[1] He is originally from Cape Town, South Africa, and moved to New York City in 1993.
[2] He studied at the University of Cape Town, and in the 1980s, he was a prominent anti-apartheid activist in student movement NUSAS.
He joined TIME Magazine in 1997, and was a senior editor for close to 20 years, providing commentary on world affairs.
[1] He had previously worked as an activist for the banned African National Congress in South Africa.
In April 2013, he was employed as a senior online executive producer of Al Jazeera's new all-digital video channel, AJ+.