At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, we would like to refer to a point we raised last year; what we would like to refer to as South Africa’s unfinished business. We celebrated Freedom Day last year, and dedicated the Freedom the Country has achieved to those who fought for freedom, those who were in the trenches, in the mountains of our Land, in the bushes and forests of South Africa and in exile. We all spoke with one voice that our freedom did not come on a silver platter...

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No person or group of people owns our freedom. That must be crystal clear. Our freedom belongs to the citizens of this country, collectively. So, we are all free to do or say whatever we want, within the rules, of course. But for those of us who were physically and practically involved in the struggle for liberation; who were harassed by the forces of the regime, arrested and imprisoned; who saw comrades maimed or killed, it hurts to see or hear people doing or saying things that seek to devalue that freedom...

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For a number of reasons, musicians just like writers, choose to give their work specific titles, some of which may be deliberately provocative. This is sometimes done to convey a variety of messages, emotions or even the state of mind of the writer at the time of writing. This is exactly what the South African hip-hop artist, Siyabonga Metane, also known as Slikour in entertainment circles, did when he recently took the bold step of releasing a song titled “Blacks Are fools”. And not surprisingly, his song has sparked an incessant barrage of emotionally charged reactions, both for and against this song...

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A few days ago, I went to a graduation dinner for a young woman in one of the suburbs of Tshwane. She had just passed her Bachelor of Commerce degree with distinction and her proud father had organized the dinner for her. The mutual admiration between daughter and dad was palpable. When her turn came to say something, she praised her father in glowing terms for single-handedly rearing her and her younger brother. Now, we don’t have many successful male single parents, do we? When the short formal programme started, we were ushered into the house where in one room, several young women, who were introduced as her friends...

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My supreme gratitude goes to Pastor Xola Skosana and the leadership of Way of Life, for honouring me with an invitation to be a part of this mammoth week-long festival of celebrating blackness. That you chose to ask me to speak and speak today with its significance in the Christian calendar is beyond me. My mother Vho Muofhe, who died when I was five, would weep, I am sure, if she saw that her little last born orphan survived the rigours of motherlessness so well that he was being honoured in this way. But then maybe she sees me right now and is not weeping but smiling...

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