Ek het hom in die verbygaan in ‘n koffiewinkel naby die grens van Noord-Korea ontmoet. ‘n Gawe ou met goeie maniere, ‘n warm glimlag en wat met grasie sy gehawendheid uit oplettende oë hou. Ons wissel name en ferm handdrukke, soos dit mans met karakter en harde vaders betaam. Vaders van die grens.

Oor ‘n koppie keurige “hand-dripped” koffie luister ek en Kenny Versfeld na die java deurdrenkte note van B.B. King, Diana Krall en Jacques Brel in die platteland van Suid-Korea. Uit plek uit, maar presies waar dit moet wees. Dis kort na uitvaltyd, maar hy was heel lukraak in dié deel omdat sy skool hom afgegee het vir die dag. Hy wou grens toe gaan, “DMZ toe”, maar die bus was reeds verby. Om die beste van die mislukte verwagtigings te maak, volg hy sy voete tot by die koffiewinkel met die koddige naam…

Image taken form
 www.stoprhinopoaching.com

My nerves shuddered as the shot cracked. The beast stumbled…nostrils flaring as it tried to pick up our sent, ears twitching as it tried to hear us. Frantically she turned around to try and pin point our position. We sat poised, downwind and in silence, waiting for her to go down. She shook her head and wielding that curved horn as if it were a sabre - a weapon with which she could defend herself. That weapon which we had come to take…


Rhino horn has a current street value of up to R500 000 a kilogram…more than gold, platinum or cocaine for that matter. For poachers this means…

Het jy al ooit gewonder hoe dit sou wees om iemand anders se liggaam te bewoon? Om jou eie gedagtes te dink en jou ervaringsgeskiedenis te behou, maar vir 'n rukkie iemand anders te wees? Miskien beteken dit dat ek ter harte nogsteeds 'n bietjie van 'n tiener is, maar dít is die tipe vrae wat ek nie anders kan as om te vra nie.

Identiese tweelinge kan dit in 'n klein mate regkry om hiermee te eksperimenteer. As Tweelingsuster 1 vir 'n dag maak of sy eintlik Tweelingsuster 2 is, gaan mense haar as 'n ander persoon (naamlik Tweelinguster 2) behandel. En as ons aanvaar dat 'n groot mate van jou identiteit bestaan uit jou verhoudings met ander mense, dan kan Tweelingsuster 1 in 'n beperkte mate ervaar hoe dit is om Tweelingsuster 2 te wees. (Hierdie voorbeeld is natuurlik nie beperk tot tweelingsusters nie - 'n goeie vermomming kan ook werk.)

Waar hierdie ervaring heelwat dieper raak, is by saamgegroeide (of Siamese) tweelinge. Een (?) van die meer bekende…

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending a public debate on religion and student leadership on the Rooiplein. Having spoken to lecturers who were students a few years ago, it is a radical step in the right direction that the debate even happened. The event in itself was valuable, but I feel that an analysis of the comments need to be made.

I found it heartening that Prof Koopman was presenting such a liberal and tolerant portrayal of religion. Where people personally express their spirituality but do not institutionalise a specific religion. The problem that I found is that, though this may be the official stance, this is not the experience that many students get when they attend to Stellenbosch, especially in the…

Tomorrow (probably today by the time this post is finished) there will be a discussion during lunch on the Rooi Plein on what the policy should be in residences regarding religious practice. I would like to kick off a similar discussion on VryeStudent so that everyone who has an opinion can contribute, irrespective of whether you have something on during lunchtime or you just can't be bothered to get out of your pj's.

The issue has been reignited with last week's Die Matie front page article. It puts into question the role of the house committee member of religion/spirituality. If there is a position like that within the structures of residences, was he not entitled to think that this was a situation which was within his mandate to handle? Is his mandate even clear or is it…

As girls often do, it was recently decided that a group of us need to go on a detox. A strict diet to sort out all those little problems caused by eating too much ice cream in summer and too much comfort food in winter (because who doesn’t like a good bredie when it’s cold outside!). For those who are lucky enough not to know, a detox usually consists of eating not exactly the tastiest foods, but mostly the healthiest foods. This does pose a problem for those of us who have to eat on the run, usually stopping off at the Neelsie.

Because the Neelsie, as we all know, is great for what (according to Vimes of the Nightwatch) are the main food groups: sugar, starch, grease and burnt crunchy bits. Perfect for those mornings when we all feel a bit, ahem, under the weather. Not so perfect for healthy living.…

Ek wil begin deur die persone wie die nuwe koshuisplasingsbeleid herskryf het baie geluk te wens. Ek weet eerstehands hoe moeilik dit is om verandering in ‘n samelewing te implementeer  wat uit beginsel teen verandering is sonder om alternatiewe te oorweeg.

Ek is wel ‘n koshuisinwoner. Met dit gesê moet ek bysê dat ek glad nie agter die argumente van Mnr. Van Zyl staan nie. Ek sien koshuise ook nie as beter as PSO’s nie. Ek wil graag uitwys hoe goed Mnr. Du Preez dit regkry om koshuisinwoners se argumente se kredietwaardigheid te ondermyn deur ons emosionele belang by die onderwerp op te bring en ons sodoende in ‘n emosionele subjektiewe lig te plaas. Ek wil net uitlig dat die teenargument ook moontlik is dat iemand wie moontlik uitgelaat is deur ‘n sisteem net so emosioneel betrokke mag…

' I represent those who elected me. They voted for me as they trust me to make the hard decisions for them. I deal with sensitive matters which makes any consultation with my constituents impossible'

I have heard this sentiment a lot during my years in student governance and...

The scary reality is that it is believed by a great number of individuals. They are not evil, nor power-crazed, nor overly self-focussed. They are genuinely well intentioned individuals yet...

As a Matie I've always been concerned about this belief. During the caucus of SRC members for the last three years my standard question has been 'How will you ensure that you represent the needs/voice of all Maties? This has been my question to all my friends/acquaintances who decide to enter…