The Many Faces of Algiers
I can proudly say I have covered Africa from south to north – from lovely Cape Town to fascinating Algiers…
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A Hidden Spiritual Sanctuary
Years ago, I visited Debre Bizen, a remote and ancient Coptic monastery in Eritrea that was founded 600 years ago. I found it a moving and spiritual experience . . .
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The forgotten ghosts of Fort Jesus in Mombasa
Mombasa, the second largest city in Kenya, is also the busiest port on the East African coast. For more than 500 years it has stood as the centrepoint of trade between East and Central Africa, India and the Middle East.
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Iraq’s Forgotten Marsh Arabs
In 2003 I visited the Marsh Arabs of Iraq who were struggling to rebuild their lives after decades of oppression. Their almost forgotten way of life left a deep impression on me.
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Memories of cricket and war in Afghanistan
I’m no supporter of the Taliban regime at all, but the news that South Africa will play Afghanistan in the World Cup caught my attention. It reminded me of my Afghan translator and fixer in the village of Khuja Bahauddin in northern Afghanistan only weeks after 9/11. I’ve never forgotten him and his love of cricket.
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A cleaning lady helped me cross the barrier from physical recovery to mental restoration
Photo Credit: Canva The blackness of night surrounded me. Stars glowed faintly overhead. The rank smell of unharvested poppies filled the air. I was weighed down with a camera and heavy backpack with batteries, food, water, some spare socks, and a long cloth for sleeping under. I was also wearing heavy Kevlar plates in my
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Our Need For Truth And Forgiveness
Photo Credit: Thomas Serer on Unsplash. I have covered the Oscar Pistorius saga ever since that terrible Valentine’s Day in 2013 when he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp. His fall from the heights of human endeavour, crowned with great success is a morality tale for all humanity – the dangers of hubris and of losing
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The tangled thread that joins Steve Tshwete to Siya Kolisi and World Cup victory
Photo Credit: Thomas Serer on Unsplash. As we celebrate our truly fabulous World Cup victory, it is worth remembering the context in which it was made possible. It’s worth remembering the journey of Steve Tshwete and so many others like him. As we celebrate our truly fabulous World Cup victory, it is worth remembering the
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Enola Gay birthed the first of 13 000 nuclear bombs and a legacy too ghastly to contemplate
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay I recently watched the fascinating movie Oppenheimer about Robert Oppenheimer, “the father of the atomic bomb” and his direction of the Manhattan Project. It reminded me that I wrote this opinion piece for The Daily Maverick on 2 August 2022 about the first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on
The bloody threads that bind Basotho gangs to zama zamas and Famo musicians in remote mountain outposts
Photos supplied In remote parts of Lesotho, feuds caused by jealousy over the musical success of accordion-playing Famo musicians have become hopelessly entwined in the battles between rival zama zama miners competing for the remains of scarce gold in the mined-out rock stopes of South Africa’s mines. The brutality has become all-pervasive. The pale heads