In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser

Testimony from whistle-blower Athol Willaims at the State Capture Commission of Inquiry has directly implicated scores of people and corporates. This, as you can imagine, has led to Williams being ostracised, his bona fides and credentials being attacked, and much more. Last night he released a statement to the effect that he is no longer in South Africa. Due to growing safety concerns, he had lef...

The three biggest parties in South Africa all pretend that the local government election results were not TOO bad for them, and that they each just need to do a LITTLE BIT of soul searching. That is balderdash. In this episode of In The Ring, I explain WHY the leaders of the ANC, DA and EFF are wrong in how they are interpreting the 2021 Local Government Election results.

Professor Adam Habib (Director, School of Oriental and African Studies) joined me to discuss what mistakes parties should avoid as they negotiate coalitions now that the local government elections are done, and left many councils hung.  Besides avoiding errors, Habib and I also discussed, very pragmatically, what negotiators may wish to propose.

The Democratic Alliance ran an advert to scare voters into voting for the DA. The advert explicitly tells voters that it is a mistake to vote for small parties.  I analyse three reasons why this advert shows a lack of understanding of multiparty democracy and democratic theory on the part of the DA leader, John Steenhuisen.

I invited Professor Pierre de Vos to tackle a range of issues starting with an explanation of the law of discrimination when it comes to the renting of one's private property. Can I rent my property only to white people if I so wish? Is it unjust for the law to even try to regulate how I do commerce? What is the thinking here, jurisprudentially? If the law cannot guarantee a change in a racis...

Adv Ben Winks joined me to discuss, firstly, how the law needs to be reformed, urgently, in order to change the legal requirements of what constitutes consent. Secondly, in addition to legal reform, there are important social tropes and stereotypes that contribute to rape culture and that need to be addressed in a bottom-up manner within our homes, schools, and the wider communities and social str...

My friend Oliver Dickson and I tried to puzzle through one of the enduring strategic dilemmas we face in the fight for an anti-racist society: how do we make sure that white supremacy doesn't take up too much of our energies while simultaneously NOT ignoring it and NOT naively hoping it will disappear quietly? Have a listen and join the conversation.

I invited Isobel Frye (Director, Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute) to weigh in on what is becoming an internecine policy debate about unemployment, low growth and the size of our welfare state. Can we afford a Basic Income Grant? What would be its size, total cost to the country and what mechanism would be used to administer it? If the goal is ultimately to get people more economically...

Professor Francois Venter (Wits University) is back for a second installment of Frequently Asked Questions about covid-19. The following are just some of your questions he answered: if everyone I imvite is fully vaccinated, can I have a braai at my house now? If I recently had covid-19 does that mean I have natural immunity and don't need the vaccine? Is it true that the J&J vaccine is sa...

I interviewed the Democratic Alliance mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, Dr Mpho Phalatse, to get to know her: who she is, what her background is, why and how she entered politics and pressure-testing her thinking on the most pertinent local and national issues, including controversies the DA must navigate right now.  Listen, and judge her mayoral candidacy for yourself. 

I invited former head of sociology at Wits University Professor Devan Pillay to debate his tweet that had expressed relief that he won't be able to vote on November 1st. We discussed the democratic value (or lack thereof?) of not voting at all. Along the way we also debated the pros and cons of not voting VERSUS spoiling your ballot. Have a listen. Share the podcast. And let's debate the...

What is the purpose of the Judicial Service Commission? How are commissioners elected? What is the nature and democratic significance of the work of the JSC? I invited Karyn Maughan, senior legal reporter for News24, to join me to explain, firstly, where and how the JSC fits into our lives. We then examined and debated whether the current JSC is fit for purpose. Along the way we assessed how the c...

I have looked at the African National Congress's manifesto and thought about its record in government, with a view to assessing whether or not there is a compelling case for voting ANC this year. I can't see a reason to vote for the ANC. In this podcast episode, I explain in detail why I struggle to be convinced by ANC politicians' plea that we should vote for the party. Have a list...

Many South Africans love saying that we should aim at a non-racial South Africa. But what does that mean? And is 'non-racialism' really the appropriate goal to formulate in response to the legacies of colonialism and apartheid? In this episode, Professor Lewis Gordon retrns, in the second of our 3-part series on race and racism. (The first episode in the 3-part series is archived as epis...

Award-winning author and veteran BBC broadcaster Andrew Harding was my guest a few months ago on a YouTube show, Cover to Cover, which I co-hosted with fellow journalist Joanne Joseph.  I interviewed him about his brilliant second book, These Are Not Gentle People, which has just won the most prestigious non-fiction award in South Africa, the Sunday Times/CNA Literary Award for non-fiction.  Just...

The DA thinks the IEC doesn't have legal power to allow political parties to re-submit lists of candidates who will stand for office in the local elections.  I initially thought the DA case was decent. I have changed my mind after reading the legal papers of all the parties involved in this dispute. In this analysis, I explain why I think I was wrong, and why the IEC's legal position is...

There is a lot of hatred in South Africa. What does the law say about hate speech? Should all speech be allowed and 'the marketplace of ideas' be burdened with eliminating hate speech? Or should the courts be available for us to seek relief when we are the victims of hate speech? What does the constitution say by the way? Would it help the fight against crimes motivated by hatred of some...

Vanita Daniels (director, Rise Up Against Gender Based Violence) joined me to discuss the problem of/with masculinities: a) Are there any "good men" or are allies in the fight for gender-justice also problematic? b) What are differences (if any) between men across class, geography and other markers when it comes to masculinties? How do our toxicities play out depending on various social...

Well-known business leader Bonang Mohale (president of Business Unity South Africa) spoke to me about his open letter to president Cyril Ramaphosa on behalf of business leadership. We engaged on the role of business in tackling urgent South African problems like youth unemployment, general unemployment and low growth. Mohale also gave a searing take on the state of the ANC, the state of the state,...

The news cycle has been very busy and in this podcast episode I give a view on a number of issues: how should we interpret the constitutional court's court order from Friday about our local elections going ahead? In particular, does the court order allow the IEC to give political parties another chance to submit their candidates lists?  What are the political implications in the event that th...

I share my current thoughts on various responses to accusations of abuse on the part of author Thando Mgqolozana (author of A Man Who Is Not A Man, Hear Me Alone, Unimportance). Some of the questions I explore include: Is it important to expres  a public view when a friend is accused of abuse? Or is silence (sometimes) acceptable? Should you wait for the law to "take its course" or can w...

Duma Gqubule (well-known policy expert who focuses a lot of his research on economic development) joined me on In The Ring With Eusebius McKaiser to make sense of the horror of 44,4% South Africans being unemployed.  There can be little doubt that the implications for our democracy are dire if we do not get the 11,9 million adults who are capable of working but not working, into jobs, soonest. How...

In episode 19, I hosted Adriaan Shipalana (CEO, Harambee Technologies) in a conversation that broke the silence around anxiety, panic attacks and other mental health issues. We told our stories of living with these afflictions. (It is well worth revisiting that episode or listening to it for the first time if you had missed it) In this episode, we are joined by Sibusiso Kotelo (IFBB Pro Bodybuilde...

The Economic Freedom Fighters sold itself as THE pro-poor political party, a perfect alternative to a morally bankrupt ANC-led government that is also endemically corrupt. But how desirable is the EFF as an alternative to the ANC and to the Democratic Alliance? In light of the corruption allegations the party's top leadership, and the party itself, have been facing, I step back from the evide...

The South African Revenue Service is going after Brian Shivambu for alleged tax evasion, having slapped him with a tax bill of R28.2 million. They also accuse him of defrauding VBS Mutual Bank to the tune of some R16 million. It gets worse for the Shivambu’s- Brian's brother Floyd, Economic Freedom Fighters' second most senior leader and an MP, is allegedly a beneficiary of the loot to t...