Eusebius on TimesLIVE

The DA scored a major legal victory against the ANC today. In this explainer audio, TimesLIVE contributor and analyst Eusebius McKaiser makes sense of why the court found against the ANC and puzzles through the political implications.

The court has ordered the ANC to hand over, within five court days, the records of the ANC national cadre deployment committee for its work spanning from January 1 2013 until January 1 2021.

McKaiser explains three major arguments advanced by the DA, two of them intrinsically linked to the constitutional duties of the DA in parliament. It is these arguments in particular that persuaded the court.

The ANC is likely to appeal the judgment, but, as McKaiser explained, this does not mean the case is not politically significant.

Regardless of how the lawfare between the parties may yet play out, the case entrenches, argues McKaiser, certain norms like transparency and accountability, and in so doing also ensures the meaningful enjoyment of political rights. Have a listen.

Produced by Bulelani Nonyukela.

In this edition of Eusebius on TimesLIVE, the podcast host engaged former Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse on her ambition to become the next DA leader.

She argued the current leadership is not best placed to lead the party into the 2024 national and provincial elections. Phalatse insists the leadership, John Steenhuisen included, do not connect with voters in rural areas or townships. This is one reason she wants to be part of a new offering to voters.

When pressed on whether she has sufficient backing within the party, Phalatse said she has “been approached” by many people in the party who share her view about the leadership and who agitated for her to run for the top position.

McKaiser asked her whether she would agree Steenhuisen is “an excellent leader” to which she responded, while Steenhuisen has done his best, he is not excellent and does not connect with “the masses”. Phalatse argued that even among white voters there are those who question whether he is the best person for the job. The party needs to be more introspective and less defensive, she argues.

When asked about her vision for the country, Phalatse conceded she did not yet have a manifesto but added if she were to become DA leader she would argue for the party to get better feedback from communities about what their policies ought to be.

McKaiser ended the discussion by asking Phalatse to respond to claims she is ill-disciplined and not a team player, such as her open criticism of the DA's federal leadership structure. She insisted “exposing blind spots” doesn't mean she is not a team player.

Produced by Bulelani Nonyukela.

Political analyst Adam Habib joins Eusebius McKaiser on his TimesLIVE podcast to elaborate on a series of explosive tweets he recently published. Habib argues that the ANC Youth League, Cosatu, and the SACP do not have the moral authority to criticise the state for rolling blackouts.

Rather, argues Habib, they should take responsibility for being a major part of the genesis of the problem. Some of them are responsible for aspects of the crisis we are living through, or, in some cases, helped bring to power the likes of former president Jacob Zuma, which led to state capture, including massive corruption at Eskom.

Habib and McKaiser discuss whether the distinction between party and state can, legitimately, be invoked by the governing party. Habib argues that they do so opportunistically and disingenuously, if one took account of the dominance of the party in our political system.

TimesLIVE spoke to attorney Siphile Buthelezi about the legal basis of the letter of demand he sent on behalf of clients to the department of public enterprises and Eskom.

On Eusebius on TimesLIVE, he was asked to justify the legal argument that underpinned this demand.

Buthelezi, as can be heard in the accompanying audio, is confident the state does not only have a political duty to ensure a secure supply of electricity but, specifically, also a legally enforceable duty to do so. He insists, despite pressure testing questions from the podcast host, several constitutional rights of citizens are directly and unlawfully violated by government due to the ongoing rolling blackouts.

Eusebius McKaiser and Buthelezi debate whether the demands of the attorney’s clients are too expansive, and possibly trample on the doctrine of separation of powers by encroaching on the exclusive authority of the executive to determine policy.

The conversation also focuses on why citizens are legally entitled to greater transparency from government on the content of its plans to fix the energy crisis.

TimesLIVE contributor and analyst Eusebius McKaiser examines the legal action being initiated against the department of public enterprises and Eskom in this audio explainer.

Political parties, unionists and civil society bodies have sent a letter of demands to the two in an attempt to halt rolling blackouts. However, they are much wider in scope.

McKaiser aims to explain who the litigants are and what they are demanding. He also offers a view on the politics at play, ending with commentary on whether this lawfare could succeed.

Business Unity South Africa president Bonang Mohale joined Eusebius McKaiser to discuss his recent opinion piece (https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2022-12-15-the-anc-cannot-fix-itself-south-africas-last-hope-is-business/ ) in which he argued the ANC cannot fix itself. Instead, he is of the view business is South Africa’s last hope.

The discussion starts with an analysis of the ANC’s recent elective conference. McKaiser invited Mohale to comment on the new leadership composition of the top seven officials, and the party’s highest decision-making structure, the national executive committee.

Mohale argued that the inefficient manner in which the elective conference was run, and the strategic error of allocating most of the time to leadership elections rather than to a deep examination of ideas and policies, is evidence of an ANC that is unable to fix itself. He expanded on this diagnosis in the conversation with podcast host, TimesLIVE contributor and analyst McKaiser.

In this edition of Eusebius on TimesLIVE, he was joined by founding CEO of Diversi-T Terry Oakley-Smith to examine a range of issues on antiracism. Bringing her wealth of experience to bear on the conversation, Oakley-Smith started by explaining how little cross-racial contact and lack of early formation of cross-racial friendships shaped her own and many other white people's lack of appreciation for the lived experiences of black people. She explains it often requires intentional work or momentous experiences for even “progressive” white people to recognise the salience of race.

In this edition of Eusebius on TimesLIVE, podcast host Eusebius McKaiser wears his hat as a political analyst and reviews the coverage of what happened at a resort in the Free State recently.

McKaiser argues and explains how certain frameworks chosen by reporters, subeditors, and editors unwittingly water down the seriousness of racism.

He also offers arguments in support of the view that editorial choices are not value-neutral (just as neither writing nor reporting are value-neutral speech acts).What we write, and how we edit, and frame stories, can reveal our most deeply-held political convictions, he concludes, even when we genuinely imagine ourselves to simply be “knocking into shape” a first draft.

It is, as always, up to listeners of the podcast to determine whether and how much they agree with the analyst and contributor to TimesLIVE.

Enjoy and subscribe to Eusebius on TimesLIVE on any podcast so that you never miss a future episode.

In this edition of Eusebius on TimesLIVE, he is joined by seasoned journalists Sam Mkokeli and Sabelo Skiti.

They bring their collective institutional memories to bear on a range of questions: Who are the characters in the top 7? What do we know about their track records? Are they fit for purpose?

A big theme in this podcast episode explores whether the newly elected top officials can improve the ANC. Can it now “renew” as it so often promises?

The party used to be well known for effective electioneering, and the interlocutors spar on whether the new leadership can modernise their campaign strategy well and swiftly enough to improve the ANC's electoral prospects in time for the  2024 elections.

McKaiser and his guests also chewed the political fat on whether President Cyril Ramaphosa's hand has been strengthened after his victory. There is debate on whether some political reporters and fellow commentators are misreading the apparent Ramaphosa victory.

The episode ends with reflections on the implications for the state.

As always, Eusebius on TimesLIVE listeners get to decide where their views fall.

In this short piece of audio analysis, TimesLIVE contributor and analyst Eusebius McKaiser summarises what President Cyril Ramaphosa set out to achieve in his political report at the African National Congress' elective conference.

McKaiser argues, with examples to that end, that while Ramaphosa cited some details of the ANC government's achievements, he embellished his analysis of reality.

A lot of the deeper structural challenges that had not been effectively dealt with by the ANC government with only mentioned in passing rather than drilled down into.

Do you agree with McKaiser, or do you think Ramaphosa gave a balanced account of the ANC's record?

Have a listen and decide for yourself.