ANC: How does it back down to save SA from a full-blown crisis?
Two big issues are now front and centre in our politics, and both point to the divided and weakened state of the ANC. Neither issue
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Only 2% of SA air force aircraft working
Nicholas Lorimer, Terence Corrigan and Michael Morris discuss the South African Air Force having only two fighter jets, one helicopter and three fighter jet trainers as operable military aircraft; disgraced former US ambassador Ebrahim Rasool's comment that the President should
Explaining or justifying? A look at an Expropriation Act fact check
Misinformation is a much used (and misused) phrase these days. It describes the proliferation of false and decontextualised data that skews public perceptions, distorts understanding of important matters and ultimately poisons public debate. This not only undermines a society’s ability
Why did aid help Germany but not Africa?
Why was the Marshall Plan so successful in developing Germany after WW2, and why was a bigger sum of aid so unsuccessful in developing Africa? (The official name for the US Marshall Plan was the European Recovery Plan.) Foreign aid
When the nightingale sings – Argentina under Milei: Part 2
South Africans are, on average, poorer than they were a decade ago. Since 2013, the average wealth of South Africans has gone down in real (US$) terms 7.4%. Yet the world is, viewed as a whole, a much richer place,
Expropriation Act: facts and reality matter
This piece, written in response to various articles published by IOL, was offered to, but not used by, IOL. Since the announcement late last month that President Ramaphosa had assented to the Expropriation Act (without favouring the minister responsible for
Into Parts Unknown III
Beginning in mid-1975, my life evolved into a blur of professional activity. Implausibly, but in line with what I had hoped for, I was a foreign correspondent. For the Financial Mail I was writing stories about migrant labour on the
There is in fact a better alternative to BEE, Mr Grootes
This piece was written in response to Stephen Grootes’s piece in the Daily Maverick, "BEE on borrowed time — why attacks on SA’s social engineering project won’t abate this time", on 10 March. It was offered to, but declined by, the
When the nightingale sings – Argentina under Milei: Part 1
South Africans are, on average, poorer than they were a decade ago. Since 2013, the average wealth of South Africans has gone down in real (US$) terms 7.4%. Yet the world is, viewed as a whole, a much richer place,