Browsing Archives of Author »Terry Bell«

The history of an exceptional newspaper

December 8, 2010

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The Guardian — The History of South Africa’s Extraordinary Anti-Apartheid Newspaper. By James Zug (Michigan State University Press/UNISA Press) (First published, May 2009) The Guardian, a polemical newspaper that survived three bannings and subsequent name changes and was once charged, alongside 156 individuals, with treason, is part of the anti-apartheid folk lore of South Africa. […]

South Africa in Africa: The post-apartheid era

December 8, 2010

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edited by Adekeye Adebajo, Adebayo Adedeji and Chris Landsberg (University of KZN Press) (First published, June 2008) This excellent volume does not deal with the prospects of a post-Mbeki presidency or with any of the possible fallout from the internecine feuding within the ANC. And this should not matter, for no matter the outcome now […]

Why labour’s battle is far from over

December 5, 2010

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South Africa has a justly lauded Constitution and Bill of Rights. It also has some of the best labour laws anywhere. These are victories largely attributable to the labour movement, but they remain paper victories that have constantly to be fought for to ensure that they are applied.

Ramaphosa: an enigma continua

December 2, 2010

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Cyril Ramaphosa, lawyer, trade unionist, politician and businessman, remains one of the most popular figures on the South African political scene. Yet his deeper beliefs and opinions remain hidden. The author of this biography, which Ramaphosa made clear he did not want written, does provide some excellent insights, but the subject remains an enigma.

Threads of incongruous tangle

November 30, 2010

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Truth is a strange fruit; A personal journey through the apartheid war By David Beresford (Jacana ) Review: Terry Bell (First published September 26, 2010) The publishers defined this book as “a personal journey through the apartheid war”. With rather more accuracy, the author describes it in his introduction as a montage or collage. However, […]

Giving meaning to the bawdy bard

November 30, 2010

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Filthy Shakespeare by Pauline Kiernan (Quercus) Review: Terry Bell (First published 06/2008) Like countless students before and since, I struggled, at school, to come to terms with the language of Shakespeare. Not the plotting or the action; just the words. Outside of Julius Caesar. In much the same way I never understood why we should […]

Lessons to be learned from Cosatu’s 25 years

November 30, 2010

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The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) turns 25 in December. But the birthday celebrations around the country will be dampened by heightened tension and some mildly acrimonious outbursts resulting from the content of the government’s New Growth Path (NGP) for the economy and the manner in which it was announced. Like the 1996 […]

In pursuit of ‘Dr Shock’

November 24, 2010

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Aubrey Levin, the Johannesburg-born psychiatrist who once claimed to "cure" homosexuals by "aversion therapy" and who was in charge of the notorious Ward 22 for "deviants" in the apartheid state's military hospital in Pretoria, was arrested in March 2010 in Calgary, Canada, charged with the sexual assault of a male patient. It was merely the latest in a history of allegarions dating back across decades.

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Unknown's avatarCape Town, South Africa-based journalist commentator and author specialising in political and economic analysis and labour matters.

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