Conversations With Gabriel

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The Common Sense's one-on-one interviews with politicians, businesspeople and other fascinating South African commentators

  1. Oct 20

    Bozell Says South Africa Could Be One of the Biggest Economies on Earth

    US Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III says South Africa could become one of the biggest economic powers in the world, and every bit as successful as the United States, with the right policies. He points to the country's natural resources and tourism, and to the way it ended apartheid without a war. He also 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 explains why Starlink's offer to connect 500 schools for free was turned down, and why he says South Africa is siding with America's adversaries. Become a member for all the facts and analysis (R99/month)The Common SenseWatch on YouTube Chapters:0:00 Coming up0:29 Why Trump hand-picked Bozell for South Africa3:10 Why America should never have existed9:33 How America became the strongest nation12:03 Freedom, responsibility and American exceptionalism15:19 Life in a country that celebrates success20:04 Good guys, bad guys and spheres of influence25:34 South Africa first, and inequality since apartheid29:57 The three concerns and why Pretoria won't budge33:10 What Washington wanted, and what Pretoria refused38:54 Lurching toward America's adversaries44:16 Starlink, 500 schools and the 30% demand48:21 Haiti or America

  2. Oct 16

    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/subscribeThe Common Sense: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za Chapters:0:00 Coming up0:31 The campaign and the Blue Brigades2:31 WaterWaxx: water for R2.6 million, not R37 million7:59 Does Helen Zille feel vindicated?15:50 Why the stakes for South Africa were so high21:21 A third, a third, a third: who votes DA22:56 From 1.7% in 1994: Henry Kissinger's question26:41 Why critics still call the DA a white party28:00 The drug crisis breaking Johannesburg's families31:30 Joburg is broke, and owed R81 billion36:14 Coalition or opposition after the election?38:55 Wealthy donors and the 136-seat majority40:47 Should voters see a doomsday coalition govern?44:27 ActionSA, Herman Mashaba and the EFF49:42 The MK Party's crimen injuria case51:45 Steve Biko and fighting apartheid53:31 South Africa as humanity's pathbreaker

  3. Oct 15

    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-redBecome a member for all the facts and analysis (R99/month): https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/subscribeThe Common Sense: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za Chapters:0:00 Township businesses and how South Africa defines a small business3:20 Five reforms: capital, retail space, by-laws and one front door8:42 Can a competition watchdog protect small business?14:55 The October fuel price hike, the Strait of Hormuz and a shrinking economy20:23 Offshore oil and gas: why no party claims it22:55 A DA MP outside the department, a DA deputy minister inside it, and the KZN campaign32:22 Why KwaZulu-Natal bucks the shift in black support for the DA37:14 MK, coalitions and predictions for the 4 November election

  4. Oct 14

    Princy Mthombeni: 95% Of Asylum Seekers Don't Qualify. So Why Aren't They Deported?

    Princy Mthombeni, chair of South Africans for Constitutional Reform, is back with Gabriel Makin for the third episode of The Royal Sense. Home Affairs is moving asylum applications online after the Constitutional Court ruling, and the minister says 95% of applications are rejected as unfounded. So why do so few people leave? Princy argues that South Africa's borders are wide open, that deportation is the law and is cheaper than keeping people here, and that the country needs refugee camps and a state of emergency on deportations. She defends Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma as "the messenger" of frustrated South Africans, asks what happens to the MK Party if Jacob Zuma's health fails, and argues the ANC's problems run deeper than any one leader. Read The Common Sense on Jacob Zuma's health and the implications: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/Politics/what-has-happened-jacob-zuma-these-are-implicationsBecome a member for all the facts and analysis (R99/month): https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/subscribeThe Common Sense: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za Chapters:0:00 Coming up0:27 Inside Koeberg: the first media tour in 40 years4:51 Meltdown fears, emergency drills and how a reactor works10:27 Clean steam, nuclear waste and why one plant isn't enough13:45 Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma: the problem or the messenger?20:01 Jacob Zuma's health and the future of the MK Party24:30 Is Zuma to blame, or is the ANC rotten?25:47 Online asylum applications after the court ruling29:57 95% rejected, so why aren't they deported?31:53 Refugee camps, NGOs and a state of emergency

  5. Oct 13

    David Ansara: Why America's Five Asks Would Free South Africans, and the ANC Won't Budge

    David Ansara, CEO of the Free Market Foundation, sits down with Gabriel Makin days after returning from Washington, where he and Dr Martin van Staden presented the FMF's Don Caldwell Memorandum on Socialism and Racial Engineering at the White Cross Project conference, and attended the vigil of 3,000 named crosses on the National Mall for South Africa's farm-murder victims. He explains why the FMF thinks the US government's five asks of South Africa are valid, and what they would mean for property rights, investment and race law here. They cover the Expropriation Act's nil-compensation clause, the FMF's Khaya Lam project and its 26,000 title deeds, what the 2017 land audit really shows, the 136 race-based laws on the statute books, Starlink and the 30% ownership rule, the media's "white genocide" framing of the trip, the US visa restrictions, and why David believes South Africa is heading for a point of deep conflict with America unless the government changes course. Read David Ansara's column, The FMF's Memorandum to the Americans: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/columns/fmf-s-memorandum-americansThe Free Market Foundation: https://freemarketfoundation.comBecome a member for all the facts and analysis (R99/month): https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/subscribeThe Common Sense: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za Chapters:0:00 The White Cross Project: 3,000 crosses in Washington4:47 Property rights, the Expropriation Act and the Don Caldwell Memorandum8:32 Why the FMF backs America's five asks12:48 Eminent domain vs nil compensation, Khaya Lam and the land audit18:12 136 race laws and the Population Registration Act21:24 Starlink, BEE and the cost of race law26:16 The public backs the American position. Why doesn't the ANC?31:25 Farm attacks and the 'white genocide' smear35:24 Why rural violence is not just crime37:37 Visa restrictions, the GNU and a point of deep conflict

  6. Oct 7

    Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein Reflects On Two Years Since October 7

    Two years after the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, Chief Rabbi of South Africa Dr Warren Goldstein sits down with Gabriel Makin. He describes what that day meant for South Africa's Jewish community, why he calls it a genocide averted, and what 3,800 years of Jewish history teach about enemies who say they want you dead. He explains why he stood up to the ANC government after, in his words, it declared solidarity with Hamas and then took Israel to the International Court of Justice, why he believes the government's anti-Israel stance betrays the Constitution and the values of ordinary South Africans, what that stand cost him personally, and why South Africa still has among the lowest rates of antisemitism in the world. Become a member for all the facts and analysis (R99/month): https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/subscribeWatch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Rq6rI9H7HXEThe Common Sense: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za Chapters:0:00 What 7 October 2023 meant for South Africa's Jews3:39 1,200 murdered, 250 hostages and a genocide averted7:13 A rabbi's response: grief, prayer and the Perez family10:31 Pogroms, the Holocaust and taking enemies at their word16:30 Why Israel must be strong: 3,800 years of resilience23:58 Standing up to the ANC government over the ICJ case30:04 The personal cost, and why appeasement brings danger32:00 So far and no further: Jewish leaders in the West34:11 Why South Africa remains one of the safest countries for Jews

  7. Oct 6

    Mbuyiseni Ndlozi: South Africans Must Stop Waiting For The State To Save Them

    A collaboration between The Common Sense and the African Renaissance Podcast (Thabo Mbeki Foundation). Former EFF MP Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, now a senior fellow at the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, sits down with Gabriel Makin to unpack his 11 Theses on the Call for a Batho Pele Convention. He argues that South Africans traded their agency for the ballot ("we vote, and then we wait"), that local government is sliding into a mafiocracy run by extortion cartels, and that communities must organise to fix their own streets, schools and safety, from monthly contributions and community chapters to an alumni league that maintains public schools in the holidays and a legal unit that sues over abandoned projects. The two then argue it out: liberals and Pan-Africanists, the lean state versus the developmental state, China and Deng Xiaoping, Black Consciousness and the Institute of Race Relations, racism and the 1994 settlement, and whether Bantu education or SADTU is to blame for South Africa's schools. Read the 11 Theses: https://www.bathopeleconvention.org/ Become a member for all the facts and analysis (R99/month): https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/subscribeWatch or listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1ScOGx3kgd3UqtCrR5ecAKThe Common Sense: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za Chapters:0:00 Leaving party politics: Ndlozi's new vantage point4:15 The 11 Theses, Batho Pele and the vote-and-wait trap19:01 The death of the careerist and the end of the big man22:28 Community funds, safety and the church roof test26:23 An alumni league to fix South Africa's 22,000 public schools30:14 Suing over unfinished projects and a parallel service machine35:42 Siyazenzela: spaza shops and organising for a cause39:40 Revolution is the morning after the march44:28 Black Consciousness, liberals and the lean state51:16 The Bantu education generation54:17 Liberals, the left and the spark of the divine57:15 China, profit for profit's sake and the state's role1:01:43 Mandela, Luthuli and tea with the Institute of Race Relations1:07:59 Subsidiarity and the missing alliance in South African politics1:11:22 Racism, enclaves and the bravery of 19941:16:07 Who failed South Africa's schools: SADTU or Bantu education?1:20:31 Maths literacy and a societal problem in education1:25:16 Communities, history and a conversation to continue If this was useful, subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss the next conversation.

  8. Sep 30

    Joshua Meservey: The US Has Run Out Of Patience With SA. Visa Bans Are Only Step One

    Washington has run out of patience with Pretoria. Joshua Meservey, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and one of the voices behind the new US visa restrictions, tells Gabriel Makin why the Trump administration moved to "the stick", what the five asks actually are, and why he believes the South African government has been trying to run out the clock. He traces the rift back to the Biden years: ambivalence on Ukraine, the Lady R, the ICJ case against Israel, and a UN voting record that backs every anti-Israel resolution while going soft on Iran, North Korea and Assad's Syria. They discuss BEE as a burden on American firms, the farm-murder crisis, AGOA and PEPFAR, and what comes next if nothing changes: in Meservey's view, targeted financial sanctions. US announces sanctions against South Africa: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/Politics/us-announces-sanctions-against-south-africa-over-racialThe US concerns are correct and valid: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/Columns/us-concerns-are-correct-validThe deal South Africa should put before Washington: https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/Columns/deal-south-africa-should-put-before-washingtonBecome a member for all the facts and analysis (R99/month): https://www.thecommonsense.co.za/subscribeWatch or listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1ScOGx3kgd3UqtCrR5ecAK Chapters:0:00 Why the US imposed visa restrictions on South Africa: patience ran out8:32 Has it worked? Why Washington expects more steps unless Pretoria moves12:11 What comes next: targeted sanctions, Lamola, and why BEE riles Washington20:07 Farm murders and the ANC's long free pass from the West23:59 Good advice, and 'we are a sovereign nation': the ANC's response29:20 The power imbalance, AGOA and PEPFAR32:53 Reality doesn't go away: the ANC's fading power and the next punch If this was useful, subscribe so you don't miss next week's conversation.

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The Common Sense's one-on-one interviews with politicians, businesspeople and other fascinating South African commentators

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  • Creator
    The Common Sense ZA
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    38
  • Rating
    Clean
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    © The Common Sense ZA
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    Conversations With Gabriel

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