Chances are that you are familiar with the term ‘radical economic transformation’, even though you might not quite know what it means. What does it actually mean? Have you ever come across its... 

Has the tide really turned? Well, it depends on your perspective. Is the tide turning for the better of for the worse? Before exploring further, let me confess that I typed away with Roger Waters’... 

On February 2, 2009, I had my 15 minutes of fame. I will never forget that morning. It was very early in the morning, with only a few cars on the road, as I made my way to my office at the... 

If only . . .  I fear that the guys and gals are anything but. For one, they have to be in the room. Before I talk about the ‘they’, let me just explain the old business adage, to ‘be in the room’.... 

“Ha ha ha ha ha. Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me what you want, what you really, really want. I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me... 

Have you seen junk? Ever touched, used it or sailed on it? No, not in it, but on it? A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to sail on a junk while visiting Hong Kong. A junk, a Chinese... 

Ever heard of Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr? You would, no doubt, have used them. You might well have used it, and continue to use it, on numerous occasion, for “the more things change, the more they... 

The difficulty with the English language – and this is compounded by the fact that South Africa is a country of non-first-language English speakers – is that words tend to be used without their... 

The 2023 Rugby World Cup Mistake “Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza, Obani bengathinta amabhubesi?” The opening lyrics of Johnny Clegg and Juluka’s ‘Impi’ resonates with me, as do the images of the... 

No future, no future, for … you! It’s strange how these words, granted with the added impetus provided by an old Pioneer, cutting through the silence of a cold dark winter’s night, are not greatly... 

It’s a cold, windy and generally a miserable day as I step off Greville street, in Farringdon, in the City of London, seeking shelter from the icy-cold wind. I unwittingly enter a cobbled... 

Do you consider yourself an ‘expert’ or a ‘specialist’ in your chosen profession? If you answered ‘expert’, I would raise a weary smile, for a wise person once told me of an unwittingly (maybe not)... 

The dramatic decline to which a select few ‘South Africans’ are subjecting so many of us no longer considered a ‘crisis’. In essence, neopatrimonialism is not considered a crisis’ – it is merely a... 

The use of graphs to illustrate the South African economy’s trajectory is a superfluous endeavour in the nth degree. The appeal of graphs, your general line graph, is to emphasise the tendency of... 

If anything, I have, in the words of Pink Floyd, “become comfortably numb”. My thoughts are miles away as I wonder through the Victoria & Albert, or the V&A. No, not the V&A Waterfront, in Cape... 

It is a fateful Saturday. It is September 16. If you cannot recall the day, I have three digits to remind 57-0. Enough said – numbers are clinical when conveying a message. A total of 4 661 days... 

In a country famed for its politeness, you have to take care not of offend, or to be perceived to offend, when expressing an opinion that may differ from those held by people about whom you are... 

It's Sunday afternoon. It’s hot and humid. You can smell the sea in a faint breeze that barely manages to rattle the leaves of the trees, which have been scorched and hardened by the sun. It is one... 

Sometimes I wonder about the costs that I personally impose on the planet. This usually happens when I hear of people being held up, by others, as having made a positive contribution. Is it not... 

Why, indeed? Why worry? My grandfather used to offer an answer that you might be quite familiar with: “If you worry, you die; if you don’t worry. you also die. So, why worry?” If I were asked this... 

It’s summer. It’s raining. It’s cold. In a word, it’s miserable. The Underground is wet, damp and humid. Forget about minding the gap – it is fellow travellers that you have to mind, for they do... 

The Real Conflict is between Truth and Lies It is 21 hours since the unthinkable has happened, an event which has divided, and is expected to continue to divide, the athletics world for the... 

The expression to sell or sell off the family silver might not be as well known in South Africa as it is elsewhere in the world. Consequently, the cautionary wisdom to which it alludes to is... 

'Out of the mouths of babes' is a well-known phrase in the Bible that implies that there is truth and wisdom in the comments and observations of children, who are honest and innocent. I am on the... 

Born to be kings. We're the princes of the universe. These are the opening lyrics of British rock band Queen’s 1986 song, Princes of the Universe, and they resonate with me as my car grinds to a... 

South Africa is stuck in economic and political rut, and “there is no two ways about it" and "there can be no doubt about that”, as one of my bosses of many years past was famed for saying. South... 

Without question, the word that currently ranks, and undisputedly so, as the most overused word is ‘transformation’. Everything today has to be transformed; that is the fashion. As to what needs to... 

It is said that there are three wishes that a genie cannot grant. It’s still on my bucket list to find one, which I fear would only be possible through divine intervention, But, I cannot wish for... 

It is a balmy Monday evening in London. Oh, how I wish it was. It is, in fact, a blistering hot evening. For London, that is. It is 22:30. The sun has set an hour earlier and the temperature is 24... 

It is a balmy London Sunday afternoon. It is June 11. It is Groundhog Day. Well, for me it is. Just a few hours ago, an unwelcome event recurred. You might even say that it was “It's deja vu all... 

This is a simple enough question, but is the answer as simple? Well, that depends on the distinction you make between dying and perishing. According to the Oxford Dictionary perishing is defined as... 

Is this an apt summation of present-day South Africa? Quite possibly so. But the headline of this column was appropriated from a British newspaper published in the days prior to David Cameron’s... 

“South Africa, what is your favourite meal? Braaivleis! Sport? Rugby! Weather? Sunshine! And what’s your greatest car, South Africa? Chevrolet. Let’s see: it’s braaivleis, rugby, sunny skies and... 

On May 8, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) announced that, on that day, it would officially launch its Customs Preferred Trader Programme, which, it said, marked the culmination of an... 

The first words of wisdom – which I clearly recall – that my father imparted to me as a youngster were these: "There are three sides to every story – your side, my side and the truth. And no one is... 

Have you read it yet? All 700-page, that is. Well, if you have not, acquired a copy, for the book is multipurpose. It has, for instance, been described as “a doorstop in punishing, heavy... 

South Africa is the fifty-third most competitive travel and tourism destination in the world, according to the World Economic Forum's (WEF's) 'Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017',... 

‘It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It is what you know for sure that just ain’t so.’, this according to Mark Twain. Love it or hate it, you simply cannot deny that... 

Just over 100 years ago, a definitive event took place in a country with which South Africa has had an indifferent history. Since March 30, you can visit this country without a visa for a duration... 

It is mid-afternoon on Sunday, April 2. I am enjoying glorious weather, reminiscent of South Africa, with soaring temperatures, which is not the usual rainy, gloomy and cold London. I find myself... 

In a mere ten days, the men of the next generation of two internationally renowned (you can also read infamous) families on both sides of the pond made the same decision when their presence was... 

A favourite adage of mine is: with free advice, you get what you pay for. I heard it early in my working career, when Ken Warren, an elderly but world- and street-wise legal director of the South...