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 [...]
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 [...]
Former president Thabo Mbeki’s lecture on historical materialism to KZN ANC comrades reveals a farcical ideological battle between the ANC and SACP over revolutionary labels, while real crises like mass job losses go unaddressed - echoing the dangerous political delusions and echo chambers that Scott Anderson’s new book shows led to Iran’s catastrophic 1979 revolution, [...]
By using Machiavelli to diagnose Ramaphosa and the ANC’s leadership, Tony Leon argues that they have achieved the worst possible outcome - neither feared nor loved by voters. The works of Niccolò Machiavelli - the medieval Florentine philosopher and diplomat - are still cited as a how-to manual for effective leadership in all realms. Machiavelli’s reputation as [...]
In a striking historical irony, the ANC’s defiant rhetoric against Western sanctions eerily mirrors PW Botha’s failed 1986 stance, while the party’s romanticised invocation of Codesa for today’s National Dialogue fundamentally misunderstands how apartheid actually ended – through backroom bilateral negotiations, not public consultation, writes Tony Leon. “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes”, is [...]
https://www.news24.com/multimedia/podcasts/podcast-the-lead-tony-leon-on-the-state-of-the-gnu-the-da-and-brown-envelopes-20250806-1023
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 [...]
It is not easy or comfortable dealing with the mercurial US administration, but as the fate of lot of communities in many places in SA will soon realise, it is an obvious necessity, writes Tony Leon. The South African government can, with honour, award itself an OBE – in this case, diplomatic shorthand for “overtaken by [...]
https://www.news24.com/weekender/interview-tony-leon-on-the-gnu-helen-zille-and-the-joy-of-dachshunds-20250523-0441
