Budget speech or no speech today: The VAT fight and our new politics

The Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, may or may not deliver the Budget speech later today. Our politics are in a strange new place. For the past fortnight it has appeared to be touch and go whether or not we will

Our public health system doesn't deserve our trust

Nicholas Lorimer and Makone Maja discuss the report of the health ombudsman on the state of Helen Joseph Hospital. They also talk about a social media fuss around sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie and racial quotas as well as “e-voting”.

Donald Winfrey

Expropriation Act: deepening the deficiency

This piece, written in response to two articles published in the first week in February, was offered to, but not published by, the Mail & Guardian. The most impressive feature of two pieces recently published by the Mail & Guardian

JD Vance’s preposterous Munich speech

Last month, JD Vance berated European leaders in Munich over “the threat from within”. His speech was nuts. At the Munich Security Conference held in Germany last month, United States vice president JD Vance made a startling statement: “...the threat

Deal or no deal?

Today's Daily Friend Show with Michael Morris, Nicholas Lorimer, and Terence Corrigan discusses the ongoing impasse over the national budget with the ANC refusing to give up a VAT increase and they also discuss a new justification for the Expropriation

Sara Gon talks about the Trump/Zelensky media explosion

We present the podcasts of the weekly IRR Show on Chai FM. The show is broadcast live every Tuesday from 09h00 to 10h00 on Chai FM 101.9 and deals with the politics of the day and related issues. We also

No, negotiation, compromise and bridge-building are not a national speciality

South Africa has a unique ability to build bridges and find compromises. Its political miracle in the 1990s was in the ability of people across the spectrum to reach out to one another, develop mutual understanding and create an inclusive