Occasionally I publish slides from a current presentation series and here are a few from something I am busy with called: “The Second Transition – SA politics and policy somewhere twixt hither and yon”. The general idea is the ANC government is determined to move beyond the ‘transitional’ arrangements that it agreed to in 1994 andContinue reading “The Second Transition”
Category Archives: Alliance Politics
Cosatu, the Democratic Alliance and the middle classes – is it love, actually?
Think of the various interests of classes and groups in our society as constituting an ecology in which political parties and organisations find niches to graze, hunt and be sustained. The system can change and niches shift, narrow or broaden – and in response the denizens that live in each niche must adapt or becomeContinue reading “Cosatu, the Democratic Alliance and the middle classes – is it love, actually?”
Therefore send not to know for whom the bell tolls – it tolls for free
I think the e-tolling saga is important precisely because my headline bastardising the denouement of John Donne’s famous poem is, in truth, wrong. Gauteng’s road upgrade does not come for free. The R20bn was borrowed by Sanral and lent by people and institutions (which) who assessed the risk attached to repayment on the basis that e-tolling wasContinue reading “Therefore send not to know for whom the bell tolls – it tolls for free”
Housekeeping, MTN, Iran, US secret power, Zimbabwe, Malema and the Interminable Mangaung
Right. I have got to find a way of continuing to populate this website. The reasons posts are becoming infrequent and irregular is that almost every day I produce bespoke and paid for research. I have less time every week to write specifically for nicborain.wordpress.com … except the occasional philosophical musings, which probably have a … very specific?Continue reading “Housekeeping, MTN, Iran, US secret power, Zimbabwe, Malema and the Interminable Mangaung”
Notes on the relationship between Cosatu and the ANC
After last week’s Cosatu strike against labour brokers and e-tolling the question of the future of the relationship between the Cosatu and the ANC has again consumed public debate. I have quickly jotted down some of the issues as I see them and how I think the situation might play out in the longer termContinue reading “Notes on the relationship between Cosatu and the ANC”
The SACP and Cosatu are trying to rescue the ANC and the state – but there is an optimism differential between them
Has the South African state become an instrument in the hands of the class of predators that dominate our politics? Think a crowbar or a 9mm automatic and think of the Nkandla or Limpopo crews using that tool to rip or rob huge sections of provincial and national budgets. Cosatu is clearly suspicious of theContinue reading “The SACP and Cosatu are trying to rescue the ANC and the state – but there is an optimism differential between them”
Beat the dog till the owner comes out
Tokyo comes out to defend Julius Malema in the disciplinary hearing? To be followed by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Tony Yengeni? It is an almost too perfect reversal of Julius Malema’s own metaphor after his victory at the Eastern Cape provincial conference of the ANC Youth League in August 2010: “We will never surrender to Blade.Continue reading “Beat the dog till the owner comes out”
Game of Thrones in the ANC
A good friend of mine in New York* recently put me on to “A Song of Ice and Fire” – a seemingly endless series of swords and sorcery novels by George R R Martin. This is the crack cocaine of fantasy fiction but it is also a surprisingly brilliant study of politics and power vacuums.Continue reading “Game of Thrones in the ANC”
Nationalisation revisited revisited … if you know what I mean
In case anyone was wondering if I had disappeared into the ether: I have been seriously busy and have had no time to post on the blog. If you were paying extra attention, you may have noticed that a post reviewing the nationalisation of mines debate appeared and disappeared a few weeks ago. My mistakeContinue reading “Nationalisation revisited revisited … if you know what I mean”
Of course Cosatu wants to nationalise the mines!
Wouldn’t you want to have a job for life as a public servant, with guaranteed medical and benefits in a parastatal company that government would push up borrowing and taxation to keep afloat no matter what? Of course you would – any of us would … just like the Greeks did up until very recently.Continue reading “Of course Cosatu wants to nationalise the mines!”
The communists have got this right
Here’s something important to read and understand. From a South African Communist Party Central Committee statement released today – I just caught it on Politicsweb here. You can disagree with the communists about a range of points of strategy and of principle, but they accurately and urgently identify populism as exemplified by the ANC YouthContinue reading “The communists have got this right”
The limits of politics
I think both the DA and the ANC might be on the verge of an evolutionary spurt that will change what they are and thus see them shifting into new ecological niches in our political landscape. I also think that the landscape itself changes much slower than we think or hope. Voluntarism is a termContinue reading “The limits of politics”
On being a useful idiot
We all get an occasional red herring dragged across the trails we follow. For political analysts this is an occupational hazard. Our “sources” have their own agendas and we have to be eternally suspicious of the bright little threads of information we find scattered across our paths. Here is a paraphrase of a piece ofContinue reading “On being a useful idiot”
Defining The Enemy
What happens when we define ‘the enemy’ in terms that would justify shooting them down like mad dogs in the street? I have often felt that the terms of our political debate are too extreme – from all sides of the political spectrum. The idea or assertion that the government, the state and the rulingContinue reading “Defining The Enemy”
Is this the way the cookie crumbles?
This way: The business of government becomes the business of enriching the governors … rather than the business of governing and thereby serving the electorate’s overarching interests? The extremely rich rewards to be gained from holding political office cause the party list process – especially in the ANC – to become one of mayhem andContinue reading “Is this the way the cookie crumbles?”
Nic Borain 