That's because the South African way of doing it is to give yourself advice.

In African countries, there is no tradition of science academies being trusted or used. It is a tightrope between being independent and being heard.

The South African government, unlike a lot of African governments, isn't poor.

I should confess that I'm woefully under-read in South African fiction.

We've got the South African teams now, in a row, and we just can't give the South Africans that much ball.

One day, I was on the front lawn of the property and aimed the gun at a sparrow perched high in a tree. Hazel Goldreich, Arthur's wife, was watching me and jokingly remarked that I would never hit the target. But she had hardly finished the sentence when the sparrow fell to the ground. I turned to her and was about to boast, when the Goldreichs' son Paul, then about five years old, turned to me with tears in his eyes and said, "David, why did you kill that bird? Its mother will be sad." My mood immediately shifted from one of pride to shame; I felt that this small boy had far more humanity than I did. It was an odd sensation for a man who was the leader of a nascent guerrilla army.