Skip to main content

The court case in Lady Frere

I appeared in court at about 9am as a witness of the state. The state prosecutor asked easy question, and I think it was a good thing, because it boosted my confidence. After the state prosecutor, the defence lawyer started his cross examination. He indicated his surprise at the print outs that I brought, as they were only introduced to him that morning. Actually the print outs were only for my reference, but the court found them useful! I had a long time at the witness stand with the defence lawyer. I was not really sure of his line of questioning at times. All in all, I did not deviate from my testimony.
It was an interesting experience. The state prosecutor thought I handled it pretty well given that it was my first time!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Finally, I am taking the PhD route

It's tempting to see purpose in setbacks. While I wasn't selected for the Unit Head - Climate Change position after three applications, a PhD in climate finance feels like the right next step. The University of Pretoria will be my initial target, and I plan to spend 2024 developing a compelling research proposal. My initial interest in climate change governance has evolved towards climate finance, particularly timely with COP28 in Dubai. My city-based experience with climate finance projects has further piqued my curiosity. I'm eager to delve into the political motivations behind climate finance and explore frameworks for our city to better utilize these resources. Beyond the personal challenge, a PhD presents an opportunity to explore new career paths. While the future five years remain uncertain, my 20+ years as a climate change practitioner make this a natural progression, solidifying my expertise in the field. A long-held ambition is to document the city's envir...
Post a Comment
Read more

Death of Black Magazines

There was a time when Tribute Magazine occupied a valuable space in many people's hearts. It was seen as a serious magazine with serious journalism. During his time as its editor, Sbu Mngadi unmasked the real person beneath the veneer of Eugene Nyathi. His name was in fact Albert Nana, a university drop out. Quite remarkably Eugene Nyathi as we came to know him, occupied our lives as this know it all political/economic analyst. In fact he was even called Dr Nyathi. Even our own Mathews Phosa, while premier of Mpumalanga, contracted Eugene Nyathi to do some weighty business, as a consultant, in that province. But this magazine has since died. In recent years there was an attempt to get it back to life, but it died - again. An equally exciting magazine called BL!NK was born about 3 years ago. It was meaty,exciting, fresh, targeted at Black men, but it died. After BL!NK came Blaque. Not quite as serious as its predecessor, but targeted at Black men all the same. It is now on a start a...
1 comment
Read more

Floods: A short history.

Floods in general are not uncommon in South Africa. Recent flooding events do not come near some of the past events, both in strength and the trail of disaster they left behind. South Africa has a long record of flooding events dating back to the 1800s. Sporadic though these records are, they nonetheless give us a glimpse of what happened in the past. This past is very important to anchor our present day discussions, especially in the light of climate change. The first recorded flood event in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) was in April 1856, where 686mm of rainfall were reported. It was in September 1987, however that KZN experienced what is considered to be South Africa's greatest natural disaster in terms of lives lost and damage to infrastructure. During this disaster, 506 people lost their lives and approximately 60 000 people were affected one way or another. A few years earlier KZN was devastated by Tropical Cyclone Damoina. On January 1984 Damoina formed in the Indian Ocean to the east...
Post a Comment
Read more