Our beloved contributor Eusebius McKaiser passed away suddenly on Tuesday. News of his death broke just hours after TimesLIVE published one of his popular politics podcasts. Never would we have guessed it would be his last. Listen to it below. A TimesLIVE reader responded to a social media comment from political analyst Eusebius McKaiser by expressing skepticism about there being a viable alternative to the ANC. McKaiser had opined: "We need to normalise mentioning the name 'ANC' when...

In this episode of ‘Eusebius on TimesLIVE’, the host examines views about race that Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie articulated in a recent interview. McKaiser explains in detail why he agrees with McKenzie that a political party based on narrow racialised politics, targeting only coloured people, is not politically savvy. But McKaiser then spends the rest of his audio analysis explaining why he disagrees with McKenzie that we should “cancel race”.

Eusebius McKaiser hosted well-known human rights and social justice activist, Mark Heywood, on his TimesLIVE podcast. They were in conversation about how new political players, especially those who will be contesting the 2024 general elections, could maximise their chances of making a real and positive democratic difference. Heywood and McKaiser started off by sketching their respective takes on the overall state of South Africa's democracy. Both of them focused on data that reveal various...

In this edition of Eusebius on TimesLIVE, the podcast host briefly frames the legal and political issues related to the ongoing controversy around the possible visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to South Africa later this year. While acknowledging that law and politics are intertwined in this matter, McKaiser tries to separate the nexus legal issues from the geopolitical ones. There is a brief summary of what legal expert Dr James Grant said about the interpretation of the Rome...

Matshidiso Lencoasa is a budget researcher at Section 27, a well-known South African public interest law centre. With multiple degrees in accounting sciences, international development and education, she brings a uniquely important set of skills to the work of Section 27. She focuses on how best budget interventions, at all levels of government, may be used to get us closer to a South Africa that is substantively equal, and in which socio-economic rights are fully realised. In this edition of...

Respected former Wits university legal academic Dr James Grant joined Eusebius McKaiser on his TimesLIVE podcast to focus on whether it is compulsory for the government to arrest Russian president Vladimir Putin should he come to South Africa. Grant argued that while there are legal complexities, besides the obvious geopolitical debates on the issue, in the end, South Africa would struggle to persuade a court that it has no obligation to comply with the arrest warrant issued by the...

Ground Work Collective is a new initiative started by former DA politician Mbali Ntuli. She joined TimesLIVE contributor and analyst Eusebius McKaiser, on his TimesLIVE podcast, to explain the motivation behind this non-profit company, and how it will achieve its goals. Ntuli shared with McKaiser data that demonstrates a slow decline in both the share of registered voters who participate in South African elections, and decreasing interest among eligible new voters to actually register to...

In this edition of Eusebius on TimesLIVE, five insights gained from the story of convicted rapist and murderer, Thabo Bester, and his alleged accomplice Dr Nandipha Magudumana, who faces several criminal charges of her own, are highlighted and explored. The podcast host, Eusebius McKaiser, starts off by explaining 'unearned privilege' before applying the concept to this story. He offers an argument in support of the view that one can be the beneficiary of a disproportionate amount of public...

This afternoon, the two candidates for federal leader of the Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen, the incumbent, and his challenger Mpho Phalatse delivered their final leadership contest speeches at the party's congress currently underway. TimesLIVE contributor and analyst, Eusebius McKaiser, watched the two speeches closely and, drawing on his experiences as a past World Masters Debate Champion and adjudicator of competitive debating and public speaking shows, analysed their...

Former ActionSA Gauteng leader Bongani Baloyi has started a new political party, Xiluva, meaning flower in Xitsonga. In this case, it refers to the protea, which is seen on the party's logo and was chosen, according to Baloyi, because of the flower's resilience. He granted Eusebius on TimesLIVE an interview on what led to the party's formation and its values, and answered questions about the strategic and practical difficulties of being a new political player in a growing field of small and...

In this episode of Eusebius on TimesLIVE, the host holds the government accountable by revisiting the tragic story of Michael Komape, who died after falling into a pit latrine at school in 2014.  McKaiser, a contributor and analyst for TimesLIVE, looks at the latest claims by basic education minister Angie Motshekga of progress made in ensuring the government complies with the agreed norms and standards every state school must meet. There remains, argues McKaiser, a gap between political...

In a wide-ranging conversation with TimesLIVE contributor and analyst Eusebius McKaiser, ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont made several claims and arguments. He alleged that a councillor in Tshwane had offered a bribe to an ActionSA councillor to vote for Murunwa Makwarela on February 28. He expanded on the allegation and claimed that criminal charges would be laid tomorrow. Beaumont also argued that the DA made “an error of judgment” in how it went about trying to vote for a...

TimesLIVE contributor and analyst Eusebius McKaiser has followed the story of internal disagreements within ActionSA closely. In this explainer episode of Eusebius on TimesLIVE, he details how the Gauteng leader of ActionSA came to his decision to resign from the party. McKaiser offers analysis that focuses on the implications for ActionSA and opposition politics generally. Have a listen.

Michael Markovitz (former SABC Board member and head of the GIBS Media Think Tank) explained to podcast host Eusebius McKaiser what the role of the board is in respect to the functioning of the SABC. Markovitz argues that it would be naive to downplay the centrality of the public broadcaster in the life of our democracy just because some citizens also have access to commercial media and new media. First, says Markovitz, the media products owned by the SABC are not restricted to terrestrial...

In this short podcast entry, TimesLIVE contributor and analyst Eusebius McKaiser provides his reaction to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet reshuffle. McKaiser details three points: why the reshuffle is best understood in wholly political and not governance terms; analysing the survival of poorly performing ministers, and; drawing out the implications of how one should view the president’s leadership.

Eusebius McKaiser was joined by Sowetan editor Nwabisa Makunga, Oxfam executive director Lebogang Ramafoko, seasoned journalist and Mkokeli Advisory head Sam Mkokeli to debate the 2023 national budget. It proved to be a spirited podcast entry, as the guests disagreed on a few crucial issues. Ramafoko offered an argument to support her claim that the budget is pro-middle class and pro-rich. She analysed how the suggested new tax rebates, for example, would benefit only a few. By contrast, the...

Eusebius McKaiser was joined on his TimesLIVE podcast by Roshni Parbhoo-Seetha, projects co-ordinator at the South African Depression and Anxiety Group(Sadag). Sadag is running Teen Suicide Prevention Week, which includes the online campaigns #CheckInWithSADAG and #StopTeenSuicide Parbhoo-Seetha explained the dangers of adults thinking of teenagers as infants and not paying attention to the complex and unique modern challenges they face. These are exacerbated by new media, smart devices and...

In this brief first take on the 2023 state of the nation address from President Cyril Ramaphosa, TimesLIVE contributor and analyst Eusebius McKaiser explains why the speech falls short of its political intentions. The president, argues McKaiser, continues to trick the public with searing descriptions of our challenges but without taking full moral, political and constitutional responsibility for his government’s role in how we got here. Further, argues McKaiser, the president’s proposed...

Nolwazi Tusini, from Iranti (a media advocacy organisation defending the rights of lesbian, intersex and transgender persons in Africa), joined Eusebius McKaiser on his TimesLIVE podcast to explain their #QueerSONA campaign. Tusini started off by explaining the particular forms of violence, oppression, and marginalisation sexual minorities experience in South Africa, despite the foundational values of the constitution. She urged society to take seriously the gap between the vision of a just...

Business Day political editor Hajra Omarjee and Sowetan political editor Fikile Ntsikelelo Moya joined Eusebius McKaiser on his TimesLIVE podcast to discuss and debate some of the biggest political stories in the country. Three themes were isolated: Does the state of the nation address (still) matter? Will the impending cabinet reshuffle improve the government’s performance on key governance metrics, or will it simply reflect the new internal leadership structures of the ANC? Are coalitions...

The DA scored a major legal victory against the ANC today. In this explainer audio, TimesLIVE contributor and analyst Eusebius McKaiser makes sense of why the court found against the ANC and puzzles through the political implications. The court has ordered the ANC to hand over, within five court days, the records of the ANC national cadre deployment committee for its work spanning from January 1 2013 until January 1 2021. McKaiser explains three major arguments advanced by the DA, two of them...

In this edition of Eusebius on TimesLIVE, the podcast host engaged former Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse on her ambition to become the next DA leader. She argued the current leadership is not best placed to lead the party into the 2024 national and provincial elections. Phalatse insists the leadership, John Steenhuisen included, do not connect with voters in rural areas or townships. This is one reason she wants to be part of a new offering to voters. When pressed on whether she has...

Political analyst Adam Habib joins Eusebius McKaiser on his TimesLIVE podcast to elaborate on a series of explosive tweets he recently published. Habib argues that the ANC Youth League, Cosatu, and the SACP do not have the moral authority to criticise the state for rolling blackouts. Rather, argues Habib, they should take responsibility for being a major part of the genesis of the problem. Some of them are responsible for aspects of the crisis we are living through, or, in some cases, helped...

TimesLIVE spoke to attorney Siphile Buthelezi about the legal basis of the letter of demand he sent on behalf of clients to the department of public enterprises and Eskom. On Eusebius on TimesLIVE, he was asked to justify the legal argument that underpinned this demand. Buthelezi, as can be heard in the accompanying audio, is confident the state does not only have a political duty to ensure a secure supply of electricity but, specifically, also a legally enforceable duty to do so. He insists,...