Tony Leon examines how newly appointed South African ambassador Roelf Meyer faces the near-impossible task of reconciling South Africa’s racial transformation policies with Donald Trump’s administration’s fierce opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion programmes. Consequences will follow the appointment of Roelf Meyer by President Cyril Ramaphosa as SA ambassador to the US. Though one of them [...]
Geordin Hill-Lewis served as Chief of Staff to former DA leaders Helen Zille and Mmusi Maimane. He was the youngest Member of Parliament when elected in 2011, at the age of 24. Now 39, he takes over the reins from John Steenhuisen as the new leader of the Democratic Alliance. The question now is: what [...]
Drawing on Boris Johnson’s wisdom about knowing when to leave politics, Tony Leon examines how John Steenhuisen and Helen Zille’s strategic departure creates both electoral opportunities and complex challenges for their successor, who must balance GNU participation with sharpened opposition to the ANC’s policy failures. A long time back, in July 2006, I read an article by [...]
It is a case of every man, woman or party for themselves, and the country buckles in the absence of joined-up government, writes Tony Leon. In Zbig, a new and fascinating biography of the late hardline US National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Edward Luce writes, “figures in senior [government] roles have no time to replenish their stock [...]
Tony Leon reflects on the ANC’s unwavering commitment to black economic empowerment (BEE) despite the stark contrast between its ideals and outcomes. Add two ANC faves, indigenisation and transformation, into a Shakespearean soliloquy and the result might be, “To BEE or not to BEE that is the question.” While Hamlet hemmed and hawed with deep-felt uncertainty [...]
The well-known jurist, Mr Justice Fikile Mbalula, has rendered judgment. Opining from the X (previously Twitter) division of the High Court on Monday, in the matter of a contractual dispute between two parties (Cyril Ramaphosa in his capacity as president of SA, and John Steenhuisen, on behalf of the DA), Mbalula J., held: "Clause 19 does [...]
In 1908, Winston Churchill was first appointed to the British cabinet. He would go on to star at the centre of power, on and off, for another 50 years. Later, recalling his first summons to high office by Prime Minister HH Asquith, he wrote: "When offering me Cabinet office in his government in 1908, he [...]
