Friday, 26 July 2013

Winter is waiting

Ah, the struggles of winter in Gaborone! It's only 26 today, with a low of 8 - that is considered extremely cold by locals, who go out it the morning in coats, scarves and gloves! I am still waiting for winter!

Friday, 12 July 2013

She won Wimbledon, but is she pretty?

She won Wimbledon, but is she pretty?: Women are measured by looks first and achievements second - as Georgina Guedes observes in the wake of a BBC presenter's commentary about Marion Bartoli.

Monday, 15 October 2012

Excellent McKinsey article on retail

There is an insightful article on the emerging market and retail that uses excellent exampes from South Africa, as a mixture of Mom & Pop retail and multinationals. Read the article here http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/From_oxcart_to_Wal-Mart_Four_keys_to_reaching_emerging-market_consumers_3020

Sunday, 19 August 2012

Song for the victims of Marikana mine


The very talented Gareth Smit, a photographer, UCT student and musician wrote a haunting song about the Marikana massacre. While his parents dined with us on Friday night (17 August 2012), Gareth wrote this song, which his father sent this morning. Gareth is 23, the conscience of South Africa's young generation.

 You can download it at http://soundcloud.com/gareth-smit/marikana or check it out on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ENZr_b5q4 - I think you absolutely have to listen to it.

Here are the lyrics:

What would you say if I said
they left thirty-four dead?
Say: I haven't got an answer
why we shoot one another.
They promised us freedom,
they promised us grace.
All we got was a reason
to repeat past mistakes.

A sister lost a brother, and a mother lost a son.
Marikana, please remember how your metal's won.
Children lost a father, further down the road.
Father please forgive us, we know not what is owed.

I didn't feel the deadweight
but I heard the noise made.
I didn't feel the dirt-road
but I saw how the blood stains.
It's written on the headlines,
repeated: "Hold your fire"
I didn't hear the outcry -- did you even feel it pass you by?

The miners dug the same ground
upon which dead they were later found.
The gunman shot the rattle rounds
Count the shells on the same ground.
Today we saw the outcome
of fear being outrun.
Tomorrow we'll
realise, and history will criticize.

After Nelson I remember,
before, I can't recall.
But if it was anything like this
I'd rather never been born.