The Rigging of the Rand
Why South Africa must take its currency cartels seriously By Mphuthumi Ntabeni When Standard Chartered signed a settlement with South Africa’s Competition Commission in November 2023, it admitted to something extraordinary, a
Mphuthumi Ntabeni
Mphuthumi Ntabeni is trained in built environment, reads literature, history and philosophy. He lives in Cape Town. He has written two historical novels, The Broken River Tent & The Wanderers.
The Tinkering President
By Mphuthumi Ntabeni South African President Cyril Ramaphosa projects a genteel calm, a measured cadence born of his trade-union roots, boardroom prowess, and reputation as a consensus builder. Whenever he must make a
South Africa’s National Dialogue: Born of Crisis in the Shadow of History
South Africa’s proposed National Dialogue is, at its core, an act of political triage. For the first time since the birth of democracy in 1994, the African National Congress lost its outright
Turning Crisis into Realignment: Need for South Africa’s Bold Response to U.S. Tariffs
By Mphuthumi Ntabeni | Political Review When the United States announced new trade restrictions on South African imports, tariffs it framed as retaliatory and rooted in a broader matrix of political grievance, it signalled
The Two-State Solution Is Dead. Let’s Stop Pretending Otherwise.
By Mphuthumi Ntabeni | Opinion For years, the international community has repeated the same tired refrain that the only path to peace in Palestine is through a Two-State Solution. Presidents come and go, summits
South Africa Must Stop Begging for Dignity
Opinion | Politics By Mphuthumi Ntabeni Not for the first time, and surely not the last, South Africa finds itself caught in the crosswinds of American foreign policy. This week’s announcement of impending