With the rules-based order in retreat, Tony Leon argues SA’s hard-won impeccable moral authority has been squandered once too often. Just as well, given the extraordinary, arguably extra-legal, events over the weekend in Caracas, that South Africa’s ambassador to Venezuela, Lindiwe Maeko, maintained a judicious silence (thus far). Had her predecessor, Ambassador Joseph Nkosi (now in Chad), [...]
Following Sunday’s deadly attack on Jewish celebrants at Bondi Beach during Chanukkah, Tony Leon examines how inflammatory rhetoric and binary slogans around Israel and Jewish identity are fuelling real-world violence, calling for more nuanced discourse before words turn deadly. “Antisemitism is a light sleeper”, a friend of mine in Sydney, Australia, wrote after Sunday’s horrifying and murderous [...]
Tony Leon questions whether current ANC and DA leadership can deliver on their repeated promises while staying true to their ideological foundations in the government of national unity. Bar the fact that both Winston Churchill, who saved the world from Nazism, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, current ruler of Dubai, loved horse racing, there [...]
Join George Herald journalist Marguerite van Ginkel as she sits down with Tony Leon. Watch the full interview for a candid conversation filled with history, wisdom, and practical insights from one of South Africa’s most experienced political voices. https://youtu.be/nM6G6uhg8Dw
While President Ramaphosa touts G20 success and foreign policy achievements, he should keep in mind that voters overwhelmingly prioritise domestic economic concerns like jobs and corruption over international relations, writes Tony Leon. “There are few votes in foreign affairs,” was the response I received from a local politician. This, after I enquired why his party had [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
