Raymond Suttner
The crisis of our times cannot be resolved simply by electing new ANC leaders: We need a new alignment of forces
17th January 2022 The decline of the ANC bears a relation to a broader deterioration in democratic life and respect for constitutionalism. It is important not to see... →
Making sense of the ANC local government defeats
29th November 2021 The outcome of the recent local government elections constitutes a severe setback for the ANC, but insofar as no other party marshalled majority... →
What went wrong? Saving the democratic project needs more than elections to maintain close links with the people
16th November 2021 We are living in confusing times. During the Struggle for freedom, it was clear to those who were actively involved that one had to take sides and... →
ANC defeat, crisis of the democratic order and how to rebuild
9th November 2021 The Local Government Election results have created a crisis for the ANC as well as challenges for the DA, that also lost votes. It throws open the... →
Democracy takes a hit: Ways of recovering our political power
2nd November 2021 The recent local government elections are unlikely to improve the lot of the poor who live in squalor, but there may be a more dangerous fallout,... →
Things fall apart in South Africa today and ANC leadership appears unable to act decisively
25th October 2021 There is a general sense of “things falling apart” in South Africa today, something more than corruption or widespread ineffectiveness, but a... →
If we want to remedy our current choiceless democracy, we must re-establish link between politics and the people
12th October 2021 There is a general sense of cynicism about the forthcoming elections. Political parties are not trusted, and their undertakings are not believed.... →
Has South Africa managed Covid well?
7th October 2021 South Africa managed Covid as well as it could, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa. It is an important assertion and a question to consider... →
Revitalising democratic life
22nd September 2021 On various campaign visits to communities in recent days, the ANC and Cyril Ramaphosa himself continue to provide evidence to many who were likely... →
“Where there is no vision, the people perish” – Proverbs 29:18.
13th September 2021 In my recent article on “deZumafication”, I referred to the absence of vision in the post-Zuma era. (See “’De-Zumafication’” and the possibly... →
“De-Zumafication” and the possibly terminal crisis of the ANC
7th September 2021 The current crisis of the ANC has taken a range of permutations. I have not wanted to write a series of narratives - of which we have plenty - on... →
What is political analysis?
23rd March 2021 The modern nation state is strongly associated with the rise of the print media, and modern democracy with the public sphere enabled by the print... →
Leadership in Question part 11: The personal and the political in Chris Hani’s leadership
8th February 2021 We live in a time when a movement once devoted to the wellbeing of all, has become callous. That contempt for the welfare of others is diffused... →
Leadership in Question Part 10: What can we learn from Chris Hani’s leadership qualities?
1st February 2021 Previous articles in this series are to be found here. “We have always lived the ANC in our camps. We have dreamt about the ANC. There was no other... →
Leadership in question part nine: Luthuli, masculinity and gender
25th January 2021 Previous articles in this series are to be found here. Luthuli’s masculinity, Luthuli as a gendered subject →
Leadership in Question part 8: Luthuli, a Christian Chief with integrity, is deposed by the apartheid regime
19th January 2021 Chief Albert Luthuli took being a chief seriously and acted with sensitivity to the needs of his community, refusing to impose fines against an... →
Leadership in Question Part six: Chief Albert Luthuli, leadership and service
11th January 2021 This article is part of a series on leadership. Click here to read articles in the series. The life of Chief Albert Luthuli bears lessons that are... →
Leadership in question part 5: In a pandemic openness and compassion must be part of democratic leadership
6th January 2021 In a period of considerable danger, presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is essential that leadership enjoys public confidence. Regrettably, the... →
Leadership in Question part 4 – Can the ANC recover and lead a democratic project? Can and should the ANC even survive?
7th December 2020 At the moment there is a lot of soul searching under way among ANC stalwarts with whom I am in contact, although I am not part of any of these... →
Leadership in Question part 3: Has Cyril Ramaphosa taken control of the ANC and the state?
30th November 2020 It was never going to be easy to steer the South African ship of state after the Jacob Zuma years, even though Cyril Ramaphosa’s rise to the... →
Leadership in Question (Part Two): Emancipatory leadership is needed, even or especially in a crisis situation
4th November 2020 Many textbook definitions of leadership focus on who has the right to issue commands or to demand obedience. While that does sometimes relate to... →
Leadership in Question, part one: The leadership we have
20th October 2020 In some discourse it appears that leadership and who leads is not very important. There is a Marxist critique of the “great man” version of... →
How do we emerge from the current crisis?
11th August 2020 The ANC and President Cyril Ramaphosa personally are taking an unprecedented level of criticism at the moment. Many are finding it shocking that... →
Unresolved intimate partner assault: Josina Machel loses an eye
16th July 2020 Josina Machel may seem by virtue of her family associations, to have enjoyed some immunity from abuse. But she, too, has experienced vicious... →
Our various ways of relating to lockdown
29th June 2020 We are at a phase of the development of Covid-19 where we need to cultivate even greater civic and social responsibility, than has been evident... →
How do we mark the 65th anniversary of the Freedom Charter?
22nd June 2020 This Friday 26 June marks the 65th anniversary of the adoption of the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People, the culminating moment of a... →
Lockdown: Violence, hunger and indifference
15th June 2020 As we mark the anniversary of the June 16 1976 uprising, many young people are experiencing hunger and there is widespread violence emanating from... →
Lockdown messaging must be sensitive to the plight of the poor and vulnerable
20th April 2020 The state of disaster and the lockdown has led to the curtailment of fundamental rights of people in South Africa. It imposes a duty on government... →
For lockdown to succeed security forces need to be reined in
14th April 2020 The lockdown is a unique experience, in that the people of South Africa consented to the limiting of their freedom in order to combat the spread of... →
Coronavirus, multiple crises and the need for human solidarity
10th March 2020 It is well known that South Africa is experiencing a range of crises and in many cases, it seems hard for these to be surmounted. There is a heavy... →
EFF: contributing towards or undermining democratic life?
17th February 2020 The EFF disruption of the SONA last week happened at a time when the ANC is having difficulty holding together and has not itself contributed... →
Making the DA white again?
13th February 2020 Many have remarked on the ANC being in deep crisis but the DA, after substantial gains in municipal elections in 2016 not being in a position to... →
Enock Mpianzi: making boys into men
4th February 2020 The death of Enock Mpianzi, while on a Parktown Boys High School camp in the North-West Province has aroused considerable concern, not only from... →
Unstable democracy
21st January 2020 At the inauguration of post-apartheid democracy, there were some fears for stability, though these related to the old regime and the far right and... →
ANC anniversary during a time of crisis
7th January 2020 There was a time when I would not have written about the ANC, on the eve of the 8th January anniversary statement. I would have waited to see what... →
Law and the legal profession in a democracy under attack
7th October 2019 I am a qualified advocate but have had very little practical experience. I have more experience in working as an academic lawyer by day and as a... →
Reinvigorating our vocabulary for freedom and emancipation
7th October 2019 The publication of this article is part of a personal and intellectual journey rethinking my political understandings. I am particularly concerned... →
Build unity to defend democracy and advance an emancipatory future
26th September 2019 Despite making significant gains, in recovering state assets that were misappropriated during the Jacob Zuma era and restoration of legality, there... →
#Xenophobia #Rape and the crisis of credibility
12th September 2019 Recent weeks have been widely interpreted as representing crises for the Cyril Ramaphosa presidency, and it does not look like it will abate in the... →
CR17 funding and the quality of our democratic life
2nd September 2019 During the ANC and State Presidency of Jacob Zuma, one of the features of the organisation's changing character was the absence of debate, the loss... →
#CR17 campaign funding and the changes in our politics
21st August 2019 I am not in a position to assess the legality of the CR17 campaign funding released in media leaks and arising from the Public Protector's report... →
