There is no more fascinating living organism than politics, that abstraction of the human desire for power. It is, at the end of the day, a game in a closed system where actions result in outcomes which close or open the invisible doors in the hallways of power.It is not an organism which likes to show itself, preferring the shadows or, if forced out into the open, the disguise of one or another noble agenda. But there are times – especially times of crisis – when it can no longer hide, when its actors must show themselves, stepping forward and take an opportunity which presents itself.The budget speech by Pravin Gordhan was just such an occasion. The opportunity to make a decisive break with the policy muddle of the Zuma era began to present itself in December when Zuma, wearing a growing burden of scandal finally pushed the wrong button.His calculation was that the treasury, one of few bastions of rationality, was ripe for the picking and he struck with speed and surprise. Late on...
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