Raymond Suttner
Being a revolutionary or believer in emancipatory transformation in post-apartheid South Africa: Part six
28th June 2023 The onset of democratic rule set in motion a completely different framework for politics from that previously practised in the ANC and its allies.... →
Being a revolutionary/pursuing an emancipatory path in period of negotiations: Part five
19th June 2023 The period of negotiations was one way - one cannot say that there was any single way - of playing out a revolutionary role. Some would see it as... →
Revolutionary or emancipatory consciousness and action after 1976: Part four
13th June 2023 As indicated, the decade after the Rivonia Trial was not one of the absence of resistance, although in the case of the ANC and SACP cadres, they... →
Revolutionary or emancipatory consciousness and activity from the Rivonia trial to the 1976 uprising: Part three
5th June 2023 This article and those that precede and follow it concern revolutionary (or emancipatory) consciousness and revolutionary activity in the context... →
How meanings of revolutionary/emancipatory consciousness and actions need to change over time: Part two
29th May 2023 As indicated in the first part of this series, the content of the notions revolutionary consciousness and activity are not static... →
Revolutionary or emancipatory consciousness and action before and after 1990/94: Part one
24th May 2023 There was a time when the word “revolution” was frequently used by cadres and activists in the Struggle against apartheid. It was nevertheless... →
What do we do when erstwhile liberators become ‘counter-revolutionaries’?
24th April 2023 In former President Thabo Mbeki's, recent letter to ANC Deputy President Paul Mashatile there were copious references to “counter-revolution” and... →
Scandals surrounding Bester/Magudumana saga illustrate state disintegration as public is left vulnerable
11th April 2023 Much of the media has been dominated by events surrounding the escape of convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester from Mangaung Maximum Security... →
Respecting and advancing human rights: Part Two – Barriers obstructing realisation of human rights
28th March 2023 One of the features of the attack on human rights in South African society is the pervasiveness of violence. In contemporary South African society,... →
We need to celebrate and engage meanings of human rights as part of recovering democratic life – Part One
27th March 2023 On Tuesday 21 March Human Rights Day was observed. There's something to be said for marking days, where they are treated as more than rituals.... →
Irremediable crisis? Pervading pessimism without remedies in place
13th March 2023 For some years much of South African society has voiced or has appeared to be consumed by hopelessness and demoralisation. There is a sense that... →
Drive the crooks and incompetents out of government!
6th March 2023 The ruling ANC cannot be tasked with rebuilding what it has itself broken in recent years. It is now too involved in the dysfunctionality of the... →
Being or not being a communist in South Africa today
27th February 2023 From 1969/70 until 2006 I had been a fairly orthodox member of the South African Communist Party, and I broke ranks over the party’s conduct during... →
Multiple crises need a new configuration of forces
21st February 2023 For a political organisation to win confidence of voters or supporters, it requires certain qualities. These are not invariable, because it is... →
What it meant to be a white person in the liberation struggle
16th January 2023 What did it mean to be a white person in a struggle that was widely perceived to be for the liberation of black people and almost entirely... →
Let’s not have illusions over ANC conference election results, we need a re-set
9th January 2023 South Africans are desperate for a new beginning, for a return to the democratic values of 1994. It has been argued that president Cyril... →
Cyril Ramaphosa’s resignation is not main issue. It is attacks on constitutional order
5th December 2022 A news headline reads that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s allies believe “they [had] the numbers to mount a fight back” at the ANC NEC meeting, which... →
ANC crisis may foreshadow its demise and deepen state turmoil
21st November 2022 There is little doubt that the ANC is on the way down and we will see its gradual demise. It is not something I would have predicted some time back... →
Ekurhuleni defeat sounds alarm bells for ANC and for democratic stability
10th November 2022 It is well known that proportional representation (PR) voting systems are more likely to lead to coalitions than “first past the post”, pure... →
We cannot emerge from the SA political crisis if we mischaracterise it
31st October 2022 Carol Paton published a recent opinion piece, unfortunately behind a paywall on News 24... →
Albert Nolan – memories of a non-believer
19th October 2022 I first met Albert Nolan when I emerged from prison in 1983. I was then a Communist, although it was illegal to be one and I didn't admit that in... →
No lifeline to people-unfriendly coalitions. Strengthen wider democratic possibilities! A reply to Pierre de Vos
10th October 2022 There is much preoccupation with coalitions as “the future” of South African politics, with study visits and much media focus on the question.... →
We need to find an escape from “choiceless democracy”
3rd October 2022 I have an aversion to being a political spectator and have been involved in politics since my youth in the 1960s, first in the Progressive Party... →
ANC governments caused the problems: they cannot be the ones to resolve them
19th September 2022 The country is in the grip of a range of crises that need to be resolved if democracy is to be salvaged, and people are to be rescued from hunger,... →
Freedom and xenophobia do not belong together – Freedom must be defended and xenophobia banished
5th September 2022 The revocation of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) which would have expelled thousands has now been postponed until June 2023. Clearly Home... →
Widespread xenophobia and cowardly acts against Zimbabweans must be combatted by all democrats
29th August 2022 Migration between states of southern Africa has a long history, crucial to the development of mining in South Africa and the sheltering of freedom... →
The murder of Abahlali’s Lindokuhle Mnguni is part of a broader attack on our constitutional order that must be repelled
24th August 2022 The murder of Lindokuhle Mnguni, the 24th leader of Abahlali baseMjondolo to be gunned down, has met with indifference on the part of the state and... →
Moving beyond “disillusionment” means recreating our political life
8th August 2022 South African democracy is in crisis. People do not see benefits from 28 years of freedom. Many are hungry, homeless, unemployed, subject to... →
The current crisis makes a “new politics” more urgent
1st August 2022 Media and ANC preoccupations, depict the ANC electoral contests as the major political issues of the day. Given the ANC’s low level of support and... →
Betraying the liberation struggle: ANC ‘renewal’ is empty and we already have an alternative vision for South Africa
21st June 2022 The ANC has betrayed the oppressed people of South Africa, with whom it once enjoyed a close relationship of trust. Talk of renewal is empty, with... →
The crisis of today goes beyond the future of Cyril Ramaphosa and may affect that of the state
13th June 2022 The crisis surrounding President Cyril Ramaphosa’s game farm robbery ought not to distract our focus from the wider state crisis. The Zuma era... →
Remedying our crises must include relative autonomy and professionalisation of public service
6th June 2022 Rebuilding a state that works for all the people cannot be conceived purely at the level of clean ups and ‘orange overalls’. The need for a... →
Murder of Nokuthula Mabaso - another Abahlali killing with impunity?
16th May 2022 This week end the shack dwellers movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo buried another leader, Nokuthula Mabaso, murdered in front of her children.... →
Let’s call ANC/state criminality what it is: Treason
9th May 2022 This week Nokuthula Mabaso, a leading Abahlali baseMjondolo figure was gunned down. This is the 23rd hit on Abahlali members, with only one case... →
Popular power, insurrectionism and their legacies
28th April 2022 Both popular power and insurrectionism were important, albeit controversial components of the ANC-led struggle against apartheid. Both have some... →
ANC crisis derives not purely from indifference to the poor but also an absence of debate
19th April 2022 The ANC-led alliance’s indifference to the plight of the poor and those marginalised in a range of other ways has been repeatedly noted. Given this... →
The EFF, the judiciary and the necessity to still be freedom fighters
11th April 2022 The EFF thrives on outrageous statements, as in their recent attack on the judiciary as having been captured. The EFF does need our attention... →
People in government are not listening to the cries of pain. They no longer hear them
28th March 2022 Certain basic qualities are needed for a political movement to win the trust of the people. One of these is simply to listen very carefully to what... →
ANC renewal will remain an empty slogan- a new political configuration is needed
16th March 2022 “Renewal” has become a priority for the ANC, following election setbacks. It is, however, unlikely to represent a meaningful rupture with the... →
South Africa faces crises on multiple fronts, threatening the democratic project and our constitutional values
8th March 2022 South Africa is in the grip of a wide-ranging crisis, especially affecting the poor and other vulnerable people. The state has long failed to... →
SABC’s rush to dismiss Head of News, Phathiswa Magopeni, and avoid adequate investigation of irregularities
31st January 2022 In the last week irregular steps taken to victimise the SABC head of News, Phathiswa Magopeni, have multiplied with the CEO, Madoda Mxakwe acting... →
