Letter to the editor: Good Samaritans all around
On October 26, my husband John and I went to Retail Park for lunch.
On the way back to our car (it was drizzling, John...
How you can help survivors of gender-based violence
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
JACKIE ORSMOND
I would like to respond to the enlightening article which was published recently by the GO! & Express.
Masithethe Counselling Services...
When it cost R263 to sail on honeymoon to London and...
Remember the lavender-hulled mailships which called into East London twice weekly on their way to and from their home base in Southampton?
Do you remember...
Challenge to BCM to justify its exorbitant water penalities
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The citizens of Buffalo City are fed up with the inconsistency in the application of water tariffs and the lack of...
Only hard work is rewarded
Remember the good old days when becoming rich was relatively simple?
You were born with it, you married it, you bought into a pyramid scheme...
Blueberries boost healthy cholesterol
ANASTACIA SAMPSON
In the 1985 Disney animated television series Gummy Bears, the titular bears would drink a super-charged berry juice.
In real life, berries are able...
The masks we hide behind
The physical wearing of masks has taken on a significance of epic proportions globally during the Covid-19 pandemic, but its figurative relevance to life...
We are living longer but old age is still a privilege
Had you to ask anyone of the younger generation today what they know of a singer called Vera Lynn, you would probably get a...
Greens and guns: a former journo reminisces
Let me thank all those readers who found the memories of my newspaper career expressed in a recent column, entertaining.
Here are two more.
Many of...
Novel’s eerie 2020 parallel
Some 18 months ago, I idly picked up a book and began reading.
It was rather a thick book – more than 700 pages -...
Wisdom of elders vital as youth face uncertain future
Many lessons are learned on the journey of life.
In days gone by, sons learned from fathers and girls from mothers, and of course there...
Be full of beans this winter
ANASTACIA SAMPSON
Beans are a cost-effective and highly nutritious, energy-packed food widely available in processed tin forms, sprouted or commonly in dried packs.
As beans can...
Fond memories of growing up
Exactly nine months after my late father returned from active service in North Africa in May 1945, I made my appearance in the big...
A day not to take fathers for granted
Sunday, as everyone knows, is Father’s Day.
It is not easy to become as sentimental about fathers as it is about mothers, who had their...
Coronavirus widens stark education divide in SA
At the time of going to print, schools in the BCM area would have been open for just under two weeks.
When it was first...
Autographed book on online auction captures bygone age
During the 1950s, when this scribe was a young lad, it was always an exciting occasion to take a brisk 2km walk from our...
Fond memories of a former sports journalist
Languishing in splendid isolation together with the rest of humanity has had me reflecting on some of my own little newspaper career memories here...
Grandparents also faced crisis of World War 2
RORY HASCHICK
Dear Charles Beningfield
Thanks for your weekly column and especially the recent story of your lockdown emotions and your dear wife’s handling of them...
Many health benefits to kicking the habit
A splendid fellow is my brother-in-law, Albert.
A more devoted husband and father one could never wish to meet. That he has been married to...
SA in ‘dire need’ of social cohesion
Plato, possibly the most significant philosopher of Athens and initiator of the first institution of learning in the Western World about 2,400 years ago,...
Chickpeas pack a nutritious punch
ANASTACIA SAMPSON
Garbanzo, more commonly known as the chickpea, is far more than a ‘chick’ or a ‘pea’.
This nutty-tasting legume has been ’in-chick’ for thousands...
Is this the end or a new beginning?
Littered throughout history are certain events of such significance that they end up influencing the entire course of human society for decades, even centuries...
Preserving frogs in urban areas is critical
The subject of frogs and their habitats is not a topic I am particularly interested in but all the same, a piece in the Sunday...
How distraction rules our lives
With the inevitable arrival of Covid-19 on our shores, I was debating what to say about it for this week’s column.
However, short of reminding...
Thanks to patrons who open hearts
The Catholic Order of the Knights of da Gama wish to say a big thank you to the patrons of the two Spars mentioned...
Respecting diversity beats weak-knee tolerance
Plato, possibly the most significant philosopher of ancient Athens and initiator of the first institution of learning in the Western World about 2,400 years...
Four-day work weeks the way to go
One of the most famous catchphrases in cartoon history has got to be Garfield's resigned declaration of “I hate Mondays”.
No matter who who you...
Fearing ‘them’ in a pandemic makes no room for even ‘us’
By TOM EATON
Two weeks ago, a convoy of six buses made its way towards a sanatorium in the small Ukrainian town of Novi Sanzhary.
On...
Taxis need to be better provided for on SA’s roads to...
A recent article in the Daily Dispatch this week raises concern over taxis blocking driveways and delivery points during peak traffic hours.
There’s a lot...
Don’t underestimate the Oxford Comma
When it comes to the English language, there are two subjects which are sure to arouse fierce debate: US vs British spelling and the...
UNDP, Oxfam say global inequality poses grave threat
In 1990, Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and Indian Nobel laureate Amartya Sen launched the first ever Human Development Report (HDR), published by the...
Leave the matrics alone
The first thing I'd like to do here is offer a big congratulations to the Matric Class of 2019. Your dedication to your studies...
Stage Six was a long time coming
“Hello darkness, my old friend”
Simon & Garfunkel
The best description of the recent load shedding announcements that I've seen so far comes from Ed Stoddard...
‘Hazbin Hotel’ and YouTube’s animation renaissance
In this week's review of Hazbin Hotel (which is amazing and you should totally watch it), I say that the show represents the unofficial...
Black Friday’s complicated history
If last week's fantastic advertising wrap didn't clue you in, Black Friday is upon us with all the sales, price cuts and insatiable consumerism...
We’re heading for Herbert’s desert-planet future
One of the best scenes for me in Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, Dune, is also one of the least eventful, considering this is the same...
Guaging the television sportaholic’s contribution to marital strife
Well, the 2019 Rugby World Cup is finally over.
The 48 matches have duly been broadcast, we are the champions once again, usual business can be resumed and...
Show respect no matter the outcome
In the relatively short time since the understandable and justifiable euphoria of the Springboks being crowned champions of the Rugby World, much has been...
Mabuza turns a blind eye to human rights abuses
You know what, I really didn’t want to write this editorial. I had a lovely piece all written up about the Springboks’ amazing victory...
Passing on the baton in the race of this life
One of the defining realities of every person’s passage through life is that there comes a time to make way for successors and to hand...
We must come together if we want real change
While most of East London was glued to their televisions, radios and computers watching the Springboks utterly thrash their English rivals to win the...
Headaches remain for mental healthcare
Before we move on to the main topic of this column, I just want to take the opportunity to thank the staff of Life...
Climate crisis is a human rights issue
Last Friday saw a historic event take place across the world.
In more than over 100 countries, around the world, millions of students and young...
Shaka, Jan Braai and a ‘messy’ rainbow nation
By now, you’ve surely well aware of what is coming next Tuesday. It’s hard to miss with just about every store – especially grocery...
Keep up the fight to stop violence
One of our lead stories this week was the opening of the One Day at a Time (ODAAT) Alcohol and Drug Recovery Centre in...
Our home is on fire and it’s time to panic
During the Davos Climate Conference in January, 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg gave a speech in front of before the various celebrities and world...
Little has changed since Marikana
On August 16 2012, hundreds of platinum miners working in the Lonmin-owned mines in Marikana, North West Province, gathered to protest against poor living...
Free and fair elections are under threat from data mining
Netflix’s The Great Hack, 2019: “Nobody wants to admit that propaganda works because to do so is to admit our own susceptibility to it.”
March...
Golden oldies I remember so dear
The recent passing of Doris Day at 97 has sadly severed yet another link with my youth and filled me with nostalgia.
Day was “top...
A tribute to Richard Mogg
One evening last week at the close of a perfect day, I stood on the balcony of my little first-floor flat here at Berea...
