Tax deductible donations to universities-Yes or No?

In February every year every university Vice-Chancellor writes to the alumni and friends of the university requesting donations.

SA academics receive local and international recognition for book on the current state of affairs in SA’s tertiary sector

Rhodes University academics Sally Matthews and Pedro Tabensky have been shortlisted for an NIHHS award in the Category: Best Non-Fiction edited book for their book Being at Home.

Second chance schools gateway to skills

The South African economy grew just 0.3% in 2016. The IMF suggests growth in 2017 will be only 0.8%, rising to 1.6% in 2018.

When it comes to ideology, we’re informed by pre-judgments

THERE is nothing more antithetical to the academic project than table thumping, a common feature of current university life in South Africa, both from the right and from the left of the debate on transformation.

How governance failures messed up Prasa

Cape Town - The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is going through serious turbulence that’s symptomatic of broad corporate governance failures within the country’s state-owned enterprises.

Plastic fibres are causing major harm to South Africa’s marine life

Next time you take a stroll along your favourite isolated beach, far from any city, take a moment to look down at the high tide mark.

King code not beneath any captain’s notice

Remgro chairman Johann Rupert’s off the mark on the King code recommendations — it was not developed to create nonsense or unnecessary burdens for business, writes Owen Skae

Ford SA reacted badly in a crisis, but it did not have to be that way

Ford required a push to get to the involuntary recall phase and then only after overwhelming negative publicity, writes Owen Skae

Amid this crisis, we are not statues

By working together, being accountable and choosing their leaders well, citizens can drive off the feral flock of unscrupulous and self-obsessed rogues, writes Owen Skae

Under the influence of … ‘Covering Sarah’: exorcising the trauma of colonialism and racism

Sarah Baartman was a South African Khoikhoi woman who was paraded around “freak shows” in London and Paris two centuries ago, with crowds invited to look at her large buttocks.

Transforming public universities going back to basics

'A institutions and the opportunities they bring remain inaccessible financially and otherwise, or the cultures of the universities are experienced as alienating.

ANC and democratic crisis: what do we do

Last week saw a number of significant judicial decisions.

Remembering “Comrade Kathy” and learning from his life

Sad as the passing of Ahmed Kathrada is, we need to use these occasions to draw lessons from his life.

The reshuffle, “junk status” and South Africa in crisis

The word may be over-used but there is little doubt that South Africa is in the middle of a significant crisis, which has engulfed the country’s democratic system, its economy and the ruling party.

Junk status no blue sky scenario

The lives of ordinary citizens just went into a downward spiral as a result of South Africa being reduced to junk status.

The question of ‘judicial overreach’

Last week there was a march against “judicial overreach” in KwaZulu-Natal.

A job in the informal sector reduces poverty about as much as a job in the formal sector

People often associate the informal sector with very low and insecure earnings and high levels of (working) poverty.

Land for inclusive development

While South Africans call for the renewal of the ANC and for it to return to its roots, it is useful to recall that there is no coincidence about the formation of the ANC in 1912 and the promulgation of the 1913 Natives Land Act.

R30m handshake is nothing new… so why the howling now?

If anything, South Africans can take cold comfort from the fact that our democracy is working, and coupled with the phrase “hypocrisy of the highest order”.

‘State capture’ has been proved. What do we do about it?

In the last week South Africans have experienced a bombardment of scandalous e-mails relating to the influence of the Gupta family on the presidency and a range of areas of government.

It's cold outside Zuma's ANC. But there's little warmth left inside

In the liberation struggle against apartheid a small number of white people joined the battle to overthrow the South African regime. One of them, academic Raymond Suttner

What is this political risk?

The outcry over the latest cabinet reshuffle reminded me of the response of then president Thabo Mbeki to comments made by Tony Trahar in 2004, then CEO of Anglo American, on the “political risk” in South Africa.

Undoing the silences that become lies

On May 11, Karabo Mokoena’s body, burnt and mutilated, was found in a ditch, discarded along with the ordinary detritus of our lives, in Lyndhurst, Johannesburg.

Eskom: So many red flags it's hard to know where to start

South Africa’s state owned enterprises have been hit by one scandal after another signalling serious political and corporate governance failures.

Why smallholder farmer hubs help get to the roots of food security

We hear constant talk about job creation, food security and a more equitable society.

The need for a revitalised politics after Zuma

When considering how to rebuild democratic life once the Jacob Zuma period passes, we need to recognise that, even without Zuma, many people feel alienated from political life and steps need to be taken to make people feel that politics is about them and not simply their representatives in Cape Town for whom they may vote every five years.

Lessons in activism in the face of tyranny

Democracies are vulnerable at the best of times, but when presidents repeatedly get away with unethical, corrupt and tyrannical behaviour, they become precarious.

Let us deal with SA’s real issues

The media in South Africa, it is suggested, should rather concentrate on issues and policies than on personalities and private lives.

What do we need after Zuma?

Important as corruption and state capture are as features of the Jacob Zuma presidency, they do not represent the only elements that need to be addressed now and in the period that follows, should the removal of Zuma be secured.

Universities should focus on growth of their cities

The National Arts Festival has come and gone. During the festival Rhodes Business School hosted a leadership programme for managers from a national group so that participants could also experience the festival.

Matrifocality and shared motherhood

In 1987 Nigerian anthropologist Ifi Amadiume published the book Male Daughters, Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in an African Society, a study on the Igbo people in Nnobi, eastern Nigeria, where she argued that in this society, “the gender ideology governing economic production was that of female industriousness”.

December ANC conference – what are the realistic expectations?

Most commentators and sections of business see December 2017 as a decisive moment for the country, insofar as someone other than Jacob Zuma is expected to become ANC president.

Why co-operative governance must be a higher education priority

King IV came out in the middle of world turmoil, serial meddling with the fate of SA and the #FeesMustFall transformation protests at universities.

The Russian Revolution: a reflection on the role of women revolutionaries

This year marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution – in fact it’s two revolutions. The one in February 1917 overthrew the Russian monarchy.

Leadership in question

Very many South Africans are worried about the character and quality of leadership of the country and continue to hear allegations of corruption against more and more people.

South Africa’s finance minister fails to come up with the goods

Given the gloomy political and economic environment in South Africa a great deal was expected from Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba’s first budgetary statement.

Policing in post-apartheid South Africa - the past in the present

For most people, the police were the face of apartheid representing force against the majority of the South African population, without whose consent the state ruled.

Why developing countries are particularly vulnerable to predatory journals

Every day academics wade through emails riddled with spelling errors promising almost immediate publication of their research.