Post-1994 South Africa is founded on the principle of progressive access to privilege. This principle implies that those in the suburbs will continue to live there while those in shacks will be progressively admitted into the ranks of those with houses and amenities. It also implies that those that earn decent salaries will continue to […]
ANC
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
The unbelievable cost of South Africa’s bloated public sector
South Africa would be significantly more economically viable if it did not have to carry a civil service sector that far exceeds the country’s needs in numerical terms. This is one of the many things one learns from R.W. Johnson’s candid, if sometimes completely disconcerting recent book, How Long Will South Africa Survive? The Looming […]
Posted inGeneral
The ANC must restructure and reposition itself to survive
The immutable law of natural selection requires that species must adapt to their dynamic and changing environment in order to survive or face extinction and the increasing knowledge of natural ecosystems has come to confirm that this law holds equally true for organisations and businesses. The complex and adaptive social systems in which organisations currently […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Why a coalition between the ANC and DA would be good for Johannesburg and both parties
Johannesburg is a very different beast to Cape Town. Bigger, more dense, constantly growing; it’s the economic heart of South Africa. Despite its faults, the local ANC government in Joburg has received mostly clean audits and managed to do okay given the massive challenges it faces in such a complex area. There is a lot […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Why I have decided to vote for a pro-poor political party
I have made my voting choice. Here is my thinking. Firstly, these are local elections and, as a result, no major policy can be tested. I am also not certain that this election, or even our next national elections, are going to lead to any substantial transformation no matter who we vote for. I do […]
Posted inMedia
Approaching women’s month: The misconception about the politically connected women
As we creep towards August the question of women’s empowerment will come to the fore the same way young people become the flavour of the month during June. These conversations will be recycled versions of the conversations that have been happening for many decades in South Africa and will mostly resemble the conversation between Sakina […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
The Tshwane protests, Freud and how to control a crowd
It is regrettable that so many thinking people today – even those in the discipline of psychology – regard the work of the founder of psychoanalysis (which is by no means synonymous with psychology) as being of no more than historical importance, and Sigmund Freud himself as a historical curiosity. And yet, Freud is more […]
Posted inNews/Politics
While the ANC factions manoeuvre, SA drifts in limbo
A national crisis is always best resolved quickly. Investors and voters both react negatively to political paralysis and institutional dysfunction. And since protracted uncertainty begets instability, it’s mostly better to find a quick patch and keep the momentum going than it is to embark on an agonising and usually elusive search for the “best” solution. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Time to ditch SA’s failed Moral Regeneration Movement
Universal brotherhood. World peace. Nuclear disarmament. And to this beseech-the-fairies wish list of above, you can add the concept of moral re-armament in South Africa. All laudable but irretrievably doomed objectives. What brought this to mind was the weekend speech by Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor, in which she noted that assassinated SA Communist […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
The leader we want after Zuma
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 […]
Posted inNews/Politics
ANC, the real clever blacks
By Lesego Setou I’ve been observing with great interest how the ANC is lining up its election strategy, and the strategy is simple, let’s blame President Jacob Zuma. Local elections are coming and the politicians are nervous, their elevated blood pressure is partly caused by the fear of losing Gauteng due to the e-tolls, not […]
Posted inNews/Politics
I cannot defend Zuma’s decisions anymore
By Mpho Buntse It saddens me to find myself in a position where I’m questioning my loyalty to the ruling party. I’m willing to be seen as a sell-out by my fellow comrades, I’m failing to even defend the decisions taken by the president anymore. These past few years, particularly under the leadership of President […]