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 […]
News/Politics
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Zuma-Concourt saga: Leadership succession (Episode III)
The major question facing South Africa in 1994 was: How to prevent us from killing each other long enough to have the seeds of mutual co-existence take root. The ANC’s response to that leadership question was Nelson Mandela and his feel good rainbow-isms. The major question thereafter was how we build enduring local institutions. Also, […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, News/Politics
Global inequality is much worse than we thought
It’s familiar news by now. According to Oxfam, the richest 1% now have more wealth than the rest of the world’s population combined. Global inequality is worse than at any time since the 19th century. For most people, this is all they know about global inequality. But Oxfam’s wealth figures don’t quite tell the whole […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
The ‘perversion’ of Donald Trump’s popularity
A lot has been written speculatively about American presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s popularity, which has seemed surprising to many if his outrageous statements about women or about Mexicans are taken into account. Until recently when he did an egg-dance on the question of women and abortion, trying to correct what he had suddenly realised had […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Zuma-Concourt saga: National question (Episode II)
Thabo Mbeki for a long time used to set and drive the public socio-political discourse agenda in South Africa. Journalists would excitedly wait for his regular newsletter and general musings. After Mbeki was dethroned, we entered an interregnum where political discourse largely oscillated between affairs concerning the person of Jacob Zuma and an extended obituary […]
Posted inNews/Politics
It’s time to ditch trade unionism in the SANDF
The South African National Defence Force has accused the military union of promoting a coup d’état. It has announced that it is investigating a charge of provocation to mutiny against the SA National Defence Union’s national secretary. This follows the union’s call for President Jacob Zuma to be removed as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Zuma-Concourt saga: Monopoly capital (Episode I)
The resignation or non-resignation of President Jacob Zuma has become conflated with the fight against white monopoly capital. White monopoly capital has been reported to be engaged in remote-control politics and acting as external decision-making bodies in the political realm, a realm that is the preserve of ANC structures. The refusal (or inability of the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Sorry Mr President, apology not accepted
By Danai Nhando When someone apologises the courteous thing to do is to respond and in most cases we feel obliged to accept the apology. After listening to the president’s “apology”, I had two choices, to be silent and deal with my concerns privately or to speak out and make my voice heard. I chose […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Congrats Malema, you have made us proud
By Zukiswa Mqolomba Firstly, I would like to congratulate the honourable Julius Malema for having graduated with his first degree in communications and African studies from the University of South Africa. Secondly, I’d like to congratulate him for being accepted for his first postgraduate degree, an honours in philosophy. These are inspiring achievements that should […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Islamic fundamentalism in the information age
In the second volume of his monumental three-volume study on the information age titled The Power of Identity (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), Manuel Castells addresses (as the book’s title indicates) the different ways in which a sense of collective identity is configured at a time when the so-called “network society” has emerged, concomitantly with the global communication-technological […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Angola can no longer be regarded as a democracy
By Caroline James Freedom of expression and association suffered another blow in Angola recently with the conviction of 17 young activists. These activists were sentenced to jail terms of between two and eight years after being convicted of various offences against state security in connection with their participation at a gathering in which their dissatisfaction […]
Posted inNews/Politics
David kicks Goliath in the Nkandla gonads
The Constitutional Court judgment on Nkandla and the powers of the public protector has been hanging above the heads of President Jacob Zuma and the African National Congress government like an unexploded bomb. That it was delivered on Thursday, a mere six weeks after counsel for both side delivered their summations, was a sign that […]