News24’s On the Record summit revealed a country heavy on tactics but lacking the strategic vision and political will to make the hard policy trade-offs—from labour market reform to BEE changes—needed to break free from its self-imposed “Bermuda Triangle” of high unemployment, low growth, and scarce investment, writes Tony Leon. Jürgen Habermas, the brave liberal German intellectual, [...]
The ANC’s rose-tinted view of its struggle-era alliances is preventing South Africa from learning the hard lessons that could actually liberate its people from unemployment and institutional decay, writes Tony Leon. For devout Hindus, the waters of the River Ganges cleanse believers of sin and help achieve liberation (moksha). In the secular South African realm, the [...]
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 [...]
South Africa’s foreign ministry has squandered the diplomatic capital built during the Mandela era, replacing strategic thinking with impulsive gestures and transforming the country from a respected global mediator into an increasingly isolated fringe player, writes Tony Leon. It’s a stretch to use words and phrases such as “thoughtful” or “long-term strategy” or even “principled consistency” [...]
Former DA leader Tony Leon argues the party faces an existential identity crisis as it navigates between its historic role as effective opposition and its current position as part of the GNU, with its upcoming congress serving as a crucial moment to determine whether the party has been “muzzled” by the ANC or can leverage its [...]
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 [...]
