The Book on Mandela's Desk A Leon Louw Reflection: Remembering a Friendship With Nelson Mandela Today is Mandela Day. It falls on 18 July, Nelson Mandela's birthday, and it asks something specific of people: 67 minutes, one for each year Mandela gave to public life, spent in service of someone else. It is a good instruction, and worth taking literally, though the idea behind it runs deeper than the minutes. Mandela himself put it plainly, at his 90th birthday: it is in our own hands to make...

LEON LOUW | Who should decide the fate of Eskom’s transmission grid? Article first published by Business Day 20 July 2026 When President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in the February 2026 state of the nation address (Sona) that the government would take a “fully independent, state-owned” electricity transmission system operator (TSO) from Eskom, the utility was shocked, some were delighted and others offended. In the ensuing public spat a national interest principle is overlooked. Instead of...

Today – the 134th day of the year – is the day you symbolically finish paying tax to the government, and begin to work for yourself. It’s also a bellwether for the economy. Leon Louw and Garth Zietsman May 15, 2026 Economy & Markets·Opinion - Currency News First Published Friday is Tax Freedom Day (TFD) in South Africa – the day on which South Africans symbolically stop working for the government and start working for themselves. TFD is calculated as the percentage of the year that matches...