Chris Hattingh
Chris Hattingh is Executive Director at the Centre for Risk Analysis.
Articles By This Author
ANC’s old friends coming home to roost
South Africa’s anti-immigrant politics did not start with Operation Dudula. They started, in part, in Harare in 2000, when Robert Mugabe’s government began seizing commercial
SA state losing monopoly on force
Tomorrow, the March and March movement plans to enforce its own “deadline” for undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa. In readiness for any trouble,
Lessons from Cuba: when communists outgrow their own ideology
Cuba’s Communist Party has approved the country’s most sweeping economic reforms since the 1959 revolution. On 18 June the National Assembly adopted close to 200
No sacred allies: South Africa in a transactional decade
On 18 June US vice president, JD Vance told reporters Donald Trump is “the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this point in time.” He then warned Israel’s cabinet against attacking “the only powerful ally” it has left.
Ports: South Africa leads the world in improvement, trails it in performance
The 2025 Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) findsthat Durban recorded the largest single-year efficiency gain of any port in the world between 2024 and 2025. Coega (Ngqura) was also among the top five most improved globally. Port Elizabeth leads all ports in long-run improvement since 2020. Despite the impressive improvements, South Africa’s main ports still rank near the bottom of the 400-port global index.
South Africa cannot subsidise its way to prosperity
Earlier this week trade, industry, and competition minister Parks Tau told Parliament that South Africa “cannot compete in the world of the future using the tools of the past.” While he was correct on that score, he neglected to mention that his department is reaching for those exact same tools.
One private security officer per 91 citizens: what that number tells you
Every year, South Africans absorb another batch of crime statistics, shake their heads, and move on.
The R1.8 trillion question
In his 18 May 2026 newsletter President Cyril Ramaphosa included the following statistic: South Africa’s non-financial companies are sitting on R1.8 trillion in cash reserves. The President’s appeal to the private sector is this: deploy that capital, invest locally, and help close the yawning gap between conference pledges and real economic activity.
Don’t save Ramaphosa to avoid something worse
There is a particular kind of political cowardice that presents itself as strategic wisdom. It goes like this: yes, the current leader is problematic but removing him might produce something worse. ‘Better the devil you know.’
South Africa’s fiscal tightrope: who is really paying the bill?
Every year, South Africa’s national budget arrives with fanfare and political theatre. But once the speeches fade, what the numbers actually reveal is a story that deserves far more sustained public attention than it typically receives.