Almost exactly four years ago, following the untimely death of Owen Williams, who penned this back page column for decades with so much dedication and vigour, the editor of The Southern Cross, Günther Simmermacher, asked me if I would temporarily fill the void left by Mr Williams, “just for a few weeks until a suitable [...]

For many months now the media spotlight has every now and then paused on the drought disaster on the Horn of Africa, where hundreds of thousands of Somalis (among other nationalities) are battling to survive a severe food shortage.

What do slave trading, newspapers and Cape Governor Sir George Young have in common? Or Mrs Ball’s Chutney, Jeyes Fluid and the French word for “bone”? Or, toothpicks and Tiger Oats, Royal Baking Powder and the Voortrekkers? Or, a tent, Standard Bank and Sol Plaatje?

Last month a letter to the editor by Albert Vianello raised the question of germs, and a fellow Catholic, Dr Michael Pravetz, responded by pointing out that if one had a fear of germs then one should pretty much avoid all forms of contact with absolutely anything and anyone.

A few weeks ago Spanish citizens took to the streets in protest against their country spending almost R1 billion for the extra security required for the pope’s visit for World Youth Day 2011, according to the Reuters news agency.

There is increasing sentiment within various levels of Catholic hierarchy these days about the biggest challenge facing the Church: the education of the laity. There is more than just a feeling that many Catholics, particularly our youth, simply do not understand what the Catholic Church is all about.

There is nothing that appeals more to my innate sense of laziness than receiving e-mails from fellow Catholics who are able to put profound pen to paper and produce the perfect subject for this column.

My father, a teacher, instilled in his children a love of reading. Not a love of books, mind, but a love of reading. He often used to say that he didn’t care whether we read comics, cowboy books or the back of tomato sauce bottles, as long as we read and read and read. Some [...]

The encroachment of television, video games, iPads and smartphones on family life by offering so many platforms for entertainment, seems to have resulted in everyone doing their own thing in place of those wonderful family games such as Monopoly and, my personal favourite, Trivial Pursuit.

My father was a wise man, as legions of matric pupils at Pretoria Boys’ High School will attest. I remember with gratitude two specific pearls of wisdom he imparted.