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Roger Southall

Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand

Roger Southall is an Emeritus Professor in Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand. He was previously Distinguished Research Fellow at the Human Sciences Research Council (2001-2007) and Professor of Political Studies at Rhodes University (1989-2001). Prior to that he worked in universities in Uganda, Lesotho, Canada and the UK. He is author of South Africa's Transkei: The Political Economy of an 'Independent' Bantustan (1983), Imperialism or Solidarity? International Labour and South African Trade Unions (1995), Liberation Movements in Power: Party and State in Southern Affrica (2013) and The New Black Middle Class in South Africa (2016). He has also published extensively on African politics, political economy and labour in leading academic journals, as well as contributing chapters to numerous books. He receives research funding from the National Research Foundation.

What is RET and what does it want? The Radical Economic Transformation faction in South Africa explained

Dec 08, 2022 10:50 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

It has been standard for some years, in any analysis of South Africas governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), to refer to the radical economic transformation (RET) faction. Yet, there has been little serious...

South Africa is in a state of drift: the danger is that the ANC turns the way of Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF

Feb 02, 2022 08:48 am UTC| Politics

The dismal fate of Zimbabwe under the stewardship of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) government has long stood out as a warning to South Africas governing party, the African National Congress...

Why South Africa's white leaders shouldn't get into comparative politics of sin

Feb 22, 2020 00:25 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

FW De Klerk, South Africas last apartheid-era president, and his foundation, have learnt the hard way the dangers of the comparative politics of sin. He recently gave an interview to mark his historic speech to parliament...

Events in Lesotho point to poor prospects for political stability

Jan 28, 2020 08:32 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

In 2017 the estranged wife of Lesothos prime minister Tom Thabane was shot dead in suspicious circumstances two days ahead of his inauguration. Now theres a new twist in the saga: on 11 January authorities issued an arrest...

A centrist political alliance in South Africa? Yes, but hard to get

Oct 20, 2019 10:21 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

Is there the possibility that political centrists in South Africas governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), and its main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), could merge? The question arises...

South Africa's 2019 poll showed dangerous signs of 'insiders' and 'outsiders'

Aug 15, 2019 17:38 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

The general election in South Africa in May conveyed mixed messages: one was that democracy is maturing, the other that it is failing. The good news was that this was very clearly an outcome of a discerning electorate...

A democracy or a kleptocracy? How South Africa stacks up

Feb 10, 2019 10:53 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

South Africans have been held spellbound by the torrent of evidence of corruption emerging from two parallel commissions of inquiry into state capture, and the fitness to hold office of two senior officials of the...

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Economy

What if the Reserve Bank itself has been feeding inflation? An economist explains

Heres something for the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia to ponder as it meets next month to set interest rates. It has pushed up rates on 13 occasions since it began its attempt to restrain inflation in May...

China’s new world order: looking for clues from Xi’s recent meetings with foreign leaders

There is broad consensus that Chinese foreign policy has become more assertive and more centralised in the decade since Xi Jinping has ascended to the top of Chinas leadership. This has also meant that Chinese foreign...

How India’s economy has fared under ten years of Narendra Modi

More than 960 million Indians will head to the polls in the worlds biggest election between April 19 and early June. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seeking a third...

Will global oil supply be at risk if Iran and Israel pull the Middle East into war?

Tensions in the Middle East have escalated following Irans weekend missile and drone attacks on Israel, heightening concerns of a wider conflict. As with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, further conflict has the...

EU enlargement: What does the future hold?

To widen or to deepen. This has been one of the longstanding dilemmas throughout European Union (EU) history, and a perennial sticking point in the unending process of European integration. In its time, the UK...

Politics

Georgia is sliding towards autocracy after government moves to force through bill on ‘foreign agents’

Georgias ruling party attempted to pass a controversial bill on foreign agents in March 2023. The law would have required civil society groups and the media to register as being under foreign influence if they receive...

South Korean President Yoon faces foreign policy challenges after the National Assembly election

South Koreas parliamentary election of April 10, 2024, was widely seen as a referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeols first two years in office. That being the case, the nation collectively expressed its strong...

How will US foreign policy affect Joe Biden’s chances of re-election in November?

When big questions about American foreign policy collide with an election, its rarely good news for a sitting president. Like many leaders before him, US President Joe Biden has had some of these questions thrust on...

US Commerce Secretary Asserts Huawei Chip Lag, Affirms Export Control Success

In an interview on CBS News 60 Minutes, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo stated that the latest Huawei Mate 60 Pro phones chip remains significantly behind U.S. technology despite being the most advanced from China. She...

‘We have thousands of Modis’: the secret behind the BJP’s enduring success in India

Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis popularity has grown exponentially and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP...

Science

The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook

A piece of space junk recently crashed through the roof and floor of a mans home in Florida. Nasa later confirmed that the object had come from unwanted hardware released from the international space station. The 700g,...

Peter Higgs was one of the greats of particle physics. He transformed what we know about the building blocks of the universe

Peter Higgs, who gave his name to the subatomic particle known as the Higgs boson, has died aged 94. He was always a modest man, especially when considering that he was one of the greats of particle physics the area of...

Could a telescope ever see the beginning of time? An astronomer explains

The James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST for short, is one of the most advanced telescopes ever built. Planning for JWST began over 25 years ago, and construction efforts spanned over a decade. It was launched into space on...

US media coverage of new science less likely to mention researchers with African and East Asian names

When one Chinese national recently petitioned the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to become a permanent resident, he thought his chances were pretty good. As an accomplished biologist, he figured that news...

If life exists on Jupiter’s moon Europa, scientists might soon be able to detect it

Europa is one of the largest of more than 90 moons in orbit around the planet Jupiter. It is also one of the best places to look for alien life. Often termed an ocean world by scientists, observations to date strongly...

Technology

Qualcomm Responds to Snapdragon X Elite Benchmark Cheating Claims

Qualcomm has responded to the serious allegations that it cheated on performance benchmarks for its Snapdragon X Elite and Plus chips, targeting competition with leading laptop processors. According to Toms Hardware,...

Bitcoin Surges Globally, Yen Hits Record Low Against Cryptocurrency

In a stunning financial shift, the Japanese yen has reached a 34-year low against Bitcoin, which also hit all-time highs in 14 countries, fueled by optimism surrounding new spot Bitcoin ETFs. Yen Hits 34-Year Low as...

Worldcoin Targets OpenAI Alliance, Faces Scrutiny Amid Regulatory Challenges

Worldcoin, a digital identification innovator, is eyeing a partnership with OpenAI despite facing regulatory scrutiny and data privacy concerns. The collaboration aims to bolster its technological advancements and market...

SHIB Community Ignites Burn Rate by 2,076% Following Major Announcement

The Shiba Inu community has dramatically increased the SHIB burn rate by 2,076% in response to a recent significant announcement, signaling a proactive shift in strategy. Shiba Inu Community Ramps Up Token Burns,...

Toyota Teams with Tencent, Nissan Joins Forces with Baidu in China AI Drive

The automakers announced on Thursday that Nissan will partner with Baidu and Toyota Motor of Japan will partner with Tencent of China. These cross-border alliances underscore the significance of artificial intelligence to...