Thought Leader

Faced with an economy that has been in decline for more than a decade and given the slowing demand from our trading partners, the State of the Nation address should have pointed in an emphatic way, to a radical and fundamental policy shift in strategies that are aimed at economic regeneration and the way we…

It’s one of the staples of South African journalism. It plays as comedy but it is actually closer to tragedy. The scenario is a congress of one of the trade unions or leftist political movements. The delegates, uniformly attired in radical chic T-shirts and caps, express solidarity with the exploited working class and declaim that…

For many people the last 20 years was a period of lost opportunities characterised by mediocre progress on the economic front and unmet promises. On the contrary, the ANC claims that there is a good story to tell. For the owners of capital, it has indeed been a period of unprecedented growth in their wealth…

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is continuously letting the democratic project down, and at this rate, the moment could be nearing for an alternative official opposition to replace them. If it is not an epic political fumble like last week’s Agang shenanigan, then it is flip-flopping on sensitive policy issues like the BBEEE blunder some months…

I was snooping around the archives of the South African Institute of Race Relations during a visit earlier this year, particularly drawn to the boxes on the constitutional negotiations. One of these contained, among other things, the ANC’s position on a constitution for what would later become KwaZulu-Natal, academic and political discussions on federalism, and…

“I am studying mathematics because I wanted to study something as difficult as it is useless.” I follow this statement with a polite laugh and wink. This is how I answer a person asking me why I’m studying a subject that most people regard with a terrified shudder (no doubt linked to their bad memories…

Pravin Gordhan’s call on South Africa to resolve its “labour-relations challenges” is timely, if not overdue. His appeal for “concerted action by organised labour, business, civic leaders and the government” although inclusive, is however, unlikely to yield any fruits. In the 19 years of transformation, the spirit of entrepreneurship that is needed to create the…

Around the world, many youth are increasingly trapped in low-productivity, temporary or other types of work that fall short of their aspirations and that often do not open opportunities to move to more permanent, higher-productivity and better-paid positions. In developed world economies, youth are increasingly employed in non-standard jobs and the transition to decent work…

The opposition was looking for trouble, so there should be no surprise that stones flew and heads were cracked. Any moron should realise that a march on union headquarters by a despised rival would spark violence. That’s the response of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party (SACP)…

With my dangling laptop bag bumping rhythmically against my well-cushioned behind, I sprint from the parking lot at OR Tambo International Airport (Johannesburg), up and down the stairs and through the crowd of baggage-wielding travellers. After tossing my laptop plus all the earthly belongings in my pockets onto the conveyer belt for security scanning, I…