Tony Leon argues that South Africa’s G20 summit was inflated as a historic diplomatic triumph when it was merely standard international theatre with vague aspirations. In July 1971, US National Security Advisor Dr Henry Kissinger undertook a top-secret visit to Beijing, breaking more than two decades of Cold War confrontation between America and China. It was [...]
A rare public speech by influential businessman Adrian Enthoven, in which he claims that South Africa has “turned the corner” after a decade of decline, has ignited fierce debate between optimists and sceptics warning that deeper political dysfunction still threatens any economic recovery, writes Tony Leon. The opposite of one compelling truth is not, as has [...]
From Reagan’s Hollywood charm to Nixon’s strategic depth, America’s most effective presidents surrounded themselves with brilliant advisors - a lesson Paul Mashatile, the likely next ANC president, would do well to heed as his party’s grip on national power continues to weaken, writes Tony Leon. Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, who served [...]
Not since August 1971, when US President Richard Nixon permanently ended the “gold standard” – the last formal link between the precious nugget and major currencies – has the yellow metal enjoyed such prominence. Today it’s in the news again as the spot price of gold recently hit a record high: $ 4 300 per [...]
South Africa’s moral blindness, or one-eyed approach to a the 7 October attack, might be one reason for the country’s exclusion from a seat at Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, writes Tony Leon. Why, you might reasonably ask, was the world’s “moral superpower” not present at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt on Monday? Just to recap: In January [...]
As the UK’s Conservative Party faces potential extinction after 200 years of dominance and South Africa’s ANC struggles with similar decline, Tony Leon argues that the era of “natural parties of government” is over, replaced by voter disillusionment that demands the kind of decisive, conviction-based leadership exemplified by Margaret Thatcher rather than today’s consensus-seeking politicians. Today, here [...]
From the R2 billion Tembisa Hospital looting spree to punitive racial quotas that could bankrupt retailers, the government continues to simultaneously rely on business to fix state failures while treating the private sector as an enemy of the people, argues Tony Leon. About a decade ago, I addressed a group of business leaders in Durban [...]
In a rare moment of political honesty that sent shockwaves through the ANC, President Cyril Ramaphosa told his councillors to learn from DA municipalities - only to quickly retreat when the uncomfortable truth about his party’s failures sparked internal fury and opposition glee, writes Tony Leon There is evidence to suggest that most South Africans believe the [...]
It is too soon to reckon the consequences in America and the world after last week’s events. Except for the obvious conclusion that the boundaries in which normal political events and discourse are bordered have been stretched ever further, writes Tony Leon. George Bernard Shaw’s mordant line that “assassination is the extreme form of censorship” got [...]
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s latest newsletter on fighting corruption reads like a masterclass in denial and euphemism, claiming South Africa must “build a society in which corruption cannot take root” while keeping Zondo Commission-implicated ministers in his Cabinet and failing to prosecute a single politician, despite overwhelming evidence of state capture, argues Tony Leon. On August [...]
