http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A761632

Whether it lasts is in hands of citizens
Steven Friedman

A FELLOW columnist said in a conversation last week, “You know it can’t last.” Whether he is right depends on what “it” is. An irony of our current politics is that, while doom and gloom have engulfed many in business and the professions, democracy is, in important ways, doing better than it has for a long while.

Parliament continues to hold the government to account more than ever before, most recently by threatening a vote of no confidence in the SABC board. The African National Congress (ANC) now differs with the government on electricity price rises and Zimbabwe, to name but two issues. Public consultation on national problems is about to be revived with an energy summit later this month. And by far the most impressive sign of democratic health is citizens’ action, which prevented a Chinese ship carrying arms for Zimbabwe’s regime from docking here. Just as AIDS activists badly wounded one key blot on government policy over the past few years, workers who refused to handle the ship’s cargo and church leaders who blocked the government’s decision to allow the ship to dock severely damaged another: failure to support democracy in Zimbabwe.

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/opinion.aspx?ID=BD4A744397

09 April 2008
Actions to secure future of freedom
Steven Friedman

AS MANY of us hope anxiously that the will of the Zimbabwean people will finally be heard, some South Africans wonder whether our neighbour’s current travail is our future.

Fears that we too might have to contend with a governing elite that digs itself into power are sometimes based on a crude prejudice that insists that black-run countries cannot be democratic, despite much evidence to the contrary. But not all are — people on the left have been known to talk about the “Zanufication” of the African National Congress (ANC), particularly under its old leadership.

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/stevenfriedman/2007/10/17/the-people-our-national-debate-does-not-see-or-hear/
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http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/dailymailer.aspx?ID=BD4A588878

The people our national debate does not see or hear

Steven Friedman

Do our public commentators know nothing about the lives of grassroots South Africans? Or do we simply not care?

One of the more important plusses of our democracy is that we still have a loud and vigorous national debate. Despite worrying signs that politicians might want to reign in the media, we are often able to know what dirt there is (or is alleged to be) on our political leaders. And commentators are free to say what they like — even if it is what our leaders don't like.