Against the Tide by Steven Friedman

Sending troops to the Western Cape to fight gang violence will not make anyone safer - it was tried  before and it did not work then either. The government has chosen this - and many are cheering it - because those whose voices matter in this country now seem to believe that the solution to all our problems is people in uniforms with guns.  This threatens democracy and people's safety.   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.