year. I arrived a tourist, with my wife Kathy, and left angry. Rather angry. Let me start with something sad. We stayed on the island of Nossi Be. One morning I set out in a tuk tuk to the capital, Hellville, just 23 kilometres away. The driver stopped at a place on the side of the road, ostensibly to check his tyres. I think not. A girl of about nine years old walked away slowly in front of me. She needed to brush…
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My Story, My Journey
Honesty was one of the first principles I was taught as a child. My parents and especially my aunt tried to instil in me from a very young age that it was of the utmost importance for me to be honest at all times, especially with them. As I grew up and discovered more about right and wrong, new challenges faced me every day concerning honesty. My Catholic parents taught me from infancy the reality of the Creator God and confession. The Eucharist and the Rosary are still important in my life today, as is the literal importance of His Word and the Mass, and the necessity of all people…
