Democracy Unplugged

The team is joined by Ebrahim Harvey - former Cosatu trade unionist and a political writer, analyst and commentator for over two decades. Ebrahim has written an analysis on the ruling party called The Great Pretenders: Race and Class under ANC Rule. It’s a heated and passionate discussion about the current state of the ANC, trade unions being corrupt, the impact of the 4th industrial revolution and a whole lot more.

This week the team dives into whether or not we will see a split in the ANC, SARS holding a gun to taxpayers’ heads, the vaccine passport, Donald Trump, and much more. They're joined by Rob Hutchinson, MD of “Dear South Africa”, a civil organisation which facilitates public participation in government policy formation.

There’s hardly an uneventful day in the South African political landscape with President Ramaphosa appearing at the State Capture inquiry, the ANC and corruption, Ace Magashule’s suspension, and lots more. The team, along with Leeto Nthoba - lecturer at Central University of Technology, debater and socio-political analyst - unpack these and share their views and opinions.

It’s been a long time coming… Kanthan Pillay returns to The Burning Platform! Together with Gareth and Phumi, he dissects the Zondo commission, likening it to being a reality show. There’s a chat about creative ways of creating jobs, and why Derek Chauvin being found guilty of murdering George Floyd shouldn’t be a big deal.

The team is joined by libertarian, former member of the Capitalist Party, and host of the ManPatria podcast, Dumo Denga. They take a scorching hot look at what’s happening in the world of politics and discuss land invasion, whether a new leftist party is a possible solution, cabinet reshuffles, cancel culture and more.

Does politics get in the way of global business opportunities for South Africa? There's a lot that could make you not see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to how SA works, but maybe Yaw Peprah - a qualified chartered accountant - will change your view. He chats to Gareth about a number of topics including Mozambique, Mmusi Maimane, the DA and the state of America.

Commentator on politics, economics and global affairs Phumlani Majozi - Senior fellow at African Liberty joins Gareth and Phumi to have a candid conversation about the current political status of South Africa, if socialism is the answer, government increasing taxes and the high unemployment.

This week’s guest commentator is Dr Nthabiseng Moleko, a senior lecturer in managerial economics at the University of Stellenbosch Business School. She believes the country needs a lot more decisive and immediate actions to propel inclusive and labour-intensive growth. The team tackles the latest political stories and all of this, as always, is brought to you by Nando’s.

With a week that was far from quiet, we had to bring in the big guns to unpack some of the hottest political stories in another edition of The Burning Platform. Joining Gareth is lecturer at Central University of Technology, debater and socio-political analyst, Leeto Nthoba... plus, analyst, CEO of the IRR, and director of the Centre for Risk Analysis, Frans Cronje. They tackle student protests, police brutality, Bheki Cele, the trial of George Floyd, unemployment in South Africa, the abuse that taxpayers experience and a whole lot more.

Head of Strategic Engagement at the IRR, Sara Gon joins the team to share her opposing views with Phumi and Gareth regarding the DA. They define what they consider as mainstream media, have a candid conversation about the shrinkage of the economy, and Eskom implementing stage 2 load-shedding.