Martin van Staden

South Africa went from having the strongest opposition formation of its history, to having no real opposition whatsoever, in the span of days. Say what

There is something simultaneously scary and empowering about realising that there is nothing and nobody out there who is coming to ‘save’ us, and that

In recent years, the African National Congress (ANC) government has shown itself to be not entirely unreasonable in crime policy. It has reluctantly decriminalised the

As far as rhetorical support for federalism is concerned, South Africa has had two main political offerings over the past three decades: the Democratic Alliance

Everyone seems to have an opinion about the growth prospects of South Africa’s liberal party, the Democratic Alliance (DA). While interesting, I do not think

The injustice known as Apartheid happened, and people did benefit from it. Care must however be taken when encountering this narrative in the discourse, because

It is remarkable how silent the commentariat is about the longevity of the now much-vaunted pitch for a ‘government of national unity’ (GNU). The assumption

We failed the test. Over 65% of voters voted incorrectly. That is now water under the bridge, and a vindication of those who have been

The election is over. Arguably the next most important phase is now under way: coalition negotiations. But the narrative that South Africa only has two

Every few years, South Africans write two important multiple-choice tests, one relating to local government and the other to provincial and central government. A prevalent