National security threats, own goals, and a perfect storm?
Last week President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office released the government’s National Security Strategy, or rather a cut down version of the full document on the subject
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The crazy bullet train to nowhere
Gauteng and Limpopo provinces are planning a high-speed rail connection. The jackpot question is: why, oh why? Feasibility studies and environmental impact assessments are underway for a new high-speed rail link between Pretoria and Musina, via Hammanskraal, Bela-Bela, Mokopane, Polokwane,
SA must confront some hard truths
In this episode of the Daily Friend Show, John Endres and Hermann Pretorius break down how South Africa is facing a moment of truth in terms of politics, policies, and national priorities. They also ask if the DA is trapped
Coups, Secrets, Conspiracies, and the Unexplained
I started this week’s column as a reflection on the country’s investment malaise and what the impending US tariff regime would mean for it and for South Africa’s future. There is little enough cheer there, but I changed tack when
Making sense of military options in a complex and chaotic world
Few aircraft define the Second World War as much as the Lancaster bomber. With just two airworthy today, it is a relic of a bygone age, a petrol-fuelled analogue weapon of war, its interior a claustrophobic hellhole. Reeking of a
How does SA’s culture block growth?
South Africa’s mix of insularity, ubiquitous patronage, and much magical thinking blocks economic growth by undermining merit and global integration. A serious national dialogue initiative would unpack how cultural factors influence a country’s prospects. This is not a task that
There is no “media narrative”, mostly
The media is often accused, en bloc, of following a particular narrative. What that narrative might be, and who writes it, varies depending on who you ask. On both sides of the political aisle – if you’ll excuse my resorting
Letter to the Donald from Cyril
President Donald Trump’s letter to his South African counterpart on 7 July reads like something the mob might formally pen if they were in the White House and if, too, they had a sticky keyboard throwing up random capitalisations. President
The problem with Jo’burg is ideology, not Leadership
There is no doubt that the City of Jo’burg is plagued by service disruptions, collapsing infrastructure, high rates of crime and illegal immigration, poor investment, and dwindling economic opportunities. Many attribute this to the current political executive and their leadership,