THE GHOST BETWEEN THE LINES

The recent letter by Trevor Manuel to the Business Day, defending Peter de Villiers, is defined by two things: first, it is constructed around a logical fallacy and, second, it is entirely hypocritical – while Manuel might now advocate winning, he never used to. The letter’s particular nature is reminiscent of the kind of attacks [...]

THE ANC AND RELIGION: PART 3 – THABO MBEKI AND THE TRUTH

The third in a five-part series on the ANC and religion. Religion is a helpful metaphor for understanding the ANC’s political ideology and, in particular, for better understanding the politics of Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. Each part of the five posts will explore this idea. Today, we bring you part 3 – a look [...]

THE STRANGE CASE OF THABO MBEKI

A look at the two positions held by former President Thabo Mbeki – ANC president and South African president – and some insights as to how they merged, to the detriment of his own aspirations and South Africa’s democracy. The book, ‘The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ provides a helpful metaphor in [...]

DEFENDING THE INDEFENSIBLE – ZUMA ON HIV/AIDS

The third instalment, out of three, on ANC President Jacob Zuma, his public record and the prospect of a Zuma Presidency. In this edition we look at his record on HIV/Aids. What did he say when Mbeki was questioning the link between a virus and a syndrome? Did he defend the President or stand up [...]

BUSTING THE ZUMA MYTH ABOUT ZIMBABWE

The first instalment, out of three, on ANC President Jacob Zuma, his public record and the prospect of a Zuma Presidency. There is a myth that Jacob Zuma is different to Thabo Mbeki – that, with regard to issues like Zimbabwe and HIV/Aids, he will do the right thing. His track record, however, says otherwise [...]