Using Facebook for Breaking News

Effectively harnessing the power of social media, particularly facebook, has been a challenge for most large corporates. Media houses like Fox, the BBC and others have made some headway but that tight integration that's required to make it all hang together slickly still seems to be missing.

What is required, and indeed what is missing, in my opinion is a well-defined process that is consistently followed. Surprisingly, given the success of certain noteworthy reports, like the CNN integrated broadcast over the airwaves and the net during Obama's election, it seems media houses are unable to get it right with any sort of consistency.

So what are the challenges?

Firstly, it is impossible to predict how consumers of social media - be it via facebook, twitter or any equivalent platform will react, share and interact with the content they receive.

Secondly, facebook, whilst popular for personal use, has yet to establish itself as a brand and content promoting tool. Sure, the likes of Nike and the Times have facebook pages with thousands of fans - the question to ask though is, so what? You would be hard-pressed to find a powerful brand or media house that generates significant traction and regular interaction from it's user base. Newspapers, in South Africa at least have had more success with commentary on their blogs than on their facebook pages.

Thirdly, if there is a process in place, media and news consumers should be educated about the process and guided as to how they might best interact within that media house's facebook process. Having a tightly integrated news page will go a long way to addressing this challenge but bar the occassionally streaming of tweets, even the likes of BBC don't have this in hand.

CNN: Effective Facebook Case Study

For Obama's inauguration, CNN and facebook invited the world to experience the newsworthy moment online. Online visitors on CNN.com were able to use its video player to watch the live broadcast coverage of the event. The real-time web interaction was superb - embracing video streaming, twitter and a steady flow of Facebook status updates from viewers displayed in the sidebar.

Believe it or not, the integration of status updates on CNN.com Live was powered by a well-developed facebook facility named Facebook Connect. This new platform for porting media consumers online identity to anywhere on the web allows news site visitors to easily authenticate on that site using their Facebook login information - no need for a separate username and password (something that has proved to be a huge stumbling block in getting users to comment on blogs even). Besides the obvious convenience, Facebook Connect allows people to log on as themselves, a trend that probably speaks to the end of online anonymity and the opening of new doors for media houses to interact with their consumers.

Finally, not only did FB Connect provide an interactive view into the collective emotions of all those watching CNN's web coverage - it did so without crashing at all. Given the statistics - viz. over 200,000 status updates averaging out at 3,000 people per minute on the joint 'broadcast'. Immediately before Obama spoke, that number grew to 8,500 per minute! Additionally at that time it is worthy to note that Obama's Fan Page had over 4 million fans and 500,000+ posts on his wall. The technology is thus clearly ready for media houses to make the most of it - all that's needed is a defined process.

It will hopefully not take long for the likes of BBC to implement such tight integration - the modular implementation should make this quite easy so one can only imagine the hurdles relate to internal processes rather than the technological ability of the media house staff to deliver.

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In other news, as the American election fast approaches, I expect the use of social media - both independently by campaigners and by media houses will really step up this year. With the proliferation of easy to use devices like iPads, the interaction if it's managed properly by media houses will be nothing short of spectacular. Given the current costs of advertising on facebook though, best the candidates try their luck and buy lottery tickets online on this reputable website in India or more likely give one of the many in the comprehensive online casinos directory a try. Well, that is of course if the National Rifle Association doesn't give them enough funding ;)

Over the next few weeks I will be writing about the local political scene in South Africa, notably the impending constitutional changes Jacob Zuma is threatening to make. I will also cover some of the new gambling legislation, particularly around the online casino South Africa license issue that was recently presented at the High Court in Bloemfontein.

Fortunately for the South African government, facebook isn't quite as big in SA as it is in North Africa. Given the current level of service delivery and the increasing pressure to strike from trade unions, it's likely that South Africa would have it's equivalent of an Arab Spring sooner than they might expect!

Social Media and Future Newsrooms

Over the last couple of years, there has been much debate about the role of social media and citizen journalism in newsrooms. The topics of debate range from the broadcasting unverified content to use of twitter photos and video feeds by large media corporations without permission. One thing is for certain, given the power and impact social media has on the general public, it is not a question of whether it should be integrated in newsroom, but rather how best to do it.

Recently, the BBC has been experimenting with some new formats for live coverage. Their trials are showing an interesting balance of traditional correspondent copy complemented with social media feeds from twitter, video clips, images and links across to related topics on the web. As is largely standard there is also an area for visitors to comment on the topic at hand. In all, the approach is definitely in the right direction and there is plenty of positive feedback given that this model in some form or other has been running for quite a while.

Given my experience with political blogging, the one area that appears to be still rather underdeveloped is that of interactivity. By this I mean not just publishing popular tweets or related facebook updates, but rather somehow allowing that social network to engage directly with both correspondents and other users through the news site. Very few readers actually wind up commenting and interacting on the news site and this is unlikely to change unless newsrooms integrate themselves more tightly with social media applications.

To prevent this getting too theoretical, here are some examples of what I believe with take newsrooms to the next level in terms of their service offering:

1. Introduce interactive polls - these have been proven to be popular as even lazy users seem compelled to voice their opinion with a couple of clicks on blog posts (rather thank writing a full comment which is too much work)


2. Creating mini-sites on breaking news - not just a news live coverage page, but rather a structured site of 10 or so pages including correspondent and public blogposts on the subject.


3. Ranking of social media content - lots in the social media space is junk. It is largely impractical for broadcasters to screen all of it before publishing. So why not publish the stream and allow users to rank individual contributions. This will ensure the cream of articles on the topic rises to the top.


4. Possibly more difficult to manage in terms of quality and appropriateness, one idea might be to allow users to upload their content - photos and video clips to the breaking news page more easily. These would then be screened for appropriateness and published by the moderator team.


5. Encourage feed subscriptions to that news topic/ mini-site - this will make the mini-site/ breaking news pages more sticky. Suddenly this makes the broadcaster become a one stop shop for professional journalism, citizen journalism and a meter of public sentiment.. a valuable offering since news junkies have to likely go to quite a few different sites in order to build themselves a more complete picture.


6. Develop an online journal that can be referenced - In my opinion, broadcasters have a unique opportunity to create an invaluable public resource - almost like a Wiki on a topical news subject. Most broadcasters do this already but it's published in a disjointed way - a blog post on history, a news article about the potential consequences, a public opinion page (like BBC's World Have Your Say, for example), etc. - and each of these are typically in different parts of the site that make it practically impossible to navigate to with just a a click.

So imagine if the events of this year around Libya we to be reported with the above ideas implemented. Readers would access a Libyan Uprising mini-site linked to from news pages etc. There would be tabs on that mini-site like: History; Latest news (accompanied by social feeds); Public opinion/ articles; Going Forward.

If structured properly, the mini-site would become an online journal on that breaking news subject - one that will be referenced long after the next news flavour of the month takes hold.

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In other news, South Africa seems to have been taken by surprise by the Julius Malema suspension decision this week. For once, it looks like his gamble on civil disobedience, has not paid off although it is still early days according to many political analysts in South Africa. The appeal process for the suspension decision may well extend into next year through to the ANC conference (in which Jacob Zuma would be under threat this time, just as Mbeki was a few years ago).

Given the South African political environment right now as well as Malema's backers (notably Tokyo Sexwale and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela), I would be more inclined to try my luck at a South African online casino, an international one over here, or simply even buy lottery ticket online than to bet on Julius Malema disappearing from the South African political landscape. He is just far too valuable a media resource in so many different ways.

Julius is probably single-handedly responsible for boosting newspaper sales, prime time advertising cost on TV and a proliferation of blog posts covering the impending doom of South Africa. This is one area where citizen journalism would need to be heavily screened before publication! I do wonder if the SABC would publish a mini-site on Malema - no doubt it would be a seriously popular destination!

Dalai Lama South African visa debacle

Following Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's mess in 2009 when she was the minister of foreign affairs, one would have expected South Africa to get its house in order when it comes to foreign policy. Alas, they clearly have not.

This time Nkosazana is sitting in Department of Home Affairs which actually issues the visas and a new responsible for the foreign policy mess has finetuned the stupidity of the ANC's diplomatic approach. In the firing line this year is Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, the minister responsible for International Relations and Cooperation. How such incompetents survive in their respective roles is a wonder.

Basically the Dalai Lama had applied for a SA visa in order to attend Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu's 80th birthday celebration. Since he made the application there have been 'paperwork' delays and bungling uselessness to cover up the lack of coherent foreign policy. Following the lenghty delays, the Dalai Lama cancelled his visa application stating that it appears he is incoveniencing the South African authorities - and quite rightly so.


Of course, Kgalema Motlanthe stepped forward after the fact to state that of course the Dalai Lama would have been granted the visa had he not cancelled the application. This, of course, is the same Kgalema Motlanthe that stood up and said the Dalai Lama was not granted a visa for South Africa prior to the South African 2010 World Cup time because it would 'distract' everyone from the sporting event.


The challenge here is not whether the Dalai Lama gets a visa or not. It is one of diplomacy and politics. SA needs to take a stand and stick to it rather than dithering around and unnecessarily delaying applications until it no longer has value. If they want to deny the visa because they need to preserve the relationship with China then that is fine - do that and take the position. Spineless is the only word that can be used to describe the current foreign policy approach.

Tutu was certainly furious at the outcome of the process and he outspokenly condemned the ANC leadership and threatened that such behaviour would ultimately lead to their download as such behaviour had led to the downfall of the National Party during the times of apartheid - harsh words, but true ones.

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On a different note, seeing the smaller masses rally at Wits in protest of the effective visa refusal for Dalai Lama brought back memories of anti-apartheid protests at the same university in the 1980s - funny how things change on paper but history repeats itself in another form. Perhaps it's time someone asks the Guru cartoon when things will really change in South Africa and indeed the world.

Gambling on Civil Disobedience

I believe that an interesting situation is going to unfold over the next few weeks in South Africa. With the prospect of high toll fees being introduced by the South African government without proper consultation, I expect, and would hope that this would give rise to one of the most significant public protests since the collapse of apartheid.

If ever there were a case for using civil disobedience in South Africa, this issue would be it. With the rampant amount of corruption on display in government and its associates (a la Julius Malema's charitable trust fund to which he appears to be the sole beneficiary), it is about time the public took a stand against them.

Patrick Craven of COSATU has already made a blanket statement addressing the unfairness of the new toll fees and the dire effect it will have on the working class in the country. Additionally, this comes in the realisation that the world economy is in a seriously fragile state. The world's powerhouses are being downgraded in terms of their credit rating - albeit by S&P, the rating rocket scientists that failed to spot the problem with Lehman Brothers which led to the collapse of the world economy in part 1 of the crisis. Unless the South African government is naive enough to believe that this will have only a limited impact on the man in the street locally, surely they realise that taxing to fund NHI and imposing a road tax that really should have been catered for through ring-fenced fuel levies is not going to help the public right now.

As it is, things are tight. Increasing the cost of transport will inevitably increase inflation which in turn will place added pressure on the reserve bank to up interest rates. This is likely to stifle any green shoots that we may have seen emerge over the last year. With more expensive funding come job losses and restricted growth. So the vicious cycle is likely to continue to burden the masses.

So what is the way forward? Is it time for the public to really put a stake in the ground and gamble on civil disobedience as the answer. For me, it seems like a logical way forward - if South Africans in fact have a stomach for such mass action. All it would involve is the entire public (bar a few SANRAL officials and the totally spineless), to simple NOT PAY the toll fees or register for the e-tag system. There is no way the government will be able to prosecute 5 million people through the legal system and an alternative approach to enforcement, or reconsideration of the toll road funding would need to happen.

The government was foolish in their approach to the toll roads. Without providing any credible alternative, they cannot expect to increase a basic cost across the board for the public. Further, if one considers that those impacted by the new cost would largely be people forced to live in certain areas due to the previous apartheid regime, that makes it even more unacceptable. If South Africans do not create some serious pain for government about this, they can expect much more of the same going forward.

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If you're certain winning a jackpot of some sort would solve all your problems, toll fees included, perhaps now is a good time to consider to buy lottery tickets online from anywhere in the world. If you're based in South Africa, you may want to check out the best online casino South Africa; or if you're based in India, then click here to visit a great Indian casino review site, if that's more your style of gambling instead of civil disobedience.

Related article: Toll fees South Africa - options going forward for the public.

SA Local Elections

South Africans never cease to amaze me. It seems a culture of complaining has swept over the country and that citizens revel in that swamp of negativity. When asked about whether the same people are going to vote in the local elections on the 18 May 2011, one gets met with a flurry of excuses or comments amounting to total resignation.

There seems to be an acute disconnect between what people complain about and what they feel they can do, realistically. The very concept of a democracy - that every vote counts and that citizens should make their voices heard appears to be lost. Many of the rich are quite content with the status quo - possibly because the status quo has enabled their wealth creation abilities. The poor on the other hand are quite content to live on the promises made by politicians. Yes, you too can have open toilets in your township if you vote for us.

The bizarre disconnect also exists between service delivery and past promises. There appear to be no metrics that hold politicians to account. Bar a few mildly scarring newspaper reports and tickling cartoons about open toilets, nobody really seems to care. Worse yet, they have lost the faith that their voice can make any sort of difference in the country. Politicians constantly reinforce use of the race card in South Africa, polarising society even further and taking it away from what was intended to be Mandela's legacy of a truly non-racial South Africa.

I don't really have an issue with who people vote for - what I do take to heart is the current level of voter apathy. Come on South Africa - do not not wait for things to get really drastic and unbearable before you act. This is what happened in many of the countries in North Africa - and the likes of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya are not exactly the happiest places on the planet right now - wait too late and things get really messy, and violent. Vote today and make your voice count South Africans.

Bafana Bafana - what's in a name?

Last week, SAFA (the South African Football Association) maintained its firm stance that it will not be purchasing the rights to use the Bafana Bafana name. And so, South Africans wait anxiously to know what to call their usually failing soccer squad.

Minister of Sports, Fikile Mbalula, offered his full backing to dump the Bafana name for a more intimidating option. The South African squad's current name, Bafana Bafana, translates to "the boys" in Zulu. One can only hope the SAFA has the foresight to register the trademark beforehand this time.

Given the rather sloppy election strategies by the ANC this year, it's not surprising that they haven't decided to campaign on the name change for the national team as part of the election process - a name for the people, by the people.

Perhaps they could call it Banyana Banyana, oh wait... that's taken too!

South Africa - Local election campaign strategies

It's that time of the year again and the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the African National Congress (ANC) are at loggerheads once more. What is interesting though is that there is a dramatic about-turn in campaign strategies between these two parties.

In 2009, the DA was determined to communicate that a vote for them would be one more vote against getting Zuma in power. There was absolutely nothing of substance in their campaign about how they were going to improve the lot of anybody. It was fear-mongering and nothing more than that. Their tack this year has changed significantly. There is talk about delivery and asking the public to give them a chance to prove their mettle - that is positive, and exactly what South Africa needs. More talk and perhaps even some credible promises will help build a credible opposition to the ANC.

The ANC strategy, on the other hand has been to put up huge billboards with Jacob Zuma's smiling face all over the countryside. They show pictures of him with towns folk - a man of the people. Julius Malema, as usual is their hardcore campaigner that drives the message of what people (and usually not businesses) want to hear home. It appears that the ANC is pushing the fear message this year - quite ridiculously so at that. Malema's statement at a town hall campaign meeting in Port Elizabeth warned residents of the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality that should they vote for the DA, they are risking Madiba's health getting even worse because of the additional strain (caused by a DA victory there).

The whole situation is quite a bizarre role reversal from 2009. If you haven't already, be sure to check out Wonkie's latest ANC vs DA local elections cartoon capturing the point exactly.

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On Jimmy Manyi and Racism in South Africa

It seems over the last few weeks there has been a return to the days of old in South Africa - with a small difference. That difference is an inversion of race from white to black.

Recent distasteful public comments by Jimmy Manyi to the tune of there being an over-supply of coloured people in the Western Cape and that Indians seem to be negotiating their way into senior corporate positions make me and no doubt many of my compatriots - regardless of their race - cringe.

So much for Nelson Mandela's ideals in terms of aspiring to a non-racial South Africa. Minister in the Presidency, Trevor Manuel, told Manyi in an open letter that:

"I now know who Nelson Mandela was talking about when he said from the dock that he had fought against white domination and that he had fought against black domination...

Jimmy, he was talking about fighting against people like you."

Manuel's letter whilst expressive did not garner as much support from the ANC powers that be with many critics like Paul Ngobeni calling him the worst order gangster. Interesting timing for the letter though given that the ANC is poorly placed in the Western Cape, particularly in the coloured community after Manyi's racist comments.

Considering Manyi is the president of the Black Management Forum, he should know better than to add fire to the flames by opting for a silence is golden strategy in response to Manuel's open letter. The Press Club has invited him to elaborate on his comments but he has refused to comment.

Until South Africa overcomes racism - regardless of whether it comes from black or white, or coloured or Indian for that matter - there is little chance of realising Mandela's dream. Judging by recent events, including the sacking of journalist Kuli Roberts for racist remarks in her column, South Africa sadly appears to be moving backwards instead of forwards.

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Be sure to check out Wonkie's latest Jimmy Manyi cartoon, definition of life coaching which is likely what Julius Malema needs, and other recommended links if you're in need for a laugh!

Nelson Mandela's health scare

This morning I woke up to an interesting take on the whole Nelson Mandela debacle that took place in South Africa over the last week. It is certainly understandable for people to be sad or concerned for the wellbeing of Mr Mandela but one cannot help get the feeling right now that there are more consequences around the frail leader's passing. This seems to be the point of view of our favourite South African blog at least, and I have to agree.

So the interesting take was this: if the public knows that Madiba is 92 years old and weak, why panic? What impending disaster does his death bring to the country? Instead of allowing an old veteran his dignity (and yes, I do accept that he is an iconic leader - but he is still a human being!), it seems the press and other local drama queens and kings are intent on being the last person he speaks to before he dies. Surely Mr Mandela has effectively said his goodbyes already some time back? Why make a big scene about it at every possible opportunity?

Last week I came across an interesting article on legacy coaching. South Africa knows what legacy Madiba leaves behind. his life has been an impactful one in so many different ways. One can only hope that the remaining time he has left he can spend with some grace and dignity - and most importantly in a way that he chooses to. At this stage in life, he should not be pandering to the public and least of all to the media.

Be sure to check out the full article and leave your thoughts on what will happen in South Africa when Nelson Mandela dies. In the meantime, one can only hope that Nelson Mandela Foundation and the SA government have sorted themselves out and implemented an agreed upon policy to communicate news about Mandela and other future country leaders.

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday!

Thought I'd start this year off with a bang and a blog post - there's been some delay in posting over the last year mostly because I've been in Canada and other more exotic places around the world.

All is well and I'm back in South Africa at least for a few months before leaving on my travels and work abroad with the UN.

So in terms of New Year's resolutions I've been a little slack over the last umm... decade or so but I do hope to be more diligent this year.. at least one blog post per month in 2011 - should not be a huge stretch (except for laziness!) Needless to say I also continue to endeavour to write for our beloved South Africa news blog whenever I get a chance. I think there's going to be plenty of material coming forth over the next few months so certainly no shortage of writing topics.

All the very best for the New Year - 2011 is going to be a great year!

Mechanics of Justice: Form and Substance

One can only wonder what the South African public are thinking when issues such as the one around PigSpotter come about. Of more concern to me though is what the government itself is thinking.

Without repeating the content of Mistry's excellent article on Wonkie, the function of government in any country is to serve and protect its citizens. And it is necessarily this underlying intention that needs to drive the justice system. So in the case of PigSpotter, a twitter account that basically warns the public of speed traps, road blocks and other traffic disruptions, the question remains: does the public ultimately benefit? And certainly I believe they do. If the goal of the traffic authority is to ensure people drive prudently especially in high accident risk areas, then certainly PigSpotter is aiding the cause. In fact rather than reprimand him, the government should probably be hiring him to continue with the same job.

Unfortunately that is not the case and the authorities are trying to legally gun the rogue public reporter down. Is it that the traffic department is motivated primarily by the revenue generation opportunity that speeding fines represent? And is it possible that PigSpotter is seen as merely reducing this revenue stream? Quite possibly so.

Another argument is of course that the rule of law needs to be followed objectively and without discretion if corruption is to be kept at bay. Is it ok to warn the public about speed cameras and also crime check roadblocks? Clearly both of those are not the same. The latter certainly does defeat the ends of justice and the public should quite rightly be willing to bear the inconvenience of those delays.. particularly given their regular whinge about crime.

In the end, the point is that the substance of the law - not the form of it - should be the deciding factor in whether the action is just or not. So in the PigSpotter case, the authorities should catch PigSpotter because he is breaking the law. Upon judgement though, he should be found not guilty only for the disclosure of the speed trap locations and guilty for defeating the ends of justice with respect to disclosing roadblock locations.

I miss Africa

The fact that I'm sitting out here in the freezing cold in the middle of nowhere apparently doing some good and charitable work is unfortunately little consolation to me right now. I miss Africa and I miss it dearly.

Not that there aren't creature comforts in Canada (yes, there are - even out here in rural North America). In fact you can barely even feel the cold given you don't often wander around aimlessly in the street at subzero temperatures. What I miss most of all is the people.

People here admittedly are warm and friendly despite the harsh climate. But there's a certain colloquilism missing, for lack of a better term. It's a different kind of warmth I have struggled to find outside the developing world. I miss feeling relaxed and able to speak my own language... any of them actually besides English - and actually have people understand me and the expressions I use.

Sigh - I guess I am entitled to whine and rant once in a while on my blog instead of just discussing issues that really matter. For once I can say though that I miss home - the diversity, the sense of humour, the stinky taxis and even the crime. Some real issues to deal with instead of the intellectual ones debated in the first world - i.e. whether we should be calling policemen policemen or police people... grrr..

I really do miss writing on the South Africa news too - have barely had the time to cover anything on Wonkie recently, let alone the executive coaching articles I promised I would mug up for friends after my last post on personal development. Still, it's just a few weeks more before I'm back to the motherland - I rarely say this about going home but I cannot wait this time! I miss Africa!

Personal Development South Africa

Over the last 15 years many young, black South Africans have sky rocketed to senior positions in corporate South Africa. This is not exclusively as a result of affirmative action policies and BEE principles in general as some might think. A lot of it is a result of hard work and increased opportunity to progress in the workforce.

One notable criticism that many seem to hold is that BEE is basically a tax on South African organisations. To some extent this is justified at present but it needn't and shouldn't be so. There are plenty of very competent black executives and many that show at the very least the political savvy required to progress.

What is lacking can be filtered down to two things:

1. Inadequate marketing of just what BEE executives are doing and how they are adding value. More aggresive advertising of the facts will surely help justify their positions. The issue is of course that they feel they don't need to - after all you're getting the money any way so what difference does it make? It does make a difference. Being branded a useless AA candidate contributes neither to the esteem of black youth nor to the effectiveness of BEE programs.

2. Lack of leadership training and coaching of black executives. In order to be effective in the 'new South Africa' this sort of training which is readily available in the first world is much needed. The training ranges from basic presentation skills all the way through to team coaching and development and executive coaching.

In my experience, the aspirations of black executives need to be sense-checked. This is not to say that 'white' ideals need to be adopted because they now have wealth. But sincere reflection on their own lifestyles, their values and priorites - and these range not only at a career level, but also family, friendships, education and sustainability for future generations. Life coaching South Africa is far from well-developed at present but there is certainly a niche need to be filled. Not only will it benefit South Africa as whole, it will also prove invaluable for those exeuctives in terms of their own personal development

UK elections - How now Brown cow?

A leap from life in sunny South Africa with the entire country betting on the upcoming 2010 World Cup to a competition of a different sort altogether. Thought I'd pen a few of my thoughts on the elections currently being held in the UK this week, particularly given the time I spent in long stint I spent working in Birmingham.

There are just 3 more days on campaign trail left and things are heating up for the parties. It's been quite unlike the US elections in 2008 notably by less intense use of social media. Still, by UK standards certainly more people know about Twitter and Facebook pages for political parties than ever before. I'm finding the BBC editor blogs is a great place to keep track of the latest facts and figures - Rory Cellan-Jones in particular has some great running sentiment analysis in his section.

The polls have been quite inconclusive so far and it appears none of the parties have assume anything is a given at this point. No doubt the next couple of days will be filled with mad campaigning.

David Cameron of the Tories are still to produce their policies on gender equality. His popularity in the polls is disturbingly high though - I still find it surprising that the British still haven't produced much of an orator since Churchill. Judging by Cameron's popularity they must really not value that. After Clinton and Obama, that is really disappointing. I imagine many voters in the UK believe that besides Labour there is no other choice than the Conservatives.

Parties like the Lib Dems (Nick Clegg) have performed better in the polls in this election than before but the concern is that they will fail to break the Labour or Tory mentality of the British public.

So how now Brown cow? Labour still has to outline their legislative priorities but I believe Gordon Brown's quote to labour supporters over the weekend just says it all:

"When we hear the pain of suffering, we're prepared to act. The language that we understand is the cry of a child or someone in need."

Their policies have certainly made the British public weep (although debatable what any of the others could have done to avert the financial crisis in the UK!) So now they have to listen - but will they be given a chance to by the furious citizens. Even cab drivers are discussing the extent of the UK budget deficit and how it compares to Greece. Economic policy has taken a step out of boardroom discussions and is affecting the general public - and they are very concerned about the way out of their current mess.

It is exactly this type of concern that causes havoc in elections. I believe an upset is what the UK needs. Someone with new and fresh ideas to stimulate the country and its minds. And no, I'm not talking about the BNP, especially after I read this Nick Griffin cartoon by Pratish! Makes me feel right I really am right back in the old South Africa with some of points in the BNP manifesto.

If I were a betting man, my money would be definitely be on a hung parliament around this time next week - it's definitely not what the UK needs right now but it's looking somewhat inevitable. At least it would be safer than wasting cash on Silver Sands casino or some other dodgy online casino South Africa! Anyway, I'm sure there's some bookie making a ton working out the odds from this UK election - it's going to be VERY close!

Actually, regardless of what happens I am quite curious to see what the outcome will be - BBC is said to be beaming the results onto Big Ben once they are released (although how they're going to do that on a bell, I have to wonder! ;)

Positive vibes South Africa

With all the negative sentiment in the press these day about South Africa (mostly in South Africa, mind you) it's great to see a campaign initiative such as the one being run by the Core Group (distributors of Apple products in SA) - The campaign is called A to Z of ZA and aims at promoting what people love about South Africa.

Basically you can submit a number of different types of digital media through facebook and other platforms as entries - the best of which stand a chance of winning an iPod nano or Macbook. For more details check out A to Z of ZA's website - takes irritatingly long to load up but worth the wait!

With the FIFA 2010 world cup around the corner in SA, the buzz is certainly in the air at the moment. Hopefully SA can contain some of the negative publicity surrounding the service delivery strikes, Eugene's murder and of course the infamous Julius Malema.

Rocking March

So I've basically neglected a lot of my music since I started working abroad - there's just been no time to focus on anything else to be honest. I barely have enough time to makes cartoons any more, let alone whip out the bass guitar and strum some tunes.

In any case, I've been approached by some colleagues that a putting together a makeshift band in London (Canada, not the UK!) - they need a bass guitarist and invited me to join. Really looking forward to it actually - hopefully I haven't lost too much of my touch since I left South Africa!

Otherwise things are going well - just been too absorbed with my development work to have time for the extracurricular. Heading to New York most likely in June so you guys out there better have my pad ready!


It's Sharpeville day back in SA so have taken a day off here in Canada as well - I lost a close cousin on the day so probably closer to it than most.

Welcome 2010 - South Africa's year!

Bonjour! A Happy New Year to you all - it's been a while since I've updated my blog - mostly because I've been travelling and working abroad in the UK over the last 6 months or so. I'm certainly glad to have left the cold and dreary weather to experience the peak of the South African summer - and it's a hot one at that too!

The sentiment in South Africa about 2010 is certainly very upbeat - not least because of the anticipation of the upcoming FIFA world cup that is going to be held here in some 156 days time (no I did not just work that out - countdown clocks are just about everywhere you can imagine now in Johannesburg and the rest of South Africa!) Having had the job of seeing a sterling performance of South Africa against Brazil last year in the Confed Cup I can say that I am really looking forward to the 2010 matches.

On the work front, I've just completed a stint with a United Nations agency in UK and Brussels which was quite rewarding. I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things with my more journalistic aspirations through the Richmark online newspaper together with Pratish Mistry as well as cartooning on the Wonkie cartoon blog. The blog certainly seems to have taken off tremendously over the last one year with over 6000 daily readers now and still growing steadily!

ANCYL madness

PM made a great cartoon on Wonkie last week covering the outrageous verbal battle between Floyd, Malema (ANCYL) and Helen Zille - a celebrity deathmatch ... lol I think we should all lobby e-tv to get it organised - check out Zille vs Malema deathmatch cartoons

It will be interesting to see if the ANC reins these morons in and reprimand them in some way. All this hate speech should be unacceptable in the new South Africa!

On Gaza and the conflict

Quoting the Economist print edition (8 Jan 09):

WITH luck, the destructive two-week battle between Israel and Hamas may soon draw to an end. But how long before the century-long war between Arabs and Jews in Palestine follows suit? It is hard to believe that this will happen any time soon.

There is little debate that the 100 year war will still be continuing for a long while ahead. I have to admit it's somewhat disheartening reading the BBC Gaza news and commentary - about the lives lost and the prospects of Gaza going forward.

I think it's time for people to stop adopting staunch positions and reflect on their attitudes and the consequences those attitudes have. I echo the sentiments in the Gaza Haiku verse completely - debating on who is right and who is wrong will lead us into another few decades of getting nowhere. A progressive move towards a lasting peace requires maturity and understanding from both sides.

The education crisis in South Africa

After the debacle of the matric results in South Africa this year, it is not surprising that both employers and tertiary institutions lack faith in government statistics on school leavers. It appears that although the pass rate has remained largely the same, the quality of graduates have decreased tremendously over the last 5 years.

If the South African department of education spent more time focusing on the core issues facing the youth in this country, and less time trying to 'normalise' the pass rate statistics, everyone would be better off. I've made a Naledi Pandor cartoon covering popular sentiment in South Africa over her effectiveness in her current role and the apparent success of outcome-based education - do check it out and drop your comments!