Frankly Speaking

State Capture has dominated the South African socio-political landscape recently, culminating in an explosive report by the Public Protector outlining various cases of politicians being compromised by wealthy businesspeople. Others have argued that the focus on the Guptas and others is misplaced and should rather be directed at the looting of the state by a group of powerful businessmen referred to as the 'Stellenbosch Mafia' - people like Andile Mngxitama have insisted that individuals such as Johan Rupert need to be investigated. In this explosive show Andrew and Rori speak to Jan Bosman of the Afrikanerbond and political analyst Ralph Mathekga, to find out whether the Stellenbosch Mafia really exist and what their impact on the South African socio-political and economic landscape is.

What would you give up for a better South Africa? Andrew Levy opens with an extract from a short story called The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. Andrew speaks to a number of guests including Vinayak Bhardwaj, Kevin Foster, Kayan Leung, Maloba Tshela, and Tizi Merafe to discuss this question.

The common refrain from the middle-class has been that Trump voters are unintelligent deplorables acting irrationally, but what might we be missing out on by writing their actions off as irrational? In this show Andrew and Rori speak to Tinashe Chuchu to unpack what is really happening in the hearts and minds of the majority of Americans.

Twenty-two years into democratic South Africa, demographics still reflect that poverty is concentrated along race lines in the country. Some have argued that after so long, apartheid can no longer be blamed for this. In this show Andrew and Rori speak to the Statistician-General, Dr Pali Lehohla and social activist Athi-Nangamso Nkopo to interrogate this issue.

It tends to seem that the 90's babies have found their place and their voices in shaping and making their mark on the South African political landscape, while the 80's babies have struggled to do the same. Andrew and Rori speak to fellow 80's baby, DA Member of Parliament and Shadow Minister for Human Settlements, Makashule Gana, to find out if 80's babies will be remembered as inconsequential to the political history of the country.

Andrew Levy explores what the future of tertiary education could look like. He speaks to trends analyst Dion Chang and founder of 'We Think Code', Arlene Mulder.

In the fourth episode in the series, Andrew and Rori follow up the conversations that have been had on what it means at an individual level to be black, with a discussion on what it means at an organisational level. There are a range of organisations in South Africa that describe themselves and indeed prefix their names with the word "black"; the question that is explored in this show - with the help of Sandile Zungu of the Black Business Council and Tryphosa Ramano of the Association for Black Securities and Investment Professionals - is how their stated blackness impacts on their values, culture, strategy, and operations.

In this third episode of the series titled 'What Does It Mean To Be Black?', Rori explores the question more deeply, assisted by the CEO of Steve Biko Foundation, Obenewa Amponsah, and activist and researcher Bryan Keith Murray. They begin to define the differences between the cultural meaning of being black and the political meaning of being black.

In this second installment of the series titled 'What Does It Mean To Be Black?', Andrew and Rori unpack some of the discussions from the first episode... and end up even more confused and no less challenged by the thoughts that Phumi Mashigo of Womandla! and Nozipho Mbanjwa of The Talent Firm - who go so far as to challenge the relevance of the very question that underpins the show.

For a long time blackness has represented more than just a skin colour and more of a culture encompassing many unique nations, voices and skin colours. It has been called a state of mind, it has been called an attitude of the mind. But what exactly does it mean to be black and who gets to decide? In this show Andrew and Rori explore what the essence of blackness might be; they are joined in studio by self-confessed womanist, homosexual, progressive patriarch and Marketing and Communications Manager of Vanguard, Thato Magano.