BARNEY MTHOMBOTHI: That old flag is the nation's most pressing issue? Really?
'Freedom's other tough centre is tolerance. Without tolerance, freedom becomes nothing but a dictatorship by whoever happens to wield power'
Geriatrics are having a new lease on life, it seems. Even grey beards, a mark of advanced age, have become de rigueur, fashionable. The Bellamy Brothers (remember them?) will soon be in town. So will the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens - before he discovered Islam and became Yusuf Islam. He will be packaged this time simply as Yusuf/Cat Stevens. He is, as we say in these parts, a bit deurmekaar. With shaggy beards and voices that are beginning to lose their timbre, the old codgers are still harping on about music that takes us back to days yonder. We like going back in time.The past always gets us going. Which brings me to the matter of the flag, the old flag or the apartheid flag. That old dilapidated piece of cloth is still sowing dissension in the ranks. It reared its ugly head again this week after years of hibernation. The fraying in society is unfortunately sending people scurrying back into their trenches. The protesting farmers this week didn't do their cause any favour...
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