Huffing and puffing over cigarettes

It is easy to look at the cry for cigarette sales to be reopened as a cry from ordinary South Africans dying (no pun intended) out of nicotine deprivation. But it is not. It is the lobby of the cigarette industry in full motion. And let me say it up front, there is...

Diversity and inclusion

Let me tell you a story of Qondeni Ngcobo. She is a 50-year-old woman born in Zululand in KwaZulu Natal. She was born into abject poverty. Like most of her peers and those who grow up in villages, Qondeni never got an education. She grew up in a mud house. Lived from...
We Need A New Heritage

We Need A New Heritage

On behalf of my foundation, The Rams Mabote Foundation and the initiative we have established, Future Kings, it is my singular honour and privilege to be your guest speaker marking this Heritage Day. Greetings to you all. I promise not to keep you long here. Before...
Future Kings: Giving our boys new stories

Future Kings: Giving our boys new stories

Many times people ask me: “What is the end game of Future Kings? What do the boys take with them after the programme?” When this question is posed, I know what people mean: “Do the boys get some form of training? Do they get a certificate?” These questions are...
Babes Wodumo: It is about Mampintsha not Masechaba

Babes Wodumo: It is about Mampintsha not Masechaba

Why now? This question must bother us as severely as we are bothered by the story of Mampintsha’s historical abuse of Babes Wodumo. He has admitted the abuse, hence I don’t call it alleged. Many have come out not necessarily in defence of the abuser, but disapproving...
Men’s Ego was largely behind #SandpaperGate

Men’s Ego was largely behind #SandpaperGate

How we raise our young, especially the young men, has a major impact on what society we breed. Now that the ill-fated Australian cricket tour to South Africa has come to a shameful end, maybe it is time to reflect as to why the beautiful game of cricket made headlines...