Little real insight in SA’s analytical space

We need less of the staple yet predictable and absurd sounds and fury

- By JB Molapo

South Africa feels like a nation perpetually in crisis - a fact that, paradoxically, has created a booming industry of political and social analysis.

Turn on the radio, flip through a newspaper, or browse online, and you are met with a chorus of “experts” dissecting the nation’s ailments. Yet, for all the volume, the intellectual honesty and rigour often feel conspicuously absent. It is time we, the public, demand a higher standard from those who claim to interpret our complex reality.

The current landscape of South African commentary is less a marketplace of ideas and more a theatre of the absurd. The air is thick with sound and fury, but genuine insight - the kind that cuts through the noise and illuminates a path forward - is a rare commodity. Our analysts have become actors, playing roles that cater to their respective echo chambers, all while the real-world consequences of policy failure and institutional decay mount outside the auditorium doors.

The primary critique of South African analysis is its pervasive predictability and ideological capture. Many commentators seem less interested in genuine, empirical analysis and more focused on confirming preexisting biases, often echoing the partisan lines of political factions or the agendas of their media platforms.