Monthly Archives: April 2020

Virus requires extreme measures, not the extreme wittering of Malema et al

Freedom Day 2020 was the most baleful in SA’s recent history since we spent it under house arrest. That phantom from our past, ostensibly banished by our 1996 constitution, is back with a vengeance due to a viral pathogen we cannot see, cannot interdict effectively but can, under stringent conditions, delay. And since so little is known [...]

By |2020-04-29T07:54:54+00:00April 29th, 2020|Corona Virus, EFF, Julius Malema|0 Comments

Pandemic covers and uncovers a multitude of sins

Senator J. William Fulbright occupies a place in the political Pantheon reserved for a breed now extinct: he was a Southern Democratic Senator who staunchly opposed the war in Vietnam in the 1960’s and 1970’s. He lost his re-election bid in 1974 for being too out of touch with his conservative voters. But he did [...]

Instead of a virus national command, what SA really needs is a ‘Goat’

At the dawn of democracy SA gave birth to a Gnu. In the midst of a global pandemic is it not time for a Goat? I do not refer to animals, although Animal Farm remains the best take on politics ever written, but to a constitutional shorthand. The government of national unity (GNU) mandated under our interim [...]

By |2020-04-15T07:53:13+00:00April 15th, 2020|Corona Virus, South African Politics|0 Comments

The big disconnect between preparation for Covid-19 and the Credit-20 crash

A famous question was asked by British monarch Queen Elizabeth II: “Why did no-one see it coming?” This was not her question on the coronavirus pandemic, but her inquiry at the London School of Economics back in November 2008 on the credit crunch set off by the global financial crisis, which the British queen described [...]

When it’s over, we want all our rights back, Cyril

In 1966, two eminent academics at the University of Natal (as it then was), professors Ronald Albino and Tony Matthews, published a paper in the South African Law Journal entitled “The permanence of the temporary”. The article was an examination of the 90-day law and the 180-day detention regime which allowed the National Party regime, [...]

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