Incentives and municipal failure: why local government needs a structural reset
Like a lot of things that have gone wrong in South Africa, municipal decline is one that can be squarely put down to a problem of incentives.
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The strange sounds of UK’s bewildering politics
A friend of mine who lives in London was here a few weeks ago. I realised that with Trump, Ukraine/Russia, Middle East, AI and the rest of it there has been little space in my brain for the unpredictable and
Not even savages shoot Malawian gardeners
The Russians who came to London in the early 2000s never shot a Malawian gardener, despite leaving a trail of bodies all the way back to the Kremlin. Neither Jeffrey Dahmer, nor Fred or Rose West, nor Norman Afzal Simons
All roads lead to Joburg
Ofentse Donald Davhie and Nicholas Lorimer discuss the national budget, the Joburg water crisis, and the latest by-elections. https://www.youtube.com/live/VuX6uYTCD8k?si=iT9gLPQPcmX6DKI_
Are SA’s prosecutors free to act independently?
All too often it is assumed that the common legal phrase “without fear, favour or prejudice”, as it is used in the SA Constitution, is merely a synonym for “independence” and that those enjoined to act without fear favour or
Trump lies like a rug
He spoke for a long, long time, but let’s fact check some of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address. Because facts matter. As much as I’d like to, it’s impractical to do a really thorough job fisking Trump’s
What does “transformation” mean in post-Apartheid South Africa?
I have often been asked over these past four years what my Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) thesis is about, and I always have trouble answering off the cuff. Now that the thesis has been successfully completed and I am to
The Budget - all you need to know
Nicholas Lorimer and Hermann Pretorius discuss the 2026 Budget, BEE compliance, and the new US ambassador to South Africa, Brent Bozell. https://www.youtube.com/live/2PJWFgyjX_A?si=_vMt4_vabLmPm_dc
Is the ANC prepared to accept low growth to avoid hard political choices?
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will deliver his budget speech this afternoon against a background of improved financial-market confidence in the country and talk by big bosses and President Cyril Ramaphosa of a turnaround. In recent months the rand has strengthened