Raymond Suttner
Are DA-led coalitions sustainable now and into 2019?
5th September 2017 In last year’s local government elections the ANC nearly fell below 50% of the national vote. It lost three major metros, in addition to Cape Town,... →
Ruth First, validating dissent and building a democratic consensus
28th August 2017 On 17 August 2017, the 35th anniversary of Ruth First’s assassination was marked at the University of the Witwatersrand with a panel discussing... →
“Jailbird”, Sergeant Joubert and me
21st August 2017 Recently a relative phoned and said “Bertie Joubert” sends regards. I asked who this was and he said he is the warder who got me a... →
The no confidence vote: where to now?
15th August 2017 Everyone appears to agree that last week’s motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma signified something very significant and different in... →
Vote of no confidence in a time of political decadence
7th August 2017 It is hard to maintain interest in the various gyrations of ANC MPs, the report that some will vote against Zuma in an open ballot in the vote of... →
Contestation without debate?
31st July 2017 Analysts repeatedly tell us that the contest between candidates vying for the ANC presidency has notions like radical economic transformation (RET)... →
State capture and beyond
25th July 2017 Remedying the problems we currently face in South Africa may be more complicated, taxing and difficult than much current debate seems to envisage.... →
Remembering Luthuli on the 50th anniversary of his death
17th July 2017 We remember leading individuals of the past in order to grapple with the meanings of their lives and to see what bearing their legacies have on the... →
Mandela and masculinity today
11th July 2017 In remembering Nelson Mandela, in the month of his birth, it is valuable to return to the neglected question of what he has to teach us about... →
How do we understand and get out of the present political mess?
3rd July 2017 At critical moments, it has often been remarked that the ANC has sat down and reviewed its weaknesses and marked out a fresh course of action to... →
What do we need after Zuma?
26th June 2017 Important as corruption and state capture are as features of the Jacob Zuma presidency, they do not represent the only elements that need to be... →
The need for a revitalised politics after Zuma
14th June 2017 When considering how to rebuild democratic life once the Jacob Zuma period passes, we need to recognise that, even without Zuma, many people feel... →
‘State capture’ has been proved. What do we do about it?
5th June 2017 In the last week South Africans have experienced a bombardment of scandalous e-mails relating to the influence of the Gupta family on the... →
The question of ‘judicial overreach’
22nd May 2017 Last week there was a march against “judicial overreach” in KwaZulu-Natal. This refers to the claim that courts are interfering in areas that... →
Collapse of ethics in public life: how do we rebuild?
15th May 2017 Many writers have remarked on the qualities possessed by Brian Molefe, that he had gained experience in the Treasury and other institutions or... →
Why I support the “National Dialogue”
8th May 2017 Many people recognise that South Africa has experienced a multi-faceted crisis for some years. One of the reasons for the nationwide protests... →
Replacing Zuma does not in itself rebuild democracy
2nd May 2017 In the wake of the disruption of Workers’ Day rallies, the need to prepare for a post-Zuma era becomes more urgent. Most of the efforts to... →
Freedom day and the question of non-violence
24th April 2017 It is exciting that at this time, when we mark Freedom Day, we are witnessing the revival of mass popular action, manifested in marches and other... →
The ANC “succession race” and rebuilding South African democracy
18th April 2017 There is something uninspiring in the activities of aspirant and unacknowledged candidates for the ANC succession. They give one little confidence... →
ANC Collective decision-making and organisational disintegration
12th April 2017 The ANC under President Jacob Zuma is sinking ever more deeply into decadence, losing all semblance of the vibrancy and debate that many once saw... →
The reshuffle, “junk status” and South Africa in crisis
5th April 2017 The word may be over-used but there is little doubt that South Africa is in the middle of a significant crisis, which has engulfed the country’s... →
Remembering “Comrade Kathy” and learning from his life
28th March 2017 Sad as the passing of Ahmed Kathrada is, we need to use these occasions to draw lessons from his life. Kathrada is one of the last of a generation... →
ANC and democratic crisis: what do we do?
22nd March 2017 Last week saw a number of significant judicial decisions. These included a Constitutional Court ruling over the social grants crisis and the... →
Constitutional Court drawn towards decisions of great political significance
14th March 2017 The SASSA debacle moves to the Constitutional Court this week after political efforts failed to resolve the problem in a manner that safeguards the... →
Social grants, obligations and betrayal
6th March 2017 What is at stake in the SASSA crisis? At one level we are dealing with an emergency, which is to ensure that grants supporting 17 million people -... →
Xenophobia and the question of universal rights
3rd March 2017 Professor Raymond Suttner discusses 'How do we address xenophobia?'. →
Empty politics in a time of crisis
6th February 2017 Current South African political discussion appears fixated on the ANC succession race, over who will succeed Jacob Zuma as ANC president (if he... →
Can the DA and its allies displace the ANC nationally?
24th January 2017 While many of us constantly dissect the ANC’s actions, its various weaknesses and the dangers they pose to our country, are opposition forces... →
What is at stake in the ANC “succession” race?
16th January 2017 “The good news is that it was the last time we saw Jacob Zuma delivering the keynote speech at an ANC January 8 birthday celebration.” ‒ Max du... →
The ANC’s January 8 anniversary statement: then and now
9th January 2017 Until the 1990s, the ANC’s January 8 anniversary statement was a very important day in the calendar for very many people. For my generation, and... →
ANC “self-correction”, self-examination and rebuilding democracy
7th December 2016 Since the recent ANC National Executive Committee meeting, where a call was made for President Jacob Zuma to step down, conflicting perceptions... →
Zuma remains president, but vulnerable
30th November 2016 It is only a little over a week ago that MPs gave President Jacob Zuma a standing ovation when he rose to answer questions in the National... →
Armed struggle and gender in the ANC’s past and present
21st November 2016 Among the many controversial features of the liberation struggle waged by the ANC, the place of women in Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) has been one of the... →
ANC takes further steps towards self-destruction. What is our role as citizens?
15th November 2016 It is reported in the City Press that President Jacob Zuma attended a caucus of the parliamentary ANC and instructed MPs to vote against the DA’s... →
Who will lead us out of the present morass?
9th November 2016 Many people say they are demoralised, and some have been so for some time. They had hoped that post-apartheid South Africa would lead to something... →
If Zuma goes, what route to recovery?
3rd November 2016 Over the last week, President Jacob Zuma and his supporters have experienced dramatic reversals of fortune. These setbacks have been partly in the... →
Leadership beyond the time of the rogues
27th October 2016 We are living in a time where rogues seem to abound. Some are giant ones, some are lesser or even apprentice rogues. Others are... →
Chief Albert Luthuli as an ethical leader
14th October 2016 We live in a period where public leadership has been marked by acts of illegality, contempt for constitutional obligations, and personal enrichment... →
South Africa in crisis: how we get out of it
10th October 2016 In 1992, the ANC produced a booklet, Ready to Govern, an outline of its policy programme to transform South Africa from a society of deep... →
Universities crisis: what way forward?
3rd October 2016 After months of failure to engage politically with the crisis in universities, the president has called what is dubbed a representative forum... →
Demise of the ANC: a tentative understanding
19th September 2016 “The opposite of good is not evil, it is indifference.” – Abraham Joshua Heschel There is a growing sense that the ANC may be in the process of... →
