Articles By This Author

In defence of (a sort of) nation building

Opinions

I read Martin van Staden’s latest column (‘From pact to pillar: The Multi-Party Charter after the 2024 election’, 29 February) with interest and attention. As

Institutions – and the people who staff them

Opinions

Cadre deployment has featured strongly over the past week, with the handover by the ANC of documents from its deployment committee to the DA and

Economic complexity: South Africa’s underappreciated challenge

Opinions

Economic complexity is a concept seldom heard in South Africa. It describes the capacity of a country to engage in various forms of activity, typically

Reframing South Africa’s grand narrative 

Opinions

The State of the Nation Address (SONA) gives the president an opportunity to expound on a range of issues, while post-SONA analyses have tended to

Land, water and ‘transforming the relations’

Opinions

Pledging to resolve the ‘land question’ has been a perennial theme for the ANC. For the most part, this has been approached as a political

Our inescapable choice: ideology or growth

Opinions

It’s a bit of a cliché to say that the coming year will be decisive for South Africa. An environment of system crisis and increasingly

Appeasement in advance 

Opinions

Sports-mad South Africa has a voracious appetite for news of all types about the affairs of its pitches, courts, and fields, and an emotional response

A perspective on Taiwan’s election

Opinions

The present year will be a momentous one for elections. Not only will South Africans be going to the polls, but so will around 2

Chasing the White Whale: an epic moment in literature and a tawdry feat of character assassination 

Opinions

This piece was first published in January. It’s doubtful that more than just a few South Africans, including those with a fondness for literature, will

Is there a terrorist threat? 

Opinions

I’ve said on numerous occasions – to whomever will listen, regardless of sympathies – that South Africa has nothing to offer in the resolution of