Against the tide by Steven Friedman

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.

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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.