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BIOGRAPHY

I was born in Johannesburg, one of the generation that was supposed to benefit from Apartheid, and who worked to end it. Always an outsider, I did what I had to do: went to school, did compulsory military service, went to University (Economics and International Relations) then opted out and went to work on a game reserve. In 1976 I joined the Civil Service in order to do something to change my country for the better, and percolated into the Diplomatic service. Here I learnt the joys of travel, of learning foreign languages, getting to know different cultures and cuisines, and of meeting fascinating people. But after 37 years, having lived in Africa, Europe and, briefly, the USA diplomacy was not fun any more. I shook hands with Presidents reputed to be mass murderers and had to be polite to dictators and hit-men, now I could meet with villagers, ordinary people, visit the places I always dreamt of, and go diving instead of enduring dreary receptions. I give in easily to the call of the open road, and love driving, writing about it, meeting interesting people, eating interesting food (on the waterfront of Raiateia you can eat vanilla-flavored fish in coconut milk that is absolutely fantastic) and doing things I could not do before. My hobbies include photography, building a sailboat, and spoiling my grandchildren.

PROFILE

Coen van Wyk

South Africa - Gauteng

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BIOGRAPHY

LATEST OPINIONS

Endings and Beginnings

An African Market – Slow Progress

Of Presidents and the Law

Prevention of Terrorism - An African Perspective

The Law of the Land

Is There a Worm in the Apple?

Thoughts on The Iranian Situation

Something New From Africa

An Underwater Epiphany

Of Mermaids And Sharks – A Simpler Life

Now For Some Dark Humor

Cobalt – Cleaning Up the Act

Here We Go Again – Societal Collapse in Zimbabwe

Is the Long Night Coming?

I Want My Day In Court! But Not Today.

Communicating With Extra-Terrestrials

United In Sport - Maybe?

Political Collapse and Reformation

Botswana Elections - A Sign of Things to Come?

Mozambique - Hope Deferred?

The Vleiloerie Calls

The Coming Collapse – And It’s Not What You Expected

Elections In Diamond Country

Migration And Control: The Coming Crunch

Competition and Peace

Where Has the Rainbow Nation Gone?

Three Deaths - and You Can Take It With You

On Love and Happiness

Libertarians and Samaritans

Movement in Mali

The End of a War, the Beginning of Peace

The Seasons March On

Concentration Camps – Owning Victimhood?

Death of Satire?

It’s Raining in the Richtersveld

Economics and the Magic of Currencies

The Swinging Pendulum

The Road to Reconciliation

He’s a Bastard

The Sahel Is In Crisis, And Africa Is Watching

Greening Mama Africa

Market Madness

Nepal, Caught Between Realities

Elections in South Africa.

Politics Can Be Fun

Kenneth After Idai: More Terror For Mozambique

Random Thoughts After The Fire At Notre Dame

Of Fences and Gates

To A Climate Change Denier

When Societies Unravel

When Nature Rages Angels Bring Help

Message From a Terrorist: Build Bridges

Freedom Denied

Political Progress or Return To The Past?

The Flower Grandchildren Are Angry

King Looy and the Duke of Bilgewater and Modern Democracy

The Art of the Lie

Time For a Joke

Is Our Political System Fit For Purpose?

We Are Not Alone In An Unfriendly Universe

Zimbabwe: Here We Go Again

Make Bucks, Not War

To Label Is To Limit

You Can’t Close Pandora’s Box

Two Christmas Gifts

Love Your Neighbor. But Who Is It?

When Taxpayers Lose Trust

Congo Fever Strikes

Boko Haram, Rising From the Ashes

Forward to the Past, or Making Sense of Brexit

Fake news? False Prospectus?

In Remembrance of Corporal Willy McHardy

And Now for the Good News

Rumblings on the Islands of the Moon