Michael Morris
IRR head of media Michael Morris was a newspaper journalist from 1979 to 2017, covering, among other things, the international campaign against apartheid, from London, and, as a political correspondent in Cape Town, South Africa’s transition to democracy. He has written three books, the last being Apartheid, An Illustrated History, and has an MA in Creative Writing from UCT. He writes a fortnightly column in Business Day.
Articles By This Author
Is the ANC losing its grip on the crisis?
Sensible South Africans were dumbstruck on Friday by the news that a leading mining executive had been hauled before a court and made to pay
The crisis, and the recovery: what we can count on
Policymakers in South Africa should be made to frame a 125-word passage from near the end of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s televised address on Friday evening
Where have all the people gone?
I have found myself thinking about Alex this week, though I haven’t seen him for years. In the early 2000s, he was a familiar feature
Testing times – the lockdown, and after
The next three weeks will likely prove to be something of a litmus test of the legitimacy of state authority in South Africa. For obvious
China syndrome: Covid-19 and the penalty of unfreedom
‘Everyone please be careful.’ These words, expressed only 11 weeks ago by a man who is now dead, have been freighted in the short time
Cracks reveal the delusion of the ANC’s ‘radical’ mission
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola may yet rue the confidence with which he recently laid claim to Radical Economic Transformation (RET) as the core programme of
When tyranny announces itself in advance
It’s very likely that everyone is heartily sick and tired, now, of the debate about crimes against humanity – but that’s all the more reason
A necessary argument about history
History is often mistakenly thought to be only about the past. But the arguments of the past week over apartheid’s being declared a crime against
The flaw in the fable
Nelson Mandela has, fittingly, been recalled to public consciousness this week in the various statements and events marking the 30th anniversary of his release in
Where the real problem lies
Every other day you can expect to find a commentator, an activist or a politician confidently asserting that what South Africa needs most and hasn’t