Kabous le Roux

2 months ago | ewn.co.za | Kabous le Roux

In her quintessential book about the 1994 transition from apartheid to democracy ‘Anatomy of a Miracle’, journalist Patti Waldmeir shares an anecdote about Cyril Ramaphosa. She recalls how at the beginning of Codesa negotiations, the ANC and the National Party had made sure that the cards were stacked against Inkatha, by ensuring that Codesa’s 19 parties would make decisions by what was termed ‘sufficient consensus’.

Nov 20, 2024 | ewn.co.za | Kabous le Roux

The Tiger Brands listeriosis saga has emerged as a case study of crisis communications — largely, how not to do it. Six years later, the matter is still tainting the brand, as a class action lawsuit persists. Tiger Brands failed to ‘stop the harm’ and immediately take ownership and apologise for the outbreak. Increasingly, research shows that companies that confess to wrongdoing rather than fight it in the courts do better regarding reputation and their bottom lines.

Nov 13, 2024 | ewn.co.za | Kabous le Roux

South Africans recognise this playbook a mile away. Wealthy and entitled businessmen ingratiate themselves with the political elite, leveraging media influence and platforms to sway public opinion in their favour and consolidate power. It is precisely the playbook that we have seen used time and again here, most notably by the Guptas of Saharahastan to capture the state of South Africa. In many ways, South African-born billionaire businessman Elon Musk is the USA’s Gupta.

Oct 23, 2024 | ewn.co.za | Kabous le Roux

Right now, it would be easy to write this headline: ‘Cracks deepen within the GNU’. Different views on international relations and the polarised positions on South Africa’s so-called friendship with Russia have been loud and glaring. But we would be fools to think that this was not always going to happen as long as the Government of National Unity didn’t have a clear agreed policy agenda in place. The Bela Bill. NHI. International Relations.

Oct 15, 2024 | ewn.co.za | Kabous le Roux

There has been a lot of talk about ‘sentiment’ as an economic driver of late. ‘Hope’ is not just warm and fuzzy, but it also pushes up financial metrics as we have seen since the formation of the Government of National Unity three months ago. Do you know what else drives sentiment and hope in South Africa? The Springboks! The back-to-back World Cup-winning rugby team has done more to fuel social cohesion and patriotism in this country than anything else post-democracy.