Today, the Women of Ward 80 marched on their councillor, Bhekisisa Elliot Xulu. Like many councillors, Xulu is corrupt. The litany of allegations against him reads like a career in crime. You might wonder why the ANC allows so many corrupt councillors to operate so blamelessly. Well, it turns out that Xulu has struggle credentials: he was part of the United Democratic Front in the 1980s, and this, it seems, is his trump card. Having successfully associated himself with an (at the moment) unimpeachable moment in the New South Africa’s memory, he has bought himself immunity from prosecution.
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It takes the death of one of my favourite authors to coax me back, albeit briefly, into cyberspace. I’d never had known, but that a geek over at the BBC had seen Solaris, or possibly was just a big George Clooney fan, and noted Lem’s death.
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This month’s Monde Diplomatique has a wonderful, concise and erudite introduction to what Subaltern Studies means and why it’s important, written by Partha Chatterjee, one of the school’s foremost scholars. Unfortunately, it’s only available on the Monde Diplomatique site if you subscribe. Fortunately, it’s also right here. You lucky people. Via FOIL.
Props to Dan Moshenberg, head of Women’s Studies at George Washington University, good mate, and now a guest blogger over at BlackProf.com. His engagement with race and gender is deeply serious, non-self-exculpatory, angry and, as his positions at GWU and BlackProf suggest, chock full of insight and critical consciousness. Check his thoughts on the silence in the U.S. media on International Women’s Day here.
I’ve come across Superintendent Glen Nayager of the Sydenham branch of the South African Police service before, when he stole my camera and shot my mates.
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