The well-known adage of St Bernard of Clairvaux, that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, may be traced back further to Julius Ceasar’s pronouncement that bad norms are preceded by justifiable principles. Be that as it may, the point is clear. Regarding the absolutisation of inclusivity, a norm that has brought a…
To anyone wishing to do business in South Africa or with the South African government, the idea of race-based preferential practices is not a new phenomenon. On the contrary, it forms part of the existing dispensation to such an extent that businesses regularly make appointments or even create sections aimed specifically at dealing and complying…
Justice as a topic of deep philosophical debate is as old as humanity itself. The common thread running through the history of the Western philosophy of justice is the essentially varied nature of humanity and the appropriate way for justice to be realised on an individual and societal level given this reality. In the West…
Everyone seems to be talking about the looming collapse of the ANC. If the party implodes, however, it does not imply by default that people will stop voting for them. The post-1994 political dispensation exposed many inconvenient truths. I say “inconvenient”, because these truths often contradict the mainstream political narrative about South Africa that we…
The misplaced self-confidence in the ability to separate matters Every high civilization decays by forgetting obvious things. – GK Chesterton The modern Western person accepts various matters as possible, and regards them as normal; although these are often matters that are not necessarily possible or normal or are not supposed to be so….
Summary South Africa is a highly diverse country in geography, climate, language, economy and race. As a result, central government cannot provide policies that address the needs of ordinary people without it devolving control of the agenda-setting process to a significant extent. However, the Constitution – both as it currently exists and as it has…
The recent judgment in the Unisa case allows for two observations. The first one is that despite everything there is still hope for the continuation of Afrikaans at academic level in the public university sector, especially if distance teaching continues to grow; a growth which was stimulated by the so-called “new normal” caused by pandemic…
… [T]he depiction of the highest courts, as the ultimate protector of rights, is at the same time distinctively romantic, and false. The state, in the accurate analysis of Max Weber, is the holder of the monopoly of legitimate force, which includes violence. The legitimate wielders of force are not only the security agencies of…
When I was initially offered this opportunity to write this piece I was perplexed and honoured. Honoured because of the chance to make a contribution to cultural writing. Perplexed because I did not consider myself the man for the job. I am a man who lives within my culture, but I am not a cultural…
“Beauty is vanishing from our world because we live as though it did not matter.” – Roger Scruton If you were to look from afar over the suburbs of Johannesburg, two things would catch your eye. The voluminous amount of trees and the horror of the structures beneath those trees. These structures are called ‘homes’,…
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