₦airaland Forum

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki showed he was a visionary of an unexpected sort on Sunday when he revealed a talent for landscape photography, with a particular eye for vibrant sunsets, the moody interaction of sky and water, and the harshness of the Karoo.

The secret came out at the end of a two-day meeting at Lake Pleasant, near George, of his task team on information society, a group that includes the chief executives of several major corporations in the information technology field.

To thank them for making the trip to South Africa, Mbeki presented the delighted visitors with framed enlargements of his photographs, each signed "ThaboM " in the bottom right-hand corner.

"This is the one I wanted," enthused Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who received a view of the Karoo National Park which Mbeki had titled God's Canvas, and which she had admired when it was on display before the presentation.

Coincidentally, she had earlier given Mbeki one of her company's digital cameras and a printer to deliver immediate images.

The other photographs included dramatic rock formations near the Northern Province site of Mapungubwe, and panoramas of the green Drakensberg, and the St Lucia wetlands.

"One of the challenges in the presidency is to manage an artist who imposes all sorts of artistic work on us," joked master of ceremonies Frank Chikane, who is director general in Mbeki's office.

"For those who don't know, the president has a camera..."

"I've now got two," interjected Mbeki.

"He's got two, and finds quite extraordinary moments to capture in his busy schedule."

Chikane told the visitors that theirs were one-off prints.

"The picture that you have is the only picture in the world. No-one has a copy of it."

Mbeki said afterwards that he was not able to do as much photography as he wanted.

"It's only during the end of December, beginning of January, we normally take 10 days - two weeks - and go around the country, places we don't normally see.

"And it's a fascinating country, so much to see."

He said he could not say which was his favourite photograph.

"It would be discrimination against the people are receiving them," he laughed.

Gotocourt:
When Hamas was calling on all Islamic countries to join the war , what do you think is their aim?

illicit:
He shouldn't be dressed in a suit

The suit and tie are the colonisers, land grabbers

Charlie2020:
This one thinks Palestinians/Arabs really give a 4K about him

lightwind:
Bro give credit to this guy's (Afrikaans) stop hating on them.

What can you do as a black South African

Makinaki:
My thoughts exactly. That RandDigital guy is fond of coming on Nairaland to post irrelevant SA stories. Who gives a sh_t about what's going on in xenophobic SA?

Fuckyoumod:
Like you are blacks are building Nigeria. After rushing to have independence.

The only reason south have that level of infrastructure is because the whites stayed, designed and developed South Africa.

So stop displaying your ignorance, bitterness, racism and illiteracy here.

If you don't like the white man, stop using their phones, cloths, shoes, cars, Internet, buildings.

Move to the bush and settle their.
Don't be a hypocrite. You can't hate them and like their inventions.

frog12:
i see. so they are investigating his term as a minister?

i thought it was also suspicious

IronGalaxy:
I had to rush to Google to check after seeing this here, damn.. Definitely foul play

Samantha125:
Nna ke sharp ka Botswana le Lesotho feela, ga ke nyake go tshwenyega ka taba ya go ithuta foreign cultures... I'm too lazy for that and ga ke nyake go godisa bana baka ka sekgowa feela.

Samantha125:
Bjale o rela bo mang ge ore foreign? Zimbabwe?😂😂😂... Swanetse o be specific.

IronGalaxy:
he he..

Samantha125:
Emanyana, ge o re foreign, o rela eng? Nigeria?😂😂😂

Samantha125:
Wena, Sesotho is sexy, especially the one from Lesotho and Free State.

Do you consider Gauteng Basotho are real Basotho though? Because I just think they're too diluted with other cultures like those Bapedi people from Pretoria, I don't take them seriously whenever they claim to be Bapedi.

Samantha125:
And the language alone just turns me on, sometimes I just get aroused by just listening to my husband speaking Sesotho...🙊🙊🙊

I don't like it when he speaks to me in Sepedi and English... ... And speaking of Basotho, can I ask you something?

Samantha125:
Well, my husband is a Mosotho and I'm sure you already know that when it comes to looks, majority of Basotho men were wonderfully made...

Samantha125:
Nah!!! He doesn't have a baby making face.

My biggest weakness in a man for me it's his facial features, head shape, and height...If I don't find the face appealing, then all those muscles mean nothing to me.

Samantha125:
I don't know if it's just me, but I don't find any of them attractive.

Nigerian Artist, Tiwa Savage, has faced major backlash on social media users after apologising on behalf of South African Grammy winner Tyla, who labels herself as “coloured” (mixed race) - a term many Americans find offensive due to the country’s history.

Savage made the apology during an interview on America’s popular radio show The Breakfast Club this week, explaining that Tyla did not intend any harm.

“Where I am from, when something like that happens, The elder will come on behalf of the young one to apologise. Hahaha. If that wasn’t communicated well, on behalf of her, I would like to apologise, ” said Savage.

Tyla innocently went on a radio broadcast in the US responding that she is coloured, after she was asked what race she identifies as.

“In South Africa my race is called “coloured” and it’s a very stressful term to use in America because I know it’s a derogatory term but that is just what we are called in SA,” said Tyla.

Some Americans criticised the ‘Water’ hitmaker, arguing she could not expect them to refer to her as “coloured” given the term’s historical context in the US.

South Africans, however, defended the young artist, urging her to be unapologetic about her identity.

Weeks after the controversy, social media attention shifted to Savage, with many accusing her of inserting herself unnecessarily into the debate by apologising on Tyla’s behalf.

Orlandoo:
What do you have to say about Hamas attack on Israel, Or was that impressive too?

Heffalump:
Your president is already calling for an arrest of the tweaker.

IronGalaxy:
Yes, I saw that.. but the president knows nothing about petty issues such as this one

IronGalaxy:
He pushed it with an agenda, he knows an average Nairalander is not exposed is gullible and ignorant, and they'll likely gobble up this nonsense like Cool Aid. They're already insulting, let's just let them be