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Roger Southall

Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand

Roger Southall is an Emeritus Professor in Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand. He was previously Distinguished Research Fellow at the Human Sciences Research Council (2001-2007) and Professor of Political Studies at Rhodes University (1989-2001). Prior to that he worked in universities in Uganda, Lesotho, Canada and the UK. He is author of South Africa's Transkei: The Political Economy of an 'Independent' Bantustan (1983), Imperialism or Solidarity? International Labour and South African Trade Unions (1995), Liberation Movements in Power: Party and State in Southern Affrica (2013) and The New Black Middle Class in South Africa (2016). He has also published extensively on African politics, political economy and labour in leading academic journals, as well as contributing chapters to numerous books. He receives research funding from the National Research Foundation.

What is RET and what does it want? The Radical Economic Transformation faction in South Africa explained

Dec 08, 2022 10:50 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

It has been standard for some years, in any analysis of South Africas governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), to refer to the radical economic transformation (RET) faction. Yet, there has been little serious...

South Africa is in a state of drift: the danger is that the ANC turns the way of Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF

Feb 02, 2022 08:48 am UTC| Politics

The dismal fate of Zimbabwe under the stewardship of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) government has long stood out as a warning to South Africas governing party, the African National Congress...

Why South Africa's white leaders shouldn't get into comparative politics of sin

Feb 22, 2020 00:25 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

FW De Klerk, South Africas last apartheid-era president, and his foundation, have learnt the hard way the dangers of the comparative politics of sin. He recently gave an interview to mark his historic speech to parliament...

Events in Lesotho point to poor prospects for political stability

Jan 28, 2020 08:32 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

In 2017 the estranged wife of Lesothos prime minister Tom Thabane was shot dead in suspicious circumstances two days ahead of his inauguration. Now theres a new twist in the saga: on 11 January authorities issued an arrest...

A centrist political alliance in South Africa? Yes, but hard to get

Oct 20, 2019 10:21 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

Is there the possibility that political centrists in South Africas governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), and its main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), could merge? The question arises...

South Africa's 2019 poll showed dangerous signs of 'insiders' and 'outsiders'

Aug 15, 2019 17:38 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

The general election in South Africa in May conveyed mixed messages: one was that democracy is maturing, the other that it is failing. The good news was that this was very clearly an outcome of a discerning electorate...

A democracy or a kleptocracy? How South Africa stacks up

Feb 10, 2019 10:53 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

South Africans have been held spellbound by the torrent of evidence of corruption emerging from two parallel commissions of inquiry into state capture, and the fitness to hold office of two senior officials of the...

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Economy

Oil Prices Steady as U.S.-Iran Truce Uncertainty and Middle East Tensions Keep Markets on Edge

Global oil prices stabilized on Friday, but Brent crude remained on track for a weekly decline of more than 8% as investors assessed the uncertain future of the U.S.-Iran peace agreement and ongoing geopolitical risks in...

Asian Stocks Surge as Oil Prices Fall and Strong US Dollar Weighs on Markets

Asian stock markets rallied on Friday, with Japan and South Korea reaching record highs as easing tensions in the Middle East and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices lower, reducing global inflation...

US Stock Futures Slip After Wall Street Rally Fueled by US-Iran Deal and Chipmaker Surge

U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Thursday evening, giving back some gains after a strong Wall Street rally driven by optimism surrounding a new U.S.-Iran agreement and a powerful surge in semiconductor stocks....

Canada, British Columbia Launch $5 Billion Infrastructure Partnership to Boost Housing, Transit, and Healthcare

Canada and British Columbia have unveiled a major long-term infrastructure partnership valued at more than $5 billion, aimed at accelerating housing development, expanding healthcare facilities, and improving public...

Japan Inflation Stays Below BOJ Target Despite Rate Hike and Rising Energy Cost Risks

Japans consumer inflation remained subdued in May, highlighting the ongoing impact of government energy subsidies even as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) signals concerns over future price pressures. The latest inflation data was...

Politics

Bolivia Nears End to 50-Day Crisis After Government Reaches Deal With Workers

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz has reached a key agreement with the Bolivian Workers Confederation (COB), marking a significant step toward ending a nationwide crisis that has disrupted the country for nearly 50 days. The...

Trump Says Anthropic No Longer Seen as National Security Threat

U.S. President Donald Trump said he no longer views artificial intelligence company Anthropic as a national security threat, marking a significant shift from his stance just a week earlier. The comments came during an...

UN Clash Erupts as Israel Envoy Confronts UN Officials Over Blacklisting Reports

A tense confrontation unfolded at the United Nations headquarters in New York during an event marking the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, as Israels ambassador to the U.N., Danny...

Meloni Slams Trump Over G7 Photo Claim as U.S.-Italy Relations Deteriorate

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has strongly rejected claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump that she begged him for a photo during the recent G7 summit, calling the remarks completely made up and expressing...

Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Takes Effect Amid Rising Tensions Over U.S.-Iran Deal

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire on Friday following days of intensified fighting in Lebanon that threatened to undermine the recently announced U.S.-Iran agreement aimed at ending broader Middle East...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

John Jumper Leaves Google DeepMind for Anthropic Amid Intensifying AI Talent Race

John Jumper, the Google DeepMind researcher who shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking work on the AlphaFold artificial intelligence system, has announced that he is leaving Google DeepMind to join...

Meta Seeks Legal Shield From Child-Harm Lawsuits Amid KOSA Talks

Meta Platforms is reportedly lobbying U.S. lawmakers to include legal protections for social media companies in the proposed Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a move that could significantly impact thousands of lawsuits...

SpaceX Stock Slides After IPO Rally as Valuation Concerns Grow

SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) shares extended their pullback on Thursday after a remarkable post-IPO rally, as investors locked in profits and questioned the companys lofty valuation. The stock, which dropped nearly 10% earlier in...

US Raises Concerns Over Possible ASML EUV Machine Transfer to China

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has reportedly raised concerns with Dutch semiconductor equipment giant ASML regarding the possible transfer of one of its advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines to...

Google Gemini Co-Lead Noam Shazeer Leaves for OpenAI Amid AI Talent Race

Noam Shazeer, a vice president of engineering at Google and one of the leaders behind the companys Gemini artificial intelligence models, has announced that he is leaving Google to join OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. The...