President Jacob Zuma is dominating headlines and dinner conversations, sadly. Between calls for him to fall, calls for him to stand down and calls for him to step up and take responsibility, the president is either the most fighting fit or thick-skinned leader of a democracy anywhere — Humpty Dumpty seems glued to the seat […]
Marius Oosthuizen
Marius Oosthuizen is a faculty member and researcher at the Gordon Institute of Business Science. He teaches leadership, strategy and ethics, and heads up the Future of Business in SA Project. He is passionate about ethical and strategic leadership and writes about political-economy and current affairs.
Marius completed the Oxford Scenarios Programme at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, UK. He holds a masters in strategic foresight from Regent University, Virginia Beach, US an honours bachelor in systematic theology from the University of South Africa and is pursuing a masters in applied social and political ethics.
His expertise is in the field of stakeholder dialogue, scenario planning, strategic foresight and systems thinking. He is a member of the advisory council of the Association of Professional Futurists and recent participant in the London-based School of International Futures’ Scenario Retreat on European Union Foreign Policy.
Posted inBusiness, Equality, News/Politics
How to avoid an economic war
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India said “Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.” Nehru led a nation of hundreds of millions of poor Indians groaning under the postcolonial legacies that had shaped the subcontinent. Colonialism was not […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Please lead ANC NEC, please lead now
Oliver Tambo said “The fight for freedom must go on until it is won; until our country is free and happy and peaceful as part of the community of man, we cannot rest”. Tambo was right. The fight in South Africa was for freedom and for happiness and peace. Since he said those words we […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Pravin can’t save us
Why does South Africa need a broad civil society movement led by faith leaders on the socio-economic future of the country when we have a democratically elected government? Why does the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, have to step outside his pulpit and convene discussions about economic policy and jobs, social cohesion and […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
What is the colour of South Africa’s soul?
In the movie 12 Years a Slave, Solomon Northup asks, “What difference is there in the colour of a soul?” Such a question will raise eyebrows and tempers in South Africa, where the word “colour” sends a rush of emotions flooding down to angry hands from polarising thoughts. We are a rainbow — but our […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
‘White land’ must fall, after Zuma
I know what you’re thinking — another irritating piece about “white monopoly capital”. This is not about the Economic Freedom Fighters and their policy of redress through wholesale re-disenfranchisement and nationalisation. South Africa is more nuanced than the high politics of the day. The outcry of the last week is testament to the vibrancy of […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, News/Politics
Let’s call a spade a spade, the EFF is marching towards a socialist dictatorship
It was an ordinary February morning in 1989, for most in Berlin, but not for 21-year-old East German Chris Gueffroy. It would be his last day alive. The cold metal force from a border guard’s gun would rip through his jacket and shirt and pierce his heart — pouring deep red warm hope out onto […]
Posted inGeneral
Futurphobia: South Africa has a bigger problem than xenophobia
Am I the only person who is tired of hearing about South Africa’s problems? One cannot have a meal these days without hearing about our “highest crime rate in the world” or our “highest Gini coefficient” or some other statistical badge which we wear with despair. This latest spate of violence is shocking. There’s no […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Parliament isn’t broken – our political economy is
To make sense of the anarchical tendencies recently witnessed in Parliament, we should pay attention to two key voices that recently gave us unprecedented insight into the state of South Africa’s political economy. The first came from Reverend Frank Chikane, reflecting on his experiences during more than a decade of public service in the Presidency. […]