Diferent town, same debate
If we’re going to change the names of towns in the interests of correcting historical bias, argues Phakamisa Mayaba, then at least all the local communities should be consulted. Read more >>
Declarations of war: national interest versus international law
R.W. Johnson writes about the continued tension between international prescriptions for declaring lawful wars and perceptions of national interest – including national survival. Read more >>
Trump and Hegseth: red faces over Iran
Two weeks ago, Pete Hegseth, the American secretary of ‘war’, boasted that President Donald Trump’s hands were ‘firmly on the wheel of the Iranian conflict’. Increasingly, writes Destine Nde, this grip seems to be slipping. Read more >>
Remembering Terry Bell
The renowned journalist, author and political activist Terry Bell — among others, a valued contributor to Toverview — has passed away. Read more >>
Nicholas (Fink) Haysom: a memory
In the late 1980s, Jasper Cook worked under the radar at the pioneering law firm Cheadle Thompson & Haysom, founded among others by the renowned Fink Haysom, student leader, legal activist, presidential advisor and later UN peace emissary, who died in New York last week. Read more >>Â
2026: REMEMBERING SHARPEVILLE
Today – 21 March — is Human Rights Day, commemorating the Sharpeville Massacre in the Vaal Triangle on 21 March 1960. Terry Bell writes about what this means in the year 2026. Read more >>
SA flunks reading test - again ! But there are also signs of progress ...
Besides some more shocking statistics, the latest report of the 2030 Reading Panel – which tracks progress towards South Africa’s elusive literacy goals – also contains signs of progress, writes Phakamisa Mayaba. Read more >>
Songezo Zibi opens up
From the Bailey Collection: what's in a name?
Maeder Osler writes about another evocative item in the Bailey Collection, and a deeper layer of attachment to land in the Colesberg region. Read more >>
The booming Motsepe bandwagon
R.W. Johnson takes an acerbic look at the notion that mining tycoon Patrice Motsepe should succeed his brother-in-law, Cyril Ramaphosa, as president of the ANC. Read more >>
The US-Israeli war on Iran: distance is no longer safe
While the military aspect of the US-Israeli war on Iran may be confined to the Middle East, the economic fallout will reach the far corners of the world, writes Destine Nde. Read more >>Â
Jo'burg: a litmus test of SA's political future
Phakamisa Mayaba surveys the early start of electioneering in the Johannesburg metro. The stakes, he writes, could hardly be higher. Read more >>
Aiming for Mars
Man’s future as a multiplanetary species depends not on going to the Moon but to Mars, writes R.W. Johnson. Read more >>
Of discipline and loyalty: the passing of Mosiuoa (Terror) Lekota
Maeder Osler writes about Mosiuoa (Terror) Lekota and a political commitment made a long time ago. Read more >>
'Dear Comrade Secretary General ...'
The full texts of Mosiuoa Lekota’s celebrated ‘divorce letter’ to the ANC, and the party’s brutal response. Read more >>
Jesse Jackson, 1941-2026
Jesse Jackson, who died earlier this week, realised early on that the civil rights struggle was also show business, writes R.W. Johnson. Read more >>
A torrid week for Donald Trump
Rather than showcasing the achievements of his MAGA administration, Donald Trump’s torturous State of the Union address – the longest in American political history — attested to his rapidly mounting political problems, writes Jay H. Ell. Read more >>
Lest we forget: the 6th SA Armoured Division in Italy
David Willers explains why the inhabitants of a small town in the Italian Appenines raise the South African flag every year, and have named a street after the South African contingent which intervened in the worst massacre of Italian civilians during World War Two. Read more >>
Fly me to the moon ...
R.W. Johnson writes about the Artemis lunar exploration programme — the start of the ‘greatest adventure by far that Mankind has ever undertaken’. Read more >>
Engagement journalism in a smartphone era
Phakamisa Mayaba attends a workshop for ‘community journalists’ who are struggling to keep grass-roots voices alive in an unforgiving and rapidly changing media landscape. Read more >>
It's back to guns or butter
Faced with an urgent need to rearm, Western European democracies – notably Britain and France — have returned to a classic tug of war between welfare and defence expenditure, writes R.W. Johnson. Read more >>
Window on early farming in the grassy Karoo
Maeder Osler writes about another fascinating extract from the Barnes-Webb diary in the Bailey Archive, illuminating the early days of farming in the grassy Karoo. Read more >>
Crime wave triggers safety and security campaign
Destine Nde reports on a comprehensive two-day safety and security campaign in Willowmore, staged in response to recent incidents of violent crime. Read more >>
Ruminations on bridges and identity
The 200th anniversary of the historic Menai Bridge in Wales prompts David Willers to think about bridges on several continents and their roles in war, peace, and forging national identity. Read more >>
Last dance in Colesberg, Part 2
Confounding its critics, the ANC used tried- and-trusted techniques to secure a good turnout for the provincial celebrations of its 114th anniversary, writes Phakamisa Mayaba. Read more >>
The huge cost of affirmative action
Thirty years of racially based affirmative action has massively damaged the South African economy as well as its universities, resulting in the steady loss of some of the country’s most talented young people, writes R.W. Johnson. Read more >>
Last dance in Colesberg: Part 1
The ANC is working up an old-style shindig in Colesberg to celebrate its 114th anniversary in the Northern Cape. Phakamisa Mayaba reflects on the movement’s party follies, past and present. Read more >>
Local government elections: the turning tide
The DA is set to make significant further gains in the local government elections later this year, writes R.W. Johnson. Read more >>
Father and son set on fire
The scourge of violence has reached into the relatively peaceful town of Willowmore, reports Destine Nde. Read more >>
Skaapstertjies at Ouma Anna's
Phakamisa Mayaba writes about an imaginative – and welcome – addition to Colesberg’s culinary scene. Read more >>
Trump's farcical claim to Greenland
In the absense of any valid strategic reasons, writes R.W. Johnson, Trump’s claim to Greenland can only be ascribed to his ‘boundless vanity’. Read more >>
AFCON 2025 final: a game to remember
Destine Nde reports on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Final which, he writes, will be remembered as one of the most controversial finals in the history of the game. Read more >>
Mr Rod, a friend in toil and play
Phakamisa Mayaba goes on a road trip with his friend, the inimitable Colesberg figure Tiago Rodrigues. Read more >>
From Monroe to Donroe: the foreign policy delusions of Donald Trump
R.W. Johnson surveys Trump’s ‘foolish’ attempt to resurrect the Monroe (‘Donroe’) Doctrine, and concludes that it will take a major effort to clean up the damage once he has gone. Read more >>
New book casts light on Rhodes's last days
Sue Morrell Stewart writes about a new book which casts fresh light on Cecil John Rhodes’s last days in a seaside cottage in Muizenberg. Read more >>
The karretjie mense: a history of movement, survival and change
Olivia Schaffer writes about the karretjie mense, the rapidly vanishing nomads of the Karoo. Read more >>
Lessons from Caracas
South Africa’s stance on Venezuela is leading it even further down a perilous foreign policy path, writes R.W. Johnson. Read more >>
Christmas thoughts on Toverview
Phakamisa Mayaba looks back on his journey with Toverview over the past two years. Read more >>
Dancing in the streets: from Soweto to the Waterfront
People dancing in the V&A Waterfront and a deep memory prompts Riaan de Villiers to write about Reconciliation Day. Read more >>
'Choosing a slower life'
A video interview with Antony Osler — legal practitioner, farmer, Zen master, author, poet — on the Youtube channel ‘Reflections on Life’. Read more >>
A dream or a bird?: the red meat guys and the Christmas poem
Riaan de Villiers does some literary sleuthing about a Christmas poem, and discovers things are not what they seem … Read more >>
From windmills to turbines
Based on an item in the Bailey archive, Maeder Osler writes about the ever changing processes surrounding water and the land that tie people in the Nuwe Hantam together. Read more >>
The kids must just be clued up on the socials
Opportunity or delusion? Phakamisa Mayaba responds to Destine Nde’s article about young people chasing fame and fortune on the internet. Read more >>
Tributes to Duncan Innes
Duncan Innes, NUSAS president in 1968/9 and leader of the famous Mafeje sit-in at UCT, has passed away. Read more >>
The return of Prince Mashele
Prince Mashele has returned to the public stage — but is he as fiercely independent as he once was? Phakamisa Mayaba looks at his latest interview by the billionaire Rob Hersov. Read more >>
Tilting at windmills: Don Quixote and today's internet hopefuls
Today’s young internet addicts and the medieval figure of Don Quixote have quite a lot in common, writes Destine Nde. Read more >>
The unravelling of MAGA and Donald Trump
Our correspondent in the US, JAY H. Ell, unpacks the intricacies of the political process surrounding Donald Trump – and concludes that he and his MAGA campaign are steadily unravelling. Read more >>
The Bailey land holdings in the 'Nuwe Hantam'
The mining magnate Sir Abe Bailey bought up huge tracts of land in the ‘Nuwe Hantam’ east of Colesberg, traces of which still exist to this day. Read more >>
USEFUL LINKS
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OPENGATES
Toverview founder and associate editor Maeder Osler has started a new blog called Opengates. Designed to complement Toverview, it offers a fresh, more informal platform he likes to call a ‘sandpit’ – or ‘playpen – for ramblings, reminiscences, stoeptalks and the like by himself, family, friends, and whoever else wants to contribute. Enjoy!
FROM A ROOM WITH A VIEW
Riffs and links, mostly by Maeder Osler, from an Old Waenhuis in the Northern Karoo which he still visits from time to time. Latest:
JUST SAYING
TOVER PORTALS
Toverview acts as a portal for several notable writers.
Jasper Cook
Besides contributing to Toverview, our esteemed friend Jasper Cook maintains a blog called Scazima, which is well worth visiting from time to time. Added to this, his son, Donovan, has started a YouTube channel called JAZZTRAINS, featuring conversations with Jasper about working as a fireman on steam engines, his international travels with the African Jazz Pioneers, ‘and everything in between’.
Phakamisa Mayaba
TOVERVIEW also acts as a portal for the Colesberg-based freelance journalist and creative writer Phakamisa Mayaba. He also maintains his own website, Eparkeni.