Here are some bits and pieces of my latest commentary: Vavi and Numsa – the underlying risks Zwelinzima Vavi faces a special central executive committee of Cosatu meeting today to decide his fate following his admission that he had sex with a junior Cosatu employee in her office in the Cosatu headquarters. Numsa, the NationalContinue reading “Vavi and the Numsa , DA taking Gauteng, mutters at the Treasury, grounds for even more caution on Zimbabwe and Malema’s visit to the prophet”
Category Archives: Democratic Alliance
If the ANC was a soap opera slipping in the ratings …
Imagine you are the producer of a major and successful television soap-opera. Gradually, for reasons that are not immediately apparent, market research begins to indicate your share of the prime-time television audience is diminishing – and, further, that the declines are accelerating. I suspect what you do is try to work out whether the viewersContinue reading “If the ANC was a soap opera slipping in the ratings …”
Throwing excrement in Cape Town: the DA has reason to feel miffed, but the situation is best explained by the Davies J-curve
It is difficult to avoid an abiding suspicion that the protesters flinging faeces in the general direction of the DA led Cape Town and Western Cape provincial administrations are not always, as they claim, signed up members of the downtrodden masses. Among the reasons I am suspicious is a good friend told me that whenContinue reading “Throwing excrement in Cape Town: the DA has reason to feel miffed, but the situation is best explained by the Davies J-curve”
Cosatu’s splitting headache, the ANC and DA try on new party dresses and those awful Mandelas
In high anxiety at my failure to publish here for several weeks (what with 12 days visiting fund managers in the UK and Europe and new commitments to the Daily Maverick – see here and here for the first two of those) I have decided to again post a modified version of my usually bespoke Continue reading “Cosatu’s splitting headache, the ANC and DA try on new party dresses and those awful Mandelas”
Against a dark backround … an occasional beam of light
I am struggling to make up my mind whether there really is a small accumulation of good news, clearly visible against the looming night … or if I am just desperate. Today’s Business Day story by the always interesting Carol Paton looking at Manuel and Sisulu on a stern clean up the public service driveContinue reading “Against a dark backround … an occasional beam of light”
The Second Transition
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”
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?”
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”
Quick one on some damn lies
You might be wondering why the Sunday papers were filled with conflicting version of the results from the municipal election. The answer is contained in a decent story on Times Live written by Brendan Boyle: The DA took 23.80% of the vote for ward candidates, 24.08% of the proportional representation vote for parties, 15.3% ofContinue reading “Quick one on some damn lies”
This is significant … but don’t collapse in astonishment
As of right now (this was 12.40 on May 20 2011) the ANC is sitting at 63.63 percent of the vote (66.35 in 2006), the DA at 22.1 (14.77), the IFP with 3.94 (8.05) – and newcomers to municipal elections COPE with 2.31 and the National Freedom Party with 2.54. The other important factor toContinue reading “This is significant … but don’t collapse in astonishment”
Some observations about the election lead-up
I am feeling the welcome pressure of a flood of paid work. The only drawback to this happy state of affairs is I have not been able to put as much effort into updating this website as I would like. In future I will generally be posting the quirkier side of politics and investment riskContinue reading “Some observations about the election lead-up”
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?”
Make the circle bigger Nathi – or dance alone
Occasionally our correct and coded political dialogue is enlivened by a less experienced politician whose staff were out to lunch when their boss put pen to paper – or word in mouth, as the case may be. One such instructive episode has been a piece by Minister of Safety and Security (Police) Nathi Mthethwa inContinue reading “Make the circle bigger Nathi – or dance alone”
Nic Borain 