South Africans have a hate-hate relationship with former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee. Like some others in the elite club of world class quicks, recently-retired Lee came across as aggressive, often excessively so. A snarl of a man, a mean-hearted bully with few redeeming features. Lee has done little to soften that perception – and … Read more
This morning we experienced an excellent example of the thing bugging Alexx Zarr so much he just had to write about it. Coming home from a celebratory breakfast, we were stationary in the left-only lane at a red traffic light. A taxi full of passengers came around us from the straight-only lane to turn left. … Read more
The Uganda anti-gay bill has caused the kind of international uproar few of its insular politicians can have expected. Apart from the resistance in expected quarters, there has also been strong condemnation from the White House, the United Nations and even businessmen like Richard Branson who has called on peers to boycott the country. This … Read more
By Kirsten Wyatt of Associated Press: The first batch of Denver businesses approved to sell recreational marijuana got their licenses Friday, the owners mugging for pictures and saying they never thought they’d see the day when they’d get a permit to sell pot. Applause broke out and cameras whirred when the first license was issued … Read more
From the SA Press Association: Apple CEO Tim Cook was paid $4.25m  (R43m) in 2013, the company reported Friday in a regulatory filing. The compensation was more or less the same as the $4.2m  Cook earned in 2012. But it represented a dramatic drop from the $510m  (R5.2bn) worth of stock options that Cook was … Read more
From SA Press Association: Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Australia is seeking political asylum after denouncing President Robert Mugabe’s government as “illegitimate.” Jacqueline Zwambila said Saturday she feared for her safety if she returned after Mugabe’s Zanu-PF Party won the July parliamentary elections. Zwambila, who has served in Canberra since 2009, said she had not been offered … Read more
Obscene bonuses and salaries continued to dominate the headlines in 2013. In South Africa, the stark gap between mining workers and company bosses remained in the spotlight after labour disputes got ugly and lives were lost in 2012. Although there’s much anger and astonishment everywhere about how the rich continue to get ever richer on the … Read more
By Caitlin Hogg Last Friday, the 20th December, a social media storm erupted globally, completely unbeknownst to the initiator in what has become another cautionary tale for social network users to watch their words. Justine Sacco, now-former corporate communications director for New York based internet company, InterActiveCorp (IAC – parent company of CollegeHumor.com, OkCupid.com, vimeo.com, … Read more
By Alec Hogg South Africans watched with fascination and then horror at the nuclear-type fallout after  Cape Town-headed New Yorker Justine Sacco’s inappropriate tweet about HIV/Aids, Africa and being White. Justine Sacco, high profile Public Relations executive, achieved global notoriety after she tweeted from Heathrow en route to Cape Town for Christmas with family. The … Read more
Jacques Kallis was never one for displays of emotion or grand speeches. Instead, he preferred to move quietly, even serenely, through an 18-year test career that established him as arguably the greatest allrounder of cricket’s modern era. His expressions were mostly concealed by his helmet while batting or by his sunglasses and trademark wide-brimmed sun … Read more