Mbeki speaks with forked tongue and humdinger of a Hollywoodbets Durban July sees horses live up to their names

Please don’t use offensive names

An impassioned appeal to media houses and journalists to refrain from alluding to countries in the Middle East as “Arab” regimes.

The label Arab regimes are a misnomer as the Prophet of Islam, Muhammed (PBUH) and his companions, left behind an extraordinary legacy and a system of governance that is ethical, moral, just, humane and unbiased.

The system bequeathed by Muhammed is in stark contrast with the prevalent socio-political system of countries in this region. It will be more appropriate both politically and linguistically to refer to these Middle Eastern regimes, or monarchies by their man-made names like Saudi Arabia, or UAE.

For example, the original name of Saudi Arabia was Arabia, and it was changed to Saudi Arabia by King Abdulaziz Saud, who re-named the Arabian Peninsula to Saudi Arabia an illustration of obeisance to the Saud family.

Arabic, the divine language of the Quraan, Islam and of the hereafter or day of judgement, the language Muhammed and his companions spoke, and it holds a central role in worship for Muslims.

I feel offended by these man-made names since the current rulers are neither my role models, and nor that of millions of Muslims the world over and nor do they embody the spiritual values of Islam.

Therefore, it is better to refer to these countries and their autocratic rule by their concocted names. | MOHAMED SAEED Pietermaritzburg

Humdinger saw them live up to their names

This year’s Durban July was full of drama and excitement ending in a breathtaking duel between Eight on Eighteen and The Real Prince.

Eight on Eighteen was the favourite to win but in horse racing you never can tell who will win.

As the race reached its climax, Eight on Eighteen was poised to win.

Not to be outdone, The Real Prince pulled out an ace, pressed on the gas pedal and put up a fierce challenge to snatch victory by the narrowest of margins.

Selukwe put in a gallant effort for third position leaving Royal Victory searching for victory in fourth.

Madison Valley was bogged dawn in the valley and was unable to break free.

Expectations were too high for Rainbow Lorikeet as he failed to dazzle the crowd.

Pomodoro’s Jet ran out of jet fuel in the crucial stages of the race.

My Best Shot missed the target by a wide margin. Moving forward he can do with more practice!

There was drama in the race when Immediate Edge fell down the cliff and Litigation and Confederate came tumbling after.

Oriental Charm lost his sparkle, while On My Honour failed to live up to his name on the big day.

Purple Pitcher tried to pitch in but his performance lacked lustre.

Okavango didn’t run out of stamina and was stuck in the middle.

Native Ruler was out of sorts. He must go back to his kingdom!

Gladiatorial appeared battle weary and struggled to keep up, while Atticus Finch put in a late run to finish at the back of the field. Certainly he didn’t have a field day!

To add glitz and glamour to this prestigious horse racing event, models of the two-legged variety strutted their stuff, but the horses stole the show.

The 2025 Durban July will be remembered for its nail biting finish.

Congratulations to the winner, The Real Prince, and all contenders.

That’s all from me. So long folks, until we meet again, next year! | Dhan Somlal Silverglen

You definitely need English in this world

My mum often used to chide me as a youngster for spending too much time reading comics and books.

“Stop reading that Angrezi (English). It’s not going to help you in the hereafter,” she would yell

She tried to propagate the idea that Urdu was a far better bet.

Urdu which comes from Persian is one of the components of Hindi, the other part being Hindustani – which derives from Sanskrit. We had, after all, our roots in India, where the main languages, especially in the northern provinces, are Urdu and Hindi.

However, as I grew up, my elder sister began to get into the act and she decided that I should change over from English and Urdu to the new kid on the block – Arabic. This would definitely assist even better “up there”!

I finally decided that English was the best bet and in spite of sheer disdain and dislike for the English colonists, I still loved Treasure Island, Kidnapped and A Tale of Two Cities. And, of course, if one desires a career in the US, Australia New Zealand, the US, Canada, etc, English is a basic requirement. But guess what?

The honourable Home Minister of India, Amit Shah, has done a mother-and-sister act on the bewildered Indian masses by scolding them for conversing in English! “You should be ashamed of yourselves. Forget about helping you “up there”, it’s not going to help you down here either!”(Or words, spoken in Hindustani, to that effect).This advice comes not from some irrelevant man in the street. This is from the second-in-command of the “biggest democracy in the solar system”!

And yet, his compadre, the honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has boasted that India will soon overtake everybody else in everything – arts, science, religion, land occupation, economy, exports, employment, housing and health facilities.

The only problem is that if Shah’s advice is take seriously, the rest of the world won’t know about these achievements, except by using language-translation programs.

But who knows? Much of it maybe sadly lost in translation! | Ebrahim Essa Durban

We are treading on dangerous ground

I write to express my concern regarding the charges laid against Michael Swain by the CRL Rights Commission.

As the Executive Director of Freedom of Religion South Africa, Mr Swain has consistently acted with integrity, courage, and clarity in defending the constitutional right to freedom of religion for all South Africans – regardless of their faith or lack thereof.

The commission’s action appears not only ill-considered, but also rather troubling. When a Chapter 9 institution begins to target those who seek to uphold the Bill of Rights, especially Section 15 (freedom of religion, belief and opinion), we are treading on dangerous ground.

To charge Mr Swain for defending the right of faith-based organisations and individuals to live according to their conscience is a violation of the freedoms the commission is meant to protect.

In times of rising ideological pressure and moral confusion, we need men and women of courage who will stand like watchmen on the walls of our republic. Michael Swain is one such individual.

His efforts to safeguard the rights of religious communities are not only legal but noble. | Charl van Wyk Cape Town

Mbeki speaks with forked tongue

The long letter by former president Thabo Mbeki chastising the DA, and the subsequent statement by President Ramaphosa show that instead of being humbled by last year’s election results, their arrogance persists.

This confirms that the National Dialogue is a creature of the ANC that has been sprung upon the public with the disingenuous claim that it is an “inclusive” process.
What Mbeki seems to be turning a blind eye to, is the fact that he is the source of our woes through his cadre deployment policies under the disguise of Black Economic Empowerment. ANC corruption is the root cause of where we are as a nation. It is clear that the ANC has run out of ideas. The solution we need now is to vote out the ANC in the upcoming 2026 Local Government Elections.

The ANC’s leaders behave as if they won the elections with outright majority in May 2024 elections. What Mbeki, Ramaphosa and the entire ANC fail to under is power sharing is not just about positions: It’s about putting all your policies on the table as partners and agreeing which ones to implement in order to take the country forward. It’s called a compromise. But with the current GNU, the ANC is insisting on implementing its policies that have failed us as a country. So until the ANC agrees to share power, disagreements will persist.

To distract us from its failures, the ANC wants to spend more than R700 million on a talk shop called “National dialogue”. This country is constantly on a dialogue through municipalities, provincial departments and national departments public meetings.

Ramaphosa held a number of imbizos, visiting different provinces and cities, and all those have done very little to change the situation of our people. How is this different? This frivolous call for a national dialogue is tantamount to asking people attending the funeral to rejoice. Obviously, that’s not achievable.

Job creation is the weapon to fight disparity and poverty and to achieve cohesion.

Talk is cheap. | THULANI DASA Khayelitsha

Pick me to serve on the commission

Recently President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the problems confronting the former Transkei in the Eastern Cape was due to Apartheid. The real cause of the problems are corruption, tenders for comrades and comrade employment.

There are people being employed in senior positions in the provincial government because of friendship and comradeship, but do not have the ability or qualifications to do the job. The people who do the suffering are the local residents and the taxpayers who pay for the projects.

If Ramaphosa tries to eradicate corruption and cadre employment then our people will enjoy 30 years of freedom and the goods and services that go with it.

Lots of goods and services which are not needed are bought by local authorities and government agency. The person in the government orders these goods and service so he or she can get a commission for themselves, but at no benefit to the people. The same applies to the new Eskom energy plant built near Witbank. After 10 years it is still not functioning.

From the beginning of the building everything became a dilemma. Ramaphosa should establish and a commission to investigate comrade employment and mismanagement of funds and taxpayers money).

I am prepared to serve on such a commission.

I was student leader in South Africa during the time of Steve Biko and went into exile with the ANC comrades like my friend Max Sisulu and Oliver Tambo to fight the Apartheid Regime. We won and we got our long cherished freedom. Amandla Awetu. | Dr Sears Appalsamy Netherlands

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