BLOGS

The girl sat with her back to the audience. In a heavy peach-coloured jacket, eyes closed, with a microphone in her hand. And she spoke of life in the township where she lives, of fear and inequality. It was a powerful message that fixed the attention of everyone in the room.
 

One day, not too long ago, a Johannesburg father came home to find his son watching pornography on TV. The father flew into a fit of rage, and beat his son so badly that he ended up in hospital. The case went to court, where the father argued that his actions should be considered as “reasonable chastisement”, which was permitted then under the Children’s Act.
 

I once lived on the border between Namibia and Angola. It is a flat, dry and beautiful place, with very few people. The border itself doesn’t really exist in places (there is no wall or river), so you can walk through the bush and cross into another country without realising it.