Ramaphosa waffles while the country burns
The state of the nation is terrible. Government is committed to making it worse. Saint Cyril won’t stand in its way. Cyril Ramaphosa was never
The two men who saved the monarchy
Earlier this month, Queen Elizabeth II entered the 70th year of her reign, her father, King George VI, having died on 6 February 1952. Had
China’s message to Hong Kong: Forget democracy, stick to finance
On 4 February, Hong Kong authorities decreed that children as young as six must learn the attributes of the draconian security law imposed on the
SONA: Ramaphosa is imprisoned by the ANC. So are we
On Friday I asked a friend if she had watched President Ramaphosa’s SONA (State Of The Nation) address on Thursday. She said she began watching,
Identity and the bane of essentialism
Book review: The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity Kwame Anthony Appiah (2019) One of the issues that South African liberals have a stellar record of
Land reform: there is a better way
There is little point in handing out land and ending up with assets that are dying in the hands of the poor. Well, detractors might
Reporters and the security police – then and now
The most recent issue of the Mail & Guardian contains two follow-up articles about the recent Zondo Commission evidence relating to reporters being on the
SA’s antipathy to Big Pharma’s patent rights
Some of the pharmaceutical companies producing Covid-19 vaccinations would be forgiven for being unenthusiastic about South Africa’s whining about vaccine availability. The whole sorry vaccine
Mboweni plays the race card to South Africa’s detriment
On Wednesday a number of strange missives were dispatched by the minister of finance, Tito Mboweni, from (presumably) the wilderness of Magoebaskloof where he has
Speak up while the opportunity exists
South Africa has been given a reprieve. A short one, to be sure, but a reprieve, nonetheless. Last week Parliament announced that the deadline for