The “Constitutional Coup” – less violent, equally damaging
Nearly a decade ago, in 2017, Africa in Fact ran a piece entitled “Africa’s presidents and the term-limit controversy”. It described a strategy that incumbent leaders were using to cling to office beyond the limits imposed on them by their respective constitutions. As it typically emerged from a constitutional change designed to give a sitting head of something in excess of a specified two terms, it was given the shorthand moniker of “third termism”. “Constitutional amendments or wholesale constitutional changes to alter term limits have provided avenues to stay in office,” the article commented, “The rules are being changed, though not (technically) violated.”
A riposte to the good Dr Van Staden
Martin van Staden argues that AfriForum’s opposition to racial quotas should not be confused with opposition to diversity itself. His central claim is that AfriForum objects to state-imposed racial engineering, not to the organic diversity that emerges when individuals compete freely. As a general principle, that is an attractive argument. A liberal society should indeed aspire to reward merit rather than racial classification.
Beyond liberation-era economics and foreign relations
Despite being greeted by gushing global goodwill, ANC leaders chose policies hostile toward this era’s primary growth driver, global integration.
Creative Destruction: America’s Losers and Winners
Joseph Schumpeter in 1942 coined the term creative destruction where innovation renders old economic models obsolete. Technology marches on. Embrace the new or die.
Open letter: why do US companies enforce racial preference laws in SA?
If the United States truly stands against racial discrimination in law and policy, a glaring contradiction demands attention; hundreds of American companies operate successfully in South Africa while actively complying with – and thereby reinforcing – Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) and Employment Equity rules.
What’s to learn from racism in America?
Racism has become an increasingly salient issue around the world.
A sojourn among the journos
This is the second time in successive weeks that I have considered the life and times of journalists. I worry.
Litigation financing needs more transparency
The ongoing legal battle between financier Errol Elsdon and Nkosana Makate over the funding of the “Please Call Me” litigation raises crucial questions about the state of litigation financing in South Africa.
Whose family, whose values?
An anti-gay, anti-sex-ed conference supported by the American religious right is coming to Cape Town next year. It will be as awful as you’d imagine.
Let’s get over our Africa fatigue and be courageous Africans instead
A week ago today, I flew to Accra, capital of Ghana, with colleague Hermann Pretorius, head of Strategic Communications at the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), to attend Atlas Network’s 2026 Africa Liberty Forum, and present a case study of a project in South Africa supported by Atlas’s Champions for Growth initiative.