17 February 2018 - Even the DRC is seen as a better mining investment destination than SA, but that can be changed
Our own writing in the media
Every year our analysts and policy experts, in promoting new ideas and policies, contribute a wide range of articles to newspapers across South Africa.
17 February 2018 - On the hard substance of his speech, there was little to differentiate this State of the Nation Address from any over the last decade. It was short on facts, details, quantifiable outcomes or hard policy decisions.
16 February 2018 - At the time, the reformist view – which we likened to the experience of the verligte Afrikaners – was broadly rubbished as being outside the bounds of possibility. While the scenario we have subsequently lived through was certainly not the upside one – we continued to hold out the possibility of an ANC reformation, forced by political and economic realities, in two books published on South Africa's future, the first in 2014 and the second in 2017.
16 February 2018 - Ramaphosa came to power in December with the most narrow of majorities in his party and quite possibly, at first, a minority on its national executive committee.
16 February 2018 - The leadership change in the ruling party and the government has generally been welcomed by the local and international business communities as an opportunity to put South Africa on a high-growth and developmentally orientated course. However, this sentiment is likely to prove fickle if the government commits to a course of action that will undermine the economic foundations of the country.
15 February 2018 - The looming judicial review of the government’s controversial Mining Charter this month sharpens attention on what works, and what doesn’t, in stimulating an industry capable of attracting investment, creating jobs and pulling up the growth rate.
14 February 2018 - Renowned water scientist Dr Anthony Turton adds that debate around water in South Africa has become so politicised that the realities of hydrology are often subordinated to the dictates of ideology – part of which is a suspicion of private enterprise. It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that this was on display in Parliament.
13 February 2018 - South Africa's bleak employment outlook underscores the pressing need for the country to revisit its policy on mining with a view to generating investment-led growth in one of the few sectors of the economy with the potential to absorb large numbers of unskilled labour.
12 February 2018 - In an open society with a free and critical press and vigilant NGOs, there is no excuse for government officials not to know what is going on around them. It was no excuse under the previous government and it is no excuse under the present one.
12 February 2018 - "Most people would seem to believe the last 20 years have hardly revolutionised their lives."
11 February 2018 - Much has been made of the apparently paltry landholdings of black South Africans, at 1.2% of farmland and 7% of formally registered urban land. Taken at face value, this suggests that neither government’s land reform initiatives, nor market-based transactions, have had any noticeable impact on black people’s asset base
9 February 2018 - On the strength of his pro-investment approach, Cyril Ramaphosa’s elevation is being viewed with hope – and it comes at a propitious time.