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About Tony Leon

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So far Tony Leon has created 133 blog entries.

Echoes of populism: The Peronists in Argentina, the Zumas in SA, the Trumps in the US

A core task of an ambassador is to put the best gloss abroad on challenging aspects on the home front. True to this idea, on the eve of his departure to the United States as ambassador-designate, Ebrahim Rasool said of the fragile GNU here, and the exclusion of Jacob Zuma's MK Party from it: "There [...]

Ministerial overreach or govt policy? The conflicted role of Ntshavheni in GNU

According to a survey of historical scholars published by US News and World Report, American President Warren G Harding (29th president 1921-1923) was rated the sixth worst since the office was established in 1789 by founding father George Washington (rated third best). Harding had many strikes against him during his short tenure, but one of [...]

Will Trump buy what Rasool is selling?

"Retrospective clairvoyance" was the arch phrase of Clive James for the miraculous ability of pundits (me included) to deduce this week an event that was "inevitable" last week, though it was not actually seen as likely at the time. Thus, the sweeping win of Donald Trump last Tuesday has birthed endless analyses of why it [...]

Graceful concession: Small Botswana offers lessons to giant US

A panel beat of Shakespeare to fit modern elections, referencing last week's graceful presidential concession in Botswana, would read, "Nothing in his political life became him like leaving it." We live in a rough political neighbourhood with stolen elections in Zimbabwe now normalised, violent killings recently visited on the opposition in Mozambique, and a feudal [...]

Can South Africa be a moral example to the world?

For many years, South Africa was seen as a poster child for peaceful reconciliation and the triumph of good over evil. The “Rainbow Nation” image brought tourism, international investment, and major global events such as the 2010 World Cup. But beneath the glitz, there was a darker side: grinding poverty, widespread corruption, violent xenophobia, and [...]

By |2024-10-30T05:33:03+00:00October 30th, 2024|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Suzman wouldn’t have deplatformed Imitiaz Sooliman, but she would have called him out

On Tuesday, Adriaan Basson, editor in chief of News 24, expressed "renewed gratitude that in South Africa the ‘rights of journalists, authors and artists to write, say and sing what they like’ is an established right in 'our maturing democracy'." Basson is correct, too, that we should "never ever take our open democratic spaces and [...]

By |2024-10-30T05:27:08+00:00October 30th, 2024|Basson, Helen Suzman, Israel, Jewish, Sooliman, South African Politics|0 Comments

Panyaza Lesufi, the unpopular populist

Understandably two sections in the contentious Basic Education Laws Amendment Act relating, respectively, to mother tongue education and schools' rights to set admission policy have sucked most of the oxygen out of the debate on this controversial legislation. There is a lot at stake here, including removing such decisions from the remit of school bodies [...]

Mboweni and Gordhan were fierce ANC loyalists, but welcoming of ideological opponents

On Saturday evening, I attended a private dinner at the Cape Town residence of one of the new members of the GNU cabinet. There was nothing unusual about the event - the host and guests were old friends, politically close and each had played some role in forming SA’s first genuine coalition cabinet. It is [...]

Mashatile’s London show: unity abroad, contradictions at home

Last week in London, I had the opportunity to view the extraordinary Vincent van Gogh exhibition "Poets and Lovers" at the National Gallery. The Dutch master's magnificence, from showstoppers such as "Starry Night over the Rhône" and "Sunflowers", were on dazzling display alongside less familiar works - all testament to his creative and troubled genius. [...]

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