Talking Point
14.6.2018 05:34 pm
Ramaphosa cannot afford to be a teddy bear in the ANC
He has to show that he’s a decisive leader who can take unpopular decisions.
Now that Cyril Ramaphosa has served as South Africa’s president for more than three months, many pundits and ordinary citizens are assessing his performance. Some have argued that he’s doing a great job; others are less impressed.
Ramaphosa cannot afford to be a teddy bear in the ANC
He has to show that he’s a decisive leader who can take unpopular decisions.
Talking Point
How Ramaphosa can help resolve the Gaza crisis
As if the SA president doesn’t have enough to worry about in SA, many are now looking towards him to make the case for a solution to Palestine’s crisis.
Talking Point
You don’t have a right to believe whatever you want to
In this age when people close off their minds to debate, it turns out ignorance is neither right nor a right.
Talking Point
The ANC wants to make history compulsory at school. But can it?
The idea is great in theory, but there are more challenges than most people can even guess at.
Talking Point
South African rugby star shines spotlight on the sport’s racist past
Racism permeated all sports. But rugby was where the greatest pain was felt, no doubt because Afrikaners misguidedly claimed it as their sport.
South Africa
Remembering SA’s catastrophe: the 1948 poll that heralded apartheid
Apartheid has been removed from the statute books for almost three decades. But a de facto apartheid endures both economically and socially.
Africa
Why the Pan-African Parliament must clean up its act if it wants to survive
Recently, Julius Malema spoke at the Pan African Parliament, slamming its leaders and telling the parliament as a whole to get its act together.
Africa
Changing the African narrative through social media platforms
Social media platforms are providing Africans with an opportunity to counter negative stereotypes by giving them representational agency.
Talking Point
Transgender rights: Vital case heads to Equality Court
The case of a person presenting as male who wants to dress as a woman in a men’s prison has raised several concerns.
Business
The Zuma disaster: What took you so long, Trevor?
And it’s not getting any better as the policy of expropriation without compensation will cause further damage to personal wealth.
Talking Point
Presidential term limits: slippery slope back to authoritarianism in Africa
Presidential term limits being abandoned or extended is leading to a reemergence of authoritarian politics and political violence.
Talking Point
How last year’s ‘deal’ with the premiers is haunting the ANC
If voters don’t recognise their power, they might find themselves living in modern versions of the Bantustans.
Talking Point
SA is now in a David vs Goliath fight with Trump’s USA
More than 7 500 jobs are on the line in Ramaphosa’s fight against a bully, but he has a few factors on his side.
Talking Point
Countries must compete for migrant workers to boost their economies
The facts speak against our inherent prejudice of people supposedly coming to our country to ‘steal’ our jobs.
Talking Point
Unstable coalition politics in SA is here to stay
With no party assured of outright victory any more, recent experiences are a lesson that SA parties need to learn to play the coalition game.
Talking Point
Why South Africans are such filthy litterbugs
Littering in protest is indicative of a discordant society, and a culture of littering can tell us a lot about a society’s ethos.
Talking Point
Why it’s wrong to blame SA’s woes on Mandela’s compromises
The problem with 1994 is not that there was too much compromise; it was that there was not enough.
Business
Three things Ramaphosa should focus on in his ‘new deal’ SA
And if you think you’re already being taxed to death, there’s still ‘ample room’ to add more taxation.
Talking Point
Why Supra’s North West is such an angry place
Corruption has become one of the biggest concerns for those living in a province that has erupted in violence.
South Africa
How living near a mine dump can kill you
People living close to mine dumps are more inclined to show symptoms of asthma, while other health concerns also exist.
Talking Point
Why SA needs a fund to compensate victims of crime
What are you to do if the person who committed a crime against you is too broke to bother suing?
Talking Point
Mnangagwa’s Zimbabwe inches forward – but where is it headed?
The five months since the fall of Robert Mugabe have been far from easy for his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Talking Point
The best anthem for Workers’ Day? ‘Stimela’ – a tale about apartheid’s migrant labour system
Masekela’s “Stimela” – the coal train – is perhaps a more appropriate anthem for Workers’ Day in southern and Central Africa.
Talking Point
South Africa’s strike rate not as bad as it’s made out to be
A report from the Department of Labour shows that the number of strikes has not particularly increased over the last decade.
Talking Point
History lessons from Zille and Sizwe Dhlomo’s colonialism twar
A furious Twitter row between a TV personality and politician about slavery sheds light on the failings of arguments in 280 characters.
Talking Point
Dare SA dream again as it celebrates the 23rd Freedom Day?
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s term in office so far makes it seem that South Africa can hope and dream again. That’s quite a gift for Freedom Day.
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