Against the Tide by Steven Friedman

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

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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.