Reject the “we only had two weeks to negotiate a GNU” meme
It is still early days in South Africa’s era of coalition politics, with the risk, and the scale, of (unintentional) misinformation and (deliberate) disinformation about
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The socialist flaws in the Freedom Charter
Last week was the 70th anniversary of the Freedom Charter, a seminal document in the history of South Africa’s liberation from apartheid. On 26 June 1955, about 3,000 people converged on the football ground in Kliptown, Soweto. They came from
Appearance versus reality – the problem with modern leadership
This past week NATO chief Mark Rutte referred to President Donald Trump as 'daddy' as he praised the US president for his role in achieving the Israel-Iran ceasefire. Speaking at the NATO summit at The Hague, the former Dutch prime
The DA's strategic problem
Hermann Pretorius and Nicholas Lorimer discuss the next steps in the GNU after the DA's "ultimatum" to the ANC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTFbJdNdZYg
Putting “public service” in the public service
Governments may come and go, but the state over which they preside will endure. In a democracy, its staff and institutions will faithfully carry out the lawful instructions of those elected to office, subject to clear sets of rules and
GNU without results
In his book Common Sense, Thomas Paine famously wrote that “(i)t is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies”. Paine clearly did not have South Africa’s Government of National Unity in mind as it remains profoundly
Hate, peace, and the bomb
I am as confused as everybody else about events in Iran - not only confused about what’s going on but whether I approve of it or not, or whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, or whether it
Turning up the volume: Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma and democratic SA’s most consequential election
The following is an extract from my book, Rule Breakers: How the 2024 election campaign changed South Africa forever, published by Protea, in which I examine the forces and decisions that defined the 2024 election campaign and determine the outcome.