Herman Mashaba

Joburg was made a political ‘offer it couldn’t refuse’

“The Return of the Locusts” is an apt and lapidary title for the political melodrama which played out in the City Council chambers in Braamfontein, Johannesburg late last week. In short and dramatic order, following the ouster of the Speaker of the Council, a motion of no confidence was passed against the former mayor, Mpho [...]

Hypocrisy rules as politicians jostle for power in our cities

This week the seismic tremors measured north of nine on the political Richter scale as the once impregnable ANC found itself under a heap of rubble with one citadel after another falling to its opponents. Still, even after the tectonic plates shifted so decisively under the  giant’s feet, there were some upsides for the country’s [...]

Lessons from antiquity for the peculiar DA-EFF bromance

Like the Roman emperor, those who do the dance of opposites need more than a wall of mirrors to guard against stabbings in the back A few days ago I viewed the ruins of the palace of the emperor Domitian on the Palatine Hill opposite Rome’s famous Colosseum. Our informative guide provided no end of [...]

Herman Mashaba: Most vulnerable at the moment of his greatest triumph

Jacob Zuma once famously blamed Jan van Riebeeck for creating South Africa's problems. On Monday, the nation watched a chaotic marathon meeting where the most glittering metro prize of all, Johannesburg, slipped from the ANC's grasp. Now the president can go even further back in our colonial history to cast about for his party's woes. [...]

Go to Top