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Has horror at Donald Trump stopped the rise of the far right in the West? We don't know yet. What we do know is that, in this country and everywhere, democracy will remain under threat until governments begin to take the people far more seriously than they do now.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Despite the ceasefire, the lives of millions are still in the hands of one man, a spoiled and ignorant bigot who has lost touch with reality. Donald Trump's power is a warning to anyone who says that we do not need, in Africa and the world, firm democratic checks on what leaders can do.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Media, politicians and pundits portray anti-immigrant protests as a broad citizens' movement raising valid concerns. None of this is true. As usual, a prejudice which is spread by the elite is blamed on the people.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The government says it is going ahead with a bill which would exclude parties which win less than 1% of the vote from municipal councils. This could deprive half a million people of a voice. We are told that the bill will 'stabilise' coalitions. It won't. What it will do is weaken local democracy.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The Madlanga Commission relies on some of the country's best legal minds. It is also unlikely to tell us what is wrong with the police and how to fix it. This may show us that, while lawyers and judges are essential, they are not taught how to fix political problems. The country should stop expecting them to do this.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The war on Iran will obviously harm this country's economy. But the news reporting and commentary pointing this out assumes that we will all be affected equally. In reality, like Covid-19, this shock will do great damage to the two-thirds of the country who battle to get by while the better off minority will get through it without much damage.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The bad news is that the war on Iran reminds us that we again live in a world in which the powerful believe that they can use force to get whatever they want. The good news is that they are wrong. Whatever happens in Iran, whether the Middle East achieves peace and justice will be settled by politics, not by war.  

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The Gauteng water crisis shows again that, if you want your problems with public services taken seriously, you had better be middle class or above. But, even when the problems of poor people are shared by the better off,  people living with poverty may still not get the service they need.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Today, it is fashionable to insist that anyone accused of wrong-doing at a hearing is guilty and anyone who accuses them is a hero.  But ten years ago we were told that most of the people accused now were heroes and that anyone who criticised them was a villain. Which shows that we will never solve our problems if our only way of tackling them is to blame some and cheer others.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

If we want a strong democracy and a fairer economy, we need strong trade unions. Media do not understand this, and so they are taking little notice of a move by the country's largest union which would make it more likely that unions will do what politicians want, not what their members want.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The Trump regime's continuing bullying, on display at the G20, is not the only sign that colonialism lives on. On the contrary - colonial attitudes are everywhere.  We find them not only in the attitudes of the colonisers but, as we saw last week, among those they colonise.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Business is cheering last week's policy statement by the finance minister. We don't know what anyone else thinks because these days only one voice is heard in economic debates in this country. As long as that continues, poverty and inequality will remain as deep as they are now.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor of New York not because he is good at making videos but because he had 100 000 volunteers working for him. This reminds us that, if we want change, sending messages on phones is much less important than organising people to work together.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

We do not know whether a poll claiming that many South Africans support military rule is accurate. What we do know is that the attitudes of the people who tell us all what we should think makes it more likely that people in uniform, not elected politicians, will take the decisions which affect our lives.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Since democracy began here, one of its greatest assets has been that court judgements are respected and that judges are seen to be honest. Because this asset is precious, the country could pay a high price if people who claim judges are bribed are believed even if they produce no evidence.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Gains in local elections by parties who oppose some rights protected by the constitution seem to signal that the right wing is on the rise here, as it is in many countries. But the rise of these parties is limited and does not seriously threaten democracy. The real threat lies within the ANC camp where supporters and opponents of the constitution battle for power. 

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

By-elections tells us that the ANC continues to lose ground among voters. Its latest economic plan shows why. It treats poor people, many of whom vote for the ANC, as afterthoughts and shows that it is still not listening to its own support base. The plan also shows that poor people are not heard in our politics.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Julius Malema's conviction on a firearms charge could remove him from politics for years. But do laws which bar politicians who have been convicted of an offence from holding office strengthen democracy? While they seem to make sense, a closer look shows that they do more to harm democracy than to help it.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

In this country, politicians are judged by their slogans, not their policies and actions. As long as they say they want to free us from our apartheid past, no-one notices if they work to take us back there. Which may explain why Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi, who may stand for ANC president on a platform criticising the compromises of its leaders,  is threatening a war against people who live in shacks.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

In many countries, Palestine has become a test for democracy. Around the world, most people want an end to the genocide and justice for Palestinians. But many governments either ignore them or offer token gestures rather than what their voters want. As they continue to ignore their own citizens, their claims to be democratic are losing all credibility.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Politics is changing and that means that policies we have taken for granted since 1994 may not survive. One test is whether the rights which workers and trade unions enjoy will still be respected. Changes in labour law which are likely in the next few months will tell us whether working people's rights and protections will be victims of the new politics.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The country needs a party which speaks for working people and the millions who live in poverty, so the SA Communist Party's decision to contest elections seems to fill an important gap. But the SACP is no more in touch with most workers and people in poverty than any of the other parties. So most voters are still forced to choose between parties which do not speak for them.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

In America, the Supreme Court has allowed the wealthy to buy as many politicians as they want. Here, the Western Cape High Court wants to do much the same. It has ruled that those who give large sums to political parties are exercising their rights, not buying influence. So, if the parties we vote for listen to the rich rather than us, the court thinks we should be pleased that democracy is working.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

We are often told that everyone, including large businesses, must be protected from the government's power. But a case before the Constitutional Court reminds us that large businesses have huge power and that we need to be protected from them too. One reason why democracy is in trouble is that democratic governments no longer protect people from the power of those who have money.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

We often hear that voting changes nothing. But governments in the United States and India disagree. They are so worried about it changing things that they are trying to take the vote from people.  They are right to worry because, if used well, voting can help change. So, instead of taking the vote for granted, South Africans should protect their vote and use it to as a tool for change.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The real divide in this country is not that between the government and citizens. It is that between the one-third who are heard and the two-thirds who are not. The problem with the national dialogue is not that it is being run by the government rather than private foundations. It is that it will give a platform to the minority we always hear, not the majority who need to be heard.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Most countries have united when the Trump regime tries to bully them. This country has not - powerful voices in politics, business and the media blame the South African government, not Trump. This shows that we remain a deeply divided country. If we are to progress, we need to face our differences. Instead, we are being asked to wish them away.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The bullying campaign against people born on the 'wrong' side of a colonial border is now facing resistance. And, while we are often told that only comfortable people in the suburbs are against hating migrants, the campaign is being led by people who live in shacks.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

A draft white paper issued by the Communications Ministry wants to change the rules to allow very rich people more freedom to own media. But allowing billionaires more power to decide what the news is, is not a blow for freedom - it enables a trend around the world in which the powerful who fear the truth buy up media and then fire journalists who tell the truth. So, the white paper is a serious threat to democracy here.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Anyone who wants to destroy democracy here now knows how to do it. Identify the politicians and officials who stand in your way and accuse them of wrong-doing. You don't have to manufacture evidence because political parties, media and people on platforms like these will cheer you even if you don't produce any. By the time they realise that you have used them to take their rights away, it will be too late

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

As citizens, we need to be very careful when senior police officers accuse others in the police system of wrong doing. The claims may be true but there is a long and murky history of factionalism in the police and this could well be another example. We need to insist that police serve the people, not factions.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The only ingredient missing in the latest coalition government soap opera is any interest by the parties in the voters who elected them. They are not alone - we had evidence last week that politicians in Europe and the US show the same contempt for voters. This widening gap between politicians and the people threatens democracy's future.  

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

 

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

There have been times when Western powers negotiated with those they fear. But today they prefer bombs and bigger defence budgets to talking and compromise. The world will remain a very violent and dangerous place until they realise that negotiations are more powerful than bombs.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription,  contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The country does not need a national dialogue. But it does need negotiation on how to include in the economy the millions who are now on its fringes. To make that happen, the government must spell out the changes it wants to see and invite anyone who disagrees to negotiate

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

If we want the bad people to end in jail, we are being told, our next chief prosecutor must be chosen by experts, not by the politicians the people elect. No-one seems to have noticed that this is how the current head of prosecutions, who is said to have failed, was chosen. But those who always insist that some of us know better than the rest never worry much about facts.

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

We have been reminded over the past few days that the disease which is now sweeping the West - prejudice against people who are different in some way - is a problem in this country too. There are reasons why this hatred is not as serious here but we can't afford to be complacent. Fighting bigotry must become a priority in this country.

That is the view of my weekly  Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the  Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Just about nobody noticed a few days ago when most of our political parties voted to make it easier for a few rich people to fund parties - and to double the amount any one person can give to a party. But allowing people to buy political parties is a bigger threat to democracy here than anything Donald Trump can do.

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The invented victimhood of a few white South Africans by the Trump regime tells us something which no-one seems to have noticed - racists are running scared because they believe their grip is slipping. This explains not only the 'white refugee' farce, but much of the racism around the world today.

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Not all the pressure to end laws and policies which try to fix racial inequality comes from those who want those who apartheid privileged to stay on top. Some of it comes from people who support change but want an end to racial labels. But you can't fix a problem by wishing away its cause and so we can't fix racism by ignoring race.

 

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The Democratic Alliance and much of the media want us to believe that it stopped the VAT increase and that this showed that its power is on the rise. In reality, the VAT crisis has ended with the DA more isolated than it has been for a long time. If it wants more influence, it will need to change the attitudes which have isolated it  

This is the view of my Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Choosing an ambassador to the US simply because they are white and Afrikaans will not stop the Trump regime bullying this country. It will simply pander to its prejudices. Around the world, the main reason right-wing bigots are on the rise is that mainstream politicians who claim not to be prejudiced always make bigotry seem normal. This move would do just that.

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The coalition government's latest crisis is the fault of its two largest parties, who put their dislike of each other before sensible strategy. But the real culprit is the constitution, which does not allow time for parties to hammer out coalition agreements which might last  

 

That is the view of my Against the Tide column this week, which was sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againsthetide.co.za

 

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Despite two MK Party wins in by-elections, the coalition government is in no danger of losing its majority to parties who reject the constitution. The coalition's fate - and the constitution's - depends, rather, on what happens within the ANC over the next couple of years. Here, as in many other countries, the threat to democracy comes less from those who oppose it and more from those who claim to support it.  

 

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

 

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

This year may be the first ever in which the budget tabled by the Minister of Finance will not be the budget which Parliament passes. So elected members of Parliament may have a greater say in the budget in future, an advance for democracy. But this may also make it harder to protect the social grants on which millions of people depend

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website.  To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

 

 

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

People here are understandably angry when the Trump administration tries to bully this country into dropping policies which try to right the racial wrongs of the past. But no-one seems to have any problem when a World Bank report issued last week does much the same. So people don't mind a prejudice - as long as it is expressed by the 'right' people in the 'right' way.

 

That is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription contact info@againstthetide.co.za

 

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The coalition government's failure to table a budget shows that its parties have still not figured out how to deal with their differences. But it may also show that the undemocratic way in which budgets have always been made is now under pressure. Politicians may now be demanding more of a say in the budget and this opens the way for citizens to demand it too.    

 

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

 

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Politics and policy in this country is obsessed with the West - even those who hate it still see it as the centre of the universe. One sign is that democracy is always seen as Western, by those who oppose it as well as those who support it. But this belief is collapsing before our eyes as what is left of democracy is gutted in the US and more Western countries turn to far-right parties who have no interest in human rights. Democracy's future lies outside the West but thinking in this country has not caught up with this.    

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

If we want more evidence that the media do not care about most of the country, they have ignored a court judgment last week which instructs the government to increase the Social Relief of Distress grant introduced during Covid and to change its rules to make it easier for people to claim. The ruling directly affects up to half the country. But, since the people affected live with poverty and are not on platforms like these, the media and politicians have no interest in them. 

This is the argument of my weekly Against the Tide column sent out to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

We are told repeatedly that small business must grow if the economy is to grow. Why, then, do those who decide what we should think hurl endless abuse at 'illegal miners' but never ask why the law here makes it impossible for individuals or small businesses to mine legally? This prejudice has now cost scores of lives in Stilfontein and continues to hold back the country's progress.  

This is the argument of my weekly Against the Tide column sent out to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

For not the first time, the ANC wants to renew itself by fixing its branches. But its branches are weak not by accident. They have become tools to climb up the economic ladder by winning power battles. And they have become this because the economy still freezes many out of opportunities to climb that ladder. This is true not only of ANC branches but of all corruption in government.

This is the argument of my weekly Against the Tide column sent out to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

For those who still think democracy is 'Western', events in South Korea this week and in Senegal early this year show that countries outside the West can and will defend their democracies without any 'help' from the West. The West used to lecture the rest on democracy - soon, the rest may be able to lecture the West  

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The International Criminal Court's arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister are the first signs in a very long time that international law which applies equally to all is still possible. How much concrete effect it has will depend not on governments but on whether people campaigning for justice for Palestinians use it effectively

This is the argument of my weekly Against the Tide  column sent out to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide  website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The government's plan to end a grant on which millions of people rely to get by is a huge political mistake and will also harm the economy. So why is it planning it? Because deep prejudices  ensure that when well-off people get a subsidy, it is praised. When poor people get a grant, it is denounced by the minority who decide what the rest of us should think.

This is the argument of my weekly Against the Tide  column sent out to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide  website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The ANC believes that, if all its members attend a political school and new members must explain why they want to join, it will reconnect with the voters it has lost. Neither of these changes will help it do that. But the changes do tell us something important about our politicians - that, although apartheid is dead, they still believe that some people are fit to govern and others are not.

This is the argument of my weekly Against the Tide  column sent out to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide  website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

An important reason why democracy is in trouble in many countries is that poor and working people have been denied the fruits of economic growth for decades. There is an important lesson for this country. If the coalition government focuses on growth but not on improving the lives of people who are losing out, anti-democratic forces will grow here too.

This is the argument of my weekly Against the Tide  column sent out to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide  website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The contest to become ANC President seems to have started three years early. Does it matter now that the ANC is no longer the majority party? It does. About two-thirds of voters still support the ANC or parties that emerged from the ANC so ANC internal politics still matters, even though voters now have more power over politicians.  

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column which was sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

For the past year, the West has cheered or remained silent as the Israeli state has destroyed international law. Western countries have also rolled back their citizens' freedom to protect it. The awful human cost is obvious and the world economy may now also pay a price. But the damage this has done to law between states and to the West itself will play out over the coming years.

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co,za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The annual Heritage Day ritual, in which public figures dress in traditional clothing to show us how much they care about their roots, has come and gone. But the outward displays hide the fact that much public discussion and policy making assumes that we should all want to mimic the West. This makes it more difficult to solve problems and relegates millions to the sidelines.

That is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit theAgainst the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Despite all the noise, the dispute over the Basic Laws Amendment Act was never going to derail the coalition government - the two biggest parties have no attractive option if it falls apart and so they will stick to it. But, because both the ANC and DA must contend with doubters in their own ranks who don't want the coalition, they have to fight loudly from time to time to show that they remember who they are.  So, we can expect more of this political theatre.

That is the argument of my Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za


Steven Friedman
 is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

For the past few days, extortion rackets have been the main news item. That is a promising sign - it shows that a problem which has been around for years is finally being noticed. This may well be happening because government is no longer the preserve of only one party and politicians are realising that they have to show voters that they can improve people's lives. It may be an early sign that the new reality is working for voters

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website, To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za


Steven Friedman
 is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Why would the leader of a party which says it believes in 'merit', not race, appoint to a senior position someone who insults black people? Because for him and others around the planet who think like him, 'non-racial merit' really means 'favouring white people'.

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The fact that Eskom has kept the lights on for around five months shatters two unspoken myths which shape much of what we hear about government in this country. The one is that black people cannot manage technical tasks and run large organisations well - the other is that what government does here never improves. This should change the debate but probably won't.  

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit theAgainst the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, please contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

As the Democrats officially begin their US election campaign, we are often told that Americans who oppose that party's policy on Palestine are being asked to choose the 'lesser of two evils'. But, in all elections including ours, voting is not about deciding who is the lesser  'good' or 'evil'. It is about deciding whether voting for a candidate or party will make the world or the country a better place, whatever we think of their morals.

This is the argument of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againsthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Most of what passes for 'political news' in this country is not what journalists have found out by asking the right questions or ferreting out information. It is what appears on their phone screens through 'social media'. This means that a small group of people get to decide what is important and that finding out the news that really matters is very difficult.

That is the view of my Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To request a free or reduced subscription contact info@againstthetiode.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Bullying people because they - or their parents - were not born within this country's borders is no different to bullying them because of their race. Politicians who boost themselves by attacking people born on the 'wrong side' of borders drawn up by European colonisers should be told that they are no different to people who form whites-only WhatsApp groups or harass black learners because they don't like their hair.  

That is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Will the coalition government favour business at the expense of the poor? This is what its critics claim but it will be far harder for the government to help business than we are being told. And making life easier for businesses might help fight poverty and inequality - if the businesses which are helped are in townships and shack settlements, not glass and concrete office blocks.

That is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The gap between what politicians say and what they do is often wide. It is likely to be very wide in the national coalition government, whose parties need to signal to their supporters that they have not 'sold out' while they continue to work together. Citizens will need to be on their guard and to look beyond the hype  to what the parties are really doing.

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a reduced or free subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

What is left of democracy in America may not survive if, as is seeming more likely, Donald Trump is elected this year. Democracy is also under pressure in Europe as the far right makes gains. If the West ditches democracy , will it also die outside the West? Probably not. To the contrary - the decline of democracy in the West could even strengthen it in this country and in others outside the West.

That is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To request a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

This country would be a better place, we are told, if the parties in the new government forget their differences. But that is not going to happen and we should be grateful that it won't. Democracy does not mean that we forget our differences - it means that we express them in ways that don't harm others. The more people can express their differences openly and peacefully, the better off we are.

That is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Liberal democracy is under pressure throughout the West. Here, the parties to the coalition say they are protecting the constitution, and its democratic freedoms, from parties which would destroy it. But, unless democracy gives the people a real say and addresses their needs, support for it will shrink. If the coalition wants to defend the constitution, it needs to spend its term including the people and meeting their needs.

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetidee.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

 

Treating all parties which have joined the coalition equally sounds fair. But it isn't. The small parties are small because very few people voted for them. To treat them the same as much bigger parties shows contempt for voters. It also repeats a trick the apartheid government's negotiators used to try to avoid majority rule.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

A clause in the agreement setting up the coalition gives the ANC and DA a way out if they can't agree . It says a national dialogue will be started which will address the country's key problems. So, if the parties don't agree, they can say they are leaving it to the dialogue to decide what to do. But the country does need to address the legacies of the past which hold us back,  so citizens need to ensure that the dialogue becomes a way of doing that, whatever the politicians want it to be  

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, please contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

This country will not have a Government of National Unity (GNU). What it will have is a coalition between the ANC, DA and IFP (and perhaps some smaller parties) which will be dressed up as a GNU. It will have this not because, as the politicians will no doubt claim, it  is the best coalition to take the country forward but because it was the only one that had any prospect of governing for more than a few weeks.

 

That is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

If we are looking for an arrangement to govern which will make the changes the country needs, we will be disappointed. None of the options on offer will do that. So, what we should hope for is a government which will respect our freedoms so that the people who do want those changes will be able to work for them.

That is the argument of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The election result has opened up party politics, creating new opportunities to influence decisions. But democrats should worry that this opening up has created openings not for new voices demanding a stronger and deeper democracy but for parties who believe democracy has gone too far. So the election is a wake up call to those who want more democracy to use the new space at least as well as those who want less.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a reduced or free subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The signing of the National Health Insurance Act has created far more uproar than the election campaign. But the real story behind the law is not what it changes but that it shows how little has changed. We will hear a lot of noise, much money will be spent in court - but the way health care is funded will remain exactly the same. The interesting story is why we have such loud fights which change nothing

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetided.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

If many of us are planning to vote in this election only for the party which really speaks for us, we may as well stay at home because no party does this. But if we see our vote as a means of influencing our future, even if we have problems with all of the parties, then voting makes sense.

That is the view of this week's  Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the  Against the Tide website. To discuss a reduced or free subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

An important feature of democratic elections is a media which helps us to make informed choices. We don't have that - most of our media tells us very little of what we need to know about the parties and how voters are receiving them. We can still make informed choices without the media but democracy would be stronger here if we had a media which told us what we need to know before we vote.

That is the view of this week's  Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the  Against the Tide website. To discuss a reduced or free subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

As we celebrate thirty years of democracy, students in the USA are being victimised for speaking their minds on Palestine. The contrast could not be sharper - here anyone can say what they like about Palestine or any other issue while in the US and other Western countries which like to lecture us on democracy, academic freedom and freedom of speech are torn up if you support Palestinian rights. But we have no cause to be complacent - while better off South Africans enjoy more freedoms than the West, many in townships and shack settlements are punished when they speak  

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this week. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website and choose a subscription option. To request a free or reduced subscription contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Whatever the result of this election, the days of the large party are ending. In future elections, no party will ever again win 50% of the vote and so all governments will be coalitions. The big parties haven't figured this out yet but some of the smaller parties have. Citizens need to figure it out too so that we ensure that governments are formed by parties who believe that we need more democracy, not less.

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this week. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website and choose a subscription option. To request a free or reduced subscription contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

As politics becomes less stable, the belief that business can make the country work better than politicians can will become more widespread. But when Eskom was run by a businessman, load shedding was at Stage 6. At the moment it is run by a politician and and there has been no load shedding for three weeks. So we need better politics - not government by business people

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this week. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website and choose a subscription option. To request a free or reduced subscription contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Gauteng's premier and other governing party coalitions were congratulating themselves this week on ending e-tolls. They seem deeply proud of the fact that two-thirds of the population, who cannot afford cars, will now have to pay for the roads on which the better off drive. When politicians tell you that they listen to the people, they mean the car-owning people

This is the view of this week's  Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe and gain access to weekly columns on politics, visit the  Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

This year, around 4 billion people will vote in elections around the world - more than half the planet's population. But, while more and more people can vote to choose their leaders, democracy is under threat in many countries from elites who are threatened by the idea that we should all enjoy equal rights. Most citizens seem willing to leave democracy to its enemies. The reason is that the democracy on offer these past 30 years ignored the needs and voices of the people, allowing them only to choose those who decide for them.

That is the view of this week's
Against the Tide mailed to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website and use the subscription option. To request a free or reduced subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training

The MK Party is being touted as a rising force, the biggest party in KZN. But by-election results show that it is not nearly as popular as we are being told. None of this is new.  Media and pundits have been over estimating Jacob Zuma's support for years - just as they do to any politician or party which is seen as a threat by the middle class. This has nothing to do with evidence and everything to do with the fears of the middle class here.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To request a free or reduced subscription, please contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Controversies on the fairness of the May election show that democracy may be under pressure here. Unstated agreements which have kept it going here for thirty years are unravelling now that more is at stake in elections. This suggests that much of the tolerance which has made democracy possible here could be under pressure. The message to democrats is that far more needs to be done to win support for democracy here    

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide  column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide  website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Social grants play a vital role in the economy of millions of people in this country and are the chief reason why people vote for the governing party. But last week's budget raises most grants by less than the inflation rate, meaning that people who need grants will have less to spend. Yet the ANC does not see this as a problem and opposition parties don't see it as an opportunity, showing again how out of touch parties are with many voters.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide  column which was sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, please contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Social grants play a vital role in the economy of millions of people in this country and are the chief reason why people vote for the governing party. But last week's budget raises most grants by less than the inflation rate, meaning that people who need grants will have less to spend. Yet the ANC does not see this as a problem and opposition parties don't see it as an opportunity, showing again how out of touch parties are with many voters.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide  column which was sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a free or reduced subscription, please contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Despite all the negativity, the President is right to claim that South Africa really is a much better place to be than it was in 1994. But he is wrong to claim that this is because of everything the governing party has done for the country. It is because of everything democracy has done for the country.

This is the argument of this week's Against the Tide  column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide  website. To discuss a reduced or free subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

If pundits and politicians are to be believed, tonight's State of the Nation address is pointless because the President who is spelling out his plans will not be able to implement them because he won't be in office soon. Despite all this hype, the ANC is almost certain to be in government after this year's election.  But that does not mean the country is not changing - opportunities for the people to make themselves heard by politicians have never been greater.    

This is the view of my Against the Tide  column which was sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide  website. To request a free or reduced subscription contact info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The International Court of Justice's ruling on Gaza will not directly stop the killing. But it is a powerful weapon in the hands of people who are working to stop it and to ensure that there is peace with justice in Palestine. How much it matters will depend on how well people use it.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website. To discuss a reduced or free subscription, please contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Most voters don't care about arguments between politicians - they care only about the concrete issues which affect their lives. This is becoming a popular message among pundits, reporters and politicians. If it means that they now plan to talk about real people's lives, it would be a step forward. But what they really seem to mean is that most people are not interested in the big issues, which should therefore be left to them. This ignores evidence that most people are as interested in politics as they are.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column which was sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. If you can't afford to subscribe, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a reduced or free subscription. 

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The ANC has lost the trust of many of its voters but its January 8 statement shows that it has no credible plan to win it back. It hopes that doing things for voters will win trust when what it really needs to do is to listen to people and take them seriously. In this it is not alone - just about all our parties prefer talking to the people to listening to them.    

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide article mailed to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. If you can't afford to subscribe, contact us at againstthetide.co.za to request a free or reduced subscription.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

 

There is a growing danger that the already horrendous war in Gaza will widen, bringing violence to an entire region and making the world a much more dangerous place. Only one thing can stop this - an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. This means that South Africa's case asking the International Court of Justice case to rule that the Gaza war is illegal could save lives throughout the Middle East.

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column which was sent to subscribers this morning. To read it and other columns, visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford to subscribe, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a reduced or free subscription.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training. 

The constitutional court has decided that candidates can contest elections if they gather the signatures of only a few voters. But candidates still need to pay a sizeable deposit to stand. This gets it the wrong way round. We need to make sure that candidates show real voter support if they want to stand - however small their bank balance is.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column just sent to subscribers. It is the last column of the year and will resume in mid-January. To subscribe, visit the Against the Tide website. To ask for a free or reduced subscription, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training. 

A court ruling declaring load shedding unconstitutional has been loudly cheered but it is more a problem than a solution. The fact that the government is not doing a good job does not mean that what it does is unconstitutional. If the courts declare all government mistakes breaches of the constitution, we will be ruled by a small group of judges, not the representatives we elect.    

This is the view of my latest Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To read it, visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford to subscribe, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a free or reduced subscription.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training. 

The Minister of Home Affairs will no doubt hotly deny this, but his new White Paper on immigration is full to the brim with colonial thinking. So are most of the attitudes to immigrants which are all over the media here and are shared by all the political parties.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column which was sent to subscribers this morning. To read it, visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford to subscribe, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to request a free or reduced subscription. 

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training. 

Another voter registration weekend has come and gone. But why should South Africans need to register to vote? Voting is a human right and we should not need to stand in lines and fill out forms to claim a right which ever human should have.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide Column sent to subscribers this morning. To read it, please visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford a subscription, please contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a reduced or free subscription.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.   

If the people are not what the government want them to be, the government believes that this is the people's fault and that they should change. This is a very common government view which explains why Gauteng is trying to block a scheme to save babies who are abandoned by their mothers. It is not only an undemocratic attitude - it makes the government less effective.

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To read it, please visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford to subscribe, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a reduced or free subscription. 

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.      

Despite what we hear, no-one will use the country's rugby World Cup win to unite us behind common goals. In weeks, we will be fighting with each other as usual.

This is good news. A rugby win does not change the reality that we are a deeply divided society  and so there is nothing strange about our lack of unity. We will make more progress if we recognise this and deal with it than if we try to wish it away because people cheer for the same sports teams.

This is the argument of my Against the Tide column this week, which was sent to subscribers this morning. To read it and other articles on current politics, visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford a subscription, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a reduced or free subscription.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Do we take censuses too seriously? This year's census, released a few days ago,  has been criticised for not counting many South Africans. We are told that this is important partly because the government needs the census to work out what we need.  But, when any census anywhere tells us that it has given us an entirely accurate picture of our country and what it needs, we should have our doubts. More important, the government should not use a census to decide what we need - it should listen to the people when they tell it what we need.  

This is the view of my Against the Tide column this week which has been sent to subscribers. To read it, please visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford to subscribe, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a free or reduced subscription.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The Judicial Services Commission is again under fire from lawyers, the media and some politicians for failing to recommend a particular candidate for appointment to the Constitutional Court. It is accused of discriminating against him because it dislikes his political opinions. Politics, we are told, is being placed before legal merit. But a closer look shows his supporters have no problem with demands that a judge be disciplined for holding the opposite view. It also shows that judges' politics always influence their judgements, particularly on the Constitutional Court. So what seems to be a protest against political interference in the courts turns out to be a campaign to make sure that judges whose opinions people in the suburbs like are favoured over those whose opinions they dislike.

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column which was sent to subscribers this morning. To read it and other columns on politics visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford the subscription, contacts us at info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a reduced or free subscription. 

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Across the globe, racist right-wing politicians and parties who were once on the margins have been gaining a role in government. We are told repeatedly that this is because, deep down, people don't like tolerating others who differ from them and that it is only the elites which support fairness and democracy. But a close look shows that the opposite is true. Right-wing bigots are gaining ground because this is what elites want, not what the people want.


This is the view of my weekly
Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To read it and many other columns on politics today, visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford to subscribe, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a free or reduced subscription

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

The national treasury wants the government to cut its spending. It believes that it must keep a tight lid on its finances to attract investors. Its critics say that it needs to do the opposite - to spend more to grow the economy. But, right now, how much the government spends is less important than how it spends what it has. Spending often does not meet the needs of most people because the government often offers people what it thinks they need, not what they think they need.

This is the argument of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe, please visit the Against the Tide website or contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to request a free or reduced subscription. 

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Politicians and media who reacted to the passing of Mangosuthu Buthelezi were determined to ignore or silence anyone who wanted to talk about the conflicts before 1994 in which he played a role. This is not unusual - one of the unspoken rules since democracy arrived is drawing a curtain over what politicians did then. This ignoring the past is supposed to promote peace but it does just the opposite. It silences people, ignores their pain and makes sure that anger festers because it can't be expressed. If we want to move on from the past, we need to face it.


This is the view of my weekly
Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To subscribe so that you can read it and many others, visit the Against the Tide website. To ask for a reduced or free subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Amidst all the reaction to the fire which took nearly 80 lives in  Johannesburg , only one group of people have not been heard: those who live in the inner city building where the tragedy struck. This is typical - debate in this country talks about poor people but never hears them. Until that changes, the lives of the people in the buildings, and millions of others, will not improve


This is the view of my weekly
Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To read it, visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford to subscribe, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a reduced or free subscription

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Reactions to last week's Brics summit showed again that, for some, anything which is not Western should be cheered. It is easy to understand why - the West colonised this country and continues to believe that it is better than the rest. But, when people support human rights abuses they would never tolerate here because the West does not like the abusers, they are, ironically, allowing the West to decide who and what they should support.

This is the view of this week's Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To read it, please visit the Against the Tide website to subscribe. If you can't afford to subscribe, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a reduced or free subscription.

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

We often hear in this country that democracy can't improve people's lives. A referendum in Ecuador over the weekend showed just how wrong that is. Indigenous people, who are used to being ignored or insulted, worked with allies to win a referendum in which people voted by a large margin to prevent companies drilling for oil in a crucial part of the Amazon. Their victory offers important lessons for how democracy can be used to bring change in this country.    


This is the view of my weekly 
Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To read it, please visit the  Against the Tide website and subscribe. To request a reduced or free subscription if you can't afford to pay, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Next year's election, we are told, will bring more change than any since 1994 because it is the first in which the ANC is not guaranteed a majority. It is true that the drop in ANC support has opened up opportunities for new voices and should make it easier for citizens to get government to do what they want. But the election may change much less than we are being told because no party has yet emerged which can replace the ANC as the choice of most voters and citizens are not using the opportunities created by this new reality.  

This is the view of my weekly Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To read it, visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford a subscription, contacts us at info@againstthetide.co.za to request a reduced or free subscription

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

 

The country's two biggest parties and more than a few lobby groups claim they have the 'solution' to the coalition 'problem'. What they really have is a plan for big parties to gang up on smaller ones. They also want to limit the choices which voters and parties can make because they clearly believe that too much democracy is a bad thing. They probably would not make coalitions any easier - but they would deny hundreds of thousands of people a voice.

That is the view of my Against the Tide column sent to subscribers this morning. To read it, visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford a subscription, contact info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a reduced or free subscription

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

You would think that a court case against the government charging that its rules deprive 8 million people of a grant they badly need would be a major news event. It isn't. Why? Because the people who are said to be losing out are not part of the one-third whose voices are heard in this country's debates. And because the people who decide what we should talk about love dismissing grants and the people who receive them despite the fact that grants are by far the country's most successful measure against poverty. So the fact that the case is being ignored shows again that one-third of the country could not care less about the rest.

This is the argument of my  Against the Tide column this week which was sent to subscribers this morning. To read it, visit the  Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford to subscribe, contact us at info@againstthetide.co.za to request a reduced or free subscription

Judges play an important role in defending the constitution and dispensing justice. But this does not mean they are experts on politics and government. And it certainly does not mean that their opinions on these issues should tell us what to do simply because they are the views of judges. Which is why the current fuss about implementing the Zondo Commission's recommendations on how parliament and elections should be changed should be ignored. While the Commission played an
important role bringing people to justice, its views on these issues would take us backwards


This is the view of my Against the Tide column this week which has just been sent to subscribers. To read it, please visit the Against the Tide website and subscribe. If you can't afford a subscription, contact us at
info@againstthetide.co.za to discuss a reduced or free subscription

Muzi Kuzwayo, one of the editors and Christina Greyling a contributor to This Generation Leads: The Latest Leadership Ideas from South Africa had a live studio interview on Radio Mix 93.8 FM with Lundi Khoisan on Monday the 25th of April. The book is getting very good coverage and is even featuring online in Australia, Japan, Taiwan and Fiji.

Listen to Justin Plaatjes, the author of Chapter 9 of This Generation Leads: The Latest Leadership Ideas from South Africa talk about Leading with heart and mind. View the interview here.

Fanele Mnguni and Boipontsho Maboste Mnguni the authors of Chapters 3 and 10 of This Generation Leads: The Latest Leadership Ideas from South Africa speak about their experiences of leadership. View the interview here