Bozell Says South Africa Could Be One of the Biggest Economies on Earth
US Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III says Pretoria has refused to condemn "Kill the Boer", to make rural crime a national priority, and to give mining and telecoms the same BEE equity-equivalent option as every other sector.
Those were three of the five things Washington asked South Africa to do. South Africa agreed to the other two. It will not interfere with the US refugee programme for Afrikaners, and the fight over the Expropriation Act has been left to the courts.
Bozell says South Africa now has to make the next move, and that the next steps from the United States will not be good for South Africa. He also explains why Starlink's offer to connect 500 schools for free was turned down, why he says South Africa is siding with America's adversaries, and why he believes South Africa can be as successful as the United States with the right policies.
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Watch on YouTube (https://youtu.be/bpAS3es8NBk)
Chapters:
0:00 Coming up
0:29 Why Trump hand-picked Bozell for South Africa
3:10 Why America should never have existed
9:33 How America became the strongest nation
12:03 Freedom, responsibility and American exceptionalism
15:19 Life in a country that celebrates success
20:04 Good guys, bad guys and spheres of influence
25:34 South Africa first, and inequality since apartheid
29:57 The three concerns and why Pretoria won't budge
33:10 What Washington wanted, and what Pretoria refused
38:54 Lurching toward America's adversaries
44:16 Starlink, 500 schools and the 30% demand
48:21 Haiti or America
16 Oct 2026
Helen Zille: Johannesburg Is Over the Edge, and the DA Won't Stay in Power at All Costs
Helen Zille, the DA's mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, tells Gabriel Makin that the city is not at the brink of the abyss but already over the edge, and that the DA will not stay in power at all costs. She explains why the least bad option after the 4 November election may be opposition rather than a coalition, why she does not believe corruption can be removed from Johannesburg with the ANC in government, and why she wants voters to consolidate behind the DA on both ballots so that the party can win 136 of the council's 270 seats. She also describes the city's finances, with residents owing Johannesburg R81 billion while the city owes its creditors R25 billion.
The episode opens with the campaign, the Blue Brigades and the WaterWaxx borehole in Protea, which the DA finished for R2.6 million after Joburg Water abandoned it. Helen and Gabriel then discuss whether she feels vindicated after years of being called a liability to the DA, her fight against critical race theory inside the party, and why the DA's support base is now roughly a third Black, a third white and a third coloured and Indian. She recalls Henry Kissinger's visit in 2010 and what it taught her about the DA's growth from 1.7% in 1994. The conversation then turns to the drug crisis in Johannesburg, the "doomsday coalition" already running the city, her account of why Herman Mashaba turned against her, the MK Party's crimen injuria case, and her role in breaking the story of Steve Biko's death.
Become a member for all the facts and analysis (R99/month): https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/subscribe (https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/subscribe)
The Common Sense: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za (https://www.thecommonsense.co.za)
Chapters:
0:00 Coming up
0:31 The campaign and the Blue Brigades
2:31 WaterWaxx: water for R2.6 million, not R37 million
7:59 Does Helen Zille feel vindicated?
15:50 Why the stakes for South Africa were so high
21:21 A third, a third, a third: who votes DA
22:56 From 1.7% in 1994: Henry Kissinger's question
26:41 Why critics still call the DA a white party
28:00 The drug crisis breaking Johannesburg's families
31:30 Joburg is broke, and owed R81 billion
36:14 Coalition or opposition after the election?
38:55 Wealthy donors and the 136-seat majority
40:47 Should voters see a doomsday coalition govern?
44:27 ActionSA, Herman Mashaba and the EFF
49:42 The MK Party's crimen injuria case
51:45 Steve Biko and fighting apartheid
53:31 South Africa as humanity's pathbreaker
15 Oct 2026
Mlondi Mdluli: Township Businesses Don't Lack Ambition. Red Tape Is Locking Them Out
DA MP Mlondi Mdluli, the party's spokesperson on small business development, returns to Conversations with Gabriel, this time in the studio. He walks Gabriel Makin through the five reforms from his piece for The Common Sense: working capital that is not a bank loan, a real foothold in formal retail space, by-law enforcement that does not ruin livelihoods, a single front door for support, and a better-resourced competition watchdog. Gabriel presses him on whether the state should help small business or simply get out of its way. They turn to the October fuel price increase and a shrinking economy, and Gabriel asks why no party has claimed offshore oil and gas exploration as its cause. In the second half Mlondi describes life as a DA MP with a DA deputy minister inside the department he oversees, and running the DA's local election campaign in the Umzinyathi district of KwaZulu-Natal: the doorstep, the hung Endumeni council, why KZN has not followed the shift in black support seen elsewhere, and his predictions for 4 November.
Read Mlondi's article: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/economics_and_policy/township-businesses-do-not-lack-ambition-government-red (https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/economics_and_policy/township-businesses-do-not-lack-ambition-government-red)
Become a member for all the facts and analysis (R99/month): https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/subscribe (https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/subscribe)
The Common Sense: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za (https://www.thecommonsense.co.za)
Chapters:
0:00 Township businesses and how South Africa defines a small business
3:20 Five reforms: capital, retail space, by-laws and one front door
8:42 Can a competition watchdog protect small business?
14:55 The October fuel price hike, the Strait of Hormuz and a shrinking economy
20:23 Offshore oil and gas: why no party claims it
22:55 A DA MP outside the department, a DA deputy minister inside it, and the KZN campaign
32:22 Why KwaZulu-Natal bucks the shift in black support for the DA
37:14 MK, coalitions and predictions for the 4 November election
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