Tim Cohen

Johannesburg

Editor of Business Maverick. Former editor of Business Day and the Financial Mail. Views my own. Follow my After the Bell column at https://t.co/KmD2txfBf3

Articles

The legal Budget 2025 brawl just got real

2 weeks ago | dailymaverick.co.za | Tim Cohen

The ANC, I imagine, regards the mere decision of the DA to go to court as an act of malice after it was outmanoeuvred on the passing of the fiscal framework, and it has insisted the DA should scrap the case before the Government of National Unity reset can happen. But there are complications here.
How should Africa respond to President Trump’s Tariff Tantrum?

2 weeks ago | dailymaverick.co.za | Tim Cohen

When it comes to the market and economic crises that have suddenly been sprung upon us by US President Donald Trump’s Tariff Tantrum, sitting on your hands should be at least one of the options countries — particularly African nations — should consider. And this, despite the immensity of the economic disaster that seems to confront us all. One of the oddities of life, I find, is that often the best option in a crisis is to do nothing.
Did the Democratic Alliance inadvertently touch the ANC on its studio?

2 weeks ago | dailymaverick.co.za | Tim Cohen

Why did the Budget 2025 negotiations between the ANC and the DA, which seemed to be going fairly well, collapse? I have a new theory. For those who are unfamiliar with the term “Don’t touch me on my studio”, it goes back quite a way to 2010 during a now-infamous on-air confrontation between a former AWB member, Andrè Visagie and the show’s host Chris Maroleng on the news programme Africa 360°.
After the Bell: Trump slaps 50% tariff on Trump shirts

2 weeks ago | dailymaverick.co.za | Tim Cohen

BUSINESS REFLECTION We have always known that from an economic and legal perspective, these tariffs are crazy. We didn’t know they would be stupid, too. There are just so many heaps of ironies and stupidities about the Trump Tariff Tantrum, but none more so than the fact that Lesotho, the 22nd poorest country in the world, is the joint-hardest-hit by the new tariff regime. But that is not all.
After the Bell: Explainer

3 weeks ago | dailymaverick.co.za | Tim Cohen

BUSINESS REFLECTION So, the DA now has to decide whether it intends to stay in the GNU, about which we will presumably hear much more in due course. In the meantime, both the DA and the EFF have challenged the passing of the fiscal framework, saying it is contrary to the rule of Parliament. The overall result of the Budget machinations is that SA has a Budget, but might not have a GNU. Or, it might have a Budget and a new GNU.
South Africa throws stones from glass garage in Trump auto-trade spat

3 weeks ago | currencynews.co.za | Tim Cohen

Here is a cheeky question: is the South African car lobby justified in criticising the Trump administration’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on cars imported into the US, as South Africa has been imposing a 25% tariff on US-made cars imported into this country for decades? The answer is, sort of.
After the Bell: A case for moving slow — what business and politics could learn from sloths

3 weeks ago | dailymaverick.co.za | Tim Cohen

BUSINESS REFLECTION In both business and politics, there is a great advantage in momentum. Fast-moving businesses have a fabulous advantage of being able to iterate and improve more nimbly than competitors. But you know what is less appreciated? Moving slowly. Two things in the recent past have drawn my attention to the lesser known and definitely lesser lauded virtues of being slothful. It’s well known that patience is a virtue. Except if you are a sloth. Then it’s a lifestyle.
How Makhanda turned the tide on educational failure

3 weeks ago | dailymaverick.co.za | Tim Cohen

BUSINESS REFLECTION Makhanda’s government schools have made an extraordinary turnaround, thanks to community mobilisation, great leadership and several interventions. As we all know, the performance of South Africa’s education system really sucks. But not everywhere. There are places of outperformance; it’s critical to find out why and how they are outperforming.
I.Am.Not.Making.This.Upš„: Fingers of cheese and fingers of blame - the transatlantic tiff nobody ordered

3 weeks ago | timcohen.co.za | Tim Cohen

One of my favourite comic writers, Dave Barry, recently wrote an article on his substack entitled Summer Vacation Travel Tips. It has the subtitle, āI honestly don't have any.ā In his comic way, Barry touches on one of the most sensitive issues of our day: the growing anti-Americanism of Europeans and perhaps, more recently and vociferously, the anti-Europeanism of Americans. As a non-European and non-American, may I arbitrate and possibly mediate a little in this global fracas?
South Africa: After the Bell - Parks Tau's Terrible Transformation Fund Idea Makes a Comeback

3 weeks ago | allafrica.com | Tim Cohen

Contrary to the simplistic notion of SA's government officials, capital is not the problem. The problem is a poor skills base, a lack of viable business ideas and, most of all, anaemic economic growth. Fix those, and the need for yet another transformation fund tax fizzles away.