CHRIS ROPER: A watchdog to cherish
South Africa ranks poorly on many global indices, but not when it comes to media freedom. Let’s keep it that way
Have you ever considered the word “kidnapping”? I’d assumed its etymology had something to do with abducting children for the purpose of extorting money from parents. But when I checked the American Heritage Dictionary, it turned out to be a little more complicated. Kidnappers themselves came up with the term, and “napper” is an obsolete slang word for a thief. And the verb kidnap originally meant to steal or carry off children or others to provide servants or labourers for plantations in America. Ironically, as we shall see.
And it turns out there are all sorts of different categories of kidnapping, if those assiduous researchers over at Wikipedia are to be believed. Bride kidnapping, for example, includes any bride “abducted” against the will of her parents, even if she is willing to marry the “abductor” (the inverted commas are Wikipedia’s), and those who still believe in the old ways will be happy to know that bride kidnapping has seen a resurgence in Kyrgyzstan since...
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