I once wrote here that poverty and lack of education were the biggest enemies of democracy. Flag of South Africa , This is a computer generated and 3d rendered image. In hindsight, that list was incomplete, and I apologise. Another enemy of democracy is amnesia, especially collective amnesia. We are not dealing with [...]
WHEN Malusi Gigaba presents the 2018 Budget Speech - now that it seems unlikely that someone with more integrity will be brought in to do so - some of us will be half listening to the content of his presentation and half watching the man, looking at his facial expression for possible signs of nervousness, [...]
AMBASSADOR Billy Modise, democratic South Africa's first black high commissioner to Canada and, later, chief of state protocol during former president Thabo Mbeki's term, once said this to me: "No matter how close to or friendly you are with the people you lead, you must always wear your tie because to them you are always [...]
IN THE absence of the NPA, the Hawks and with the office of the Public Protector sending mixed messages, seemingly still trying to decide which side of history it wants to be recorded in, we, the ordinary citizens, are on our own. But we’re also increasingly organised and vigilant. And this is a good thing. [...]
NOW that all three global rating agencies have downgraded South Africa’s sovereign credit rating and that our economy is dangling just a notch from being thrown under the bus by major fund managers; Now that the avalanche of emails and other revelations seem to be gathering pace as they make their way into the public [...]