Welcome to Daily Maverick Connect, Margaret. Thank you for your insights 
Hello everyone, I’m Adrian. I’m joining this forum as a recovering actor and screenwriter who at times traded the script for the press gallery, and most recently, the law library. Having navigated the worlds of the arts, journalism and, more recently, law, I find myself motivated to apply critical thinking to a landscape cluttered with increasingly polarised dogma. And there’s no shortage of raw material to support my habit; hidden algorithms seem designed to amplify the loudest voices rather than the most reasoned ones. In my transition from the arts to the statutes, I’ve become particularly wary of narratives that trade in historical inevitability at the expense of individual agency. Of course, I’m fully aware that in today’s climate, an analytical approach may carry the risk of being ‘labelled’ by those on either side of a debate. However, I am old enough to ‘suffer the slings and arrows’ that come with challenging prevailing orthodoxies. I look forward to engaging in robust, evidence-based dialogue and, who knows, perhaps finding a bit of signal amidst the noise.
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Welcome, Adrian! It’s great to have you here.
Yo yo, hello everyone. My name is Chelsea Hill. I’m a Johannesburg-based writer specialising in email marketing and strategy. I also make music and DJ so if you wanna know where to hear some swag beats, hit me up.
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Hi Alet I’m a long-time reader and DM fan - I would like to draw the attention of other DM readers to the severe shortage of social workers in Mzansi and the backstory to that development. Thanks Ruth Katz
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Hi - I’m Harry, a legal and compliance professional with over 25 years’ experience in financial services, focusing on corporate governance, data privacy, and ethics. I’m passionate about strengthening organisational integrity through sound governance and regulatory compliance. Outside of work, I enjoy engaging in thought leadership on emerging legal and ethical issues, especially around AI, and connecting with others who value accountability and impact-driven leadership.
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Welcome, Harry! Its great to have you here.
Interesting research! Please keep us posted.
I was a primary school teacher. I shared the opinion with a senior education admin person that education students should learn how to grow vegetables instead of learning how to use smartboard technology and Powerpoint, because growing vegetables is an important life skill and good nutrition is more valuable to learners than Powerpoint. That opinion was very badly received.
I still think that, given the opportunity, young people will teach themselves to use tech. I’m not sure the same applies to growing vegetables.
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Hi Shirene. Thank you for still caring about what happens here in SA. I believe the laws regarding the obligations of sectional title boards and trustees. Perhaps there is some way of forcing them to take action.
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Hello everyone. My name is Vijay. Although I’m retired, I make small contributions to DM, Amabhungane, OUTA and other public interest groups, having been a lifelong civic activist. My work background was finance and IT in a global corporate. My activist background was in 1960s (Cape Town) student resistance movement, Black Consciousness Movement, SACOS anti-apartheid sport, civic associations etc, mostly Gauteng. At the moment, over and above the rotten state of our politics, the thing that weighs heavily for me is youth unemployment. I do believe government do more to alleviate the problem, but there is neither the will nor the competence. So it falls to the private sector. What to do?
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Welcome Vijay, its great to have you part of the community!
Hi Everyone, I’m pleased to finally getting around to introducing myself! My name is Myrtle and I am a Cannabis Activist and Jazzfarmer (not much to do with jazz but more about that later…)
I’m here mostly in my role as founding director of Fields of Green for ALL NPC, Cannabis re-legalisation non-profit dedicated to Human Rights, Harm Reduction and Drug Policy Reform. I’m the remaining half of The Dagga Couple as myself and my late partner, Julian Stobbs charged eight South African government departments with enacting unlawful laws in 2010. We achieved a stay of prosecution in 2011 and, as “my” case is still rendered part heard in the Pretoria High Court, I have the dubious honour of being out on bail (charges of possession and dealing in Dagga) for going on 16 years! It’s a long story and I hope to be sharing some of it along my journey with this community. Cannabis is a huge subject!
I have lived at our beloved home, The Jazzfarm, for the last 21 years. It is an interesting place on the outskirts of the greatest city on earth. My fellow Jazzfarmers are millenials and gen Z who keep me on my toes. We share our piece of heaven with 3 dogs, 3 cats and all the creatures in the garden.
In what spare time I have I make art, crochet, grow Dagga and tend to my exotic cactus collection.
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Hi DM users. I am Janco van der Byl. Lab Technician in Potchefstroom. I have always had a passion for news and politics and economics and most people it seems does not share that passion so I came to a space where I can freely share opinions and read different perspectives. I have a broad range of interests ranging from ancient history to gaming to nature and sports. I notice most users are actually working for or with DM so I am excited to connect with professionals and grow in my knowledge.
Hi Janco, welcome to DMC! It is great to have you. Looking forward to hearing more from you.
Hi all I am a retired accountant who grew up in the early days on the Free State Goldfields which gave one a freedom you can only imagine these days. Before I retired I was offered a position in Kenya by a Canadian entrepreneur at 57 years of age and my question to him was “Does my age not concern you?” His reply “Someone else has paid for the mistakes you made” Memorable years spent there with the privilege of visiting the game parks as a resident. I am thoroughly enjoying the content in Daily Maverick and look forward to the conversations to come. We all travel te road of life and possibly we can make it better for one another
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Hi, I’m Travis, an Advocate of the High Court based in Cape Town. In a past life I was a professional classical musician — I spent many years working extensively with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, picked up a few national and international awards along the way, and studied in Paris briefly, but I always had an itch for “more.” That curiosity eventually led me to law: I obtained my LLB from UCT, worked in a research capacity for a Cape Bar Advocate, and thereafter completed my pupillage with the South African Bar Association. Music taught me perseverance, grit, and how to build strong relationships, and those qualities still shape the way I approach advocacy today. I’m a friendly, solution-driven individual who loves digging into complex matters.
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Welcome, Travis! Its great to have you as part of our community.
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