In the 1970s, I used to go to a record shop in Cavendish Square. I can’t remember the name, but there I bought an album called “Dinosaur Swamps” by the band The Flock. I listened to it over and over because it was different to what was going on at the time. Now we’ll get into this band, but what I want to say is that it’s amazing that whilst I forgot about it, this band actually led to my interest later in bands like King Crimson and Weather Report.

All of this surfaced the other day because I was listening to a mini feature that Chris Pryor, the Rock Professor, had put out on the band called Lighthouse, a Canadian band. It was a recording that Chris had made somewhere in the 1990s with that music lover Leon Economides. So there was a lot of history there, and both of them were amazed how many instruments the band used, and that they couldn’t really play their music unless they had about 12 or 13 members in the band. But that was the band Lighthouse. The Flock band also played some interesting music, and I think it was the shoots for different styles of music. And later we can see how these bands actually influenced the next generation of bands, so there’s always this sort of progression from one type of music to another.

I don’t know if there are any bands that do this sort of stuff these days, not that I’ve heard of. I’ve got a short list at the end. But it’s worth remembering these bands because they did play an influential role in the progression of jazz, rock, blues type music.

So you may ask, when last did I listen to Dinosaur Swamps? Well, it was last year, to tell you the truth, and I think I listened to it on Spotify, and I was quite amazed how deep the music was, or rich it was, in instruments and the type of music they were playing. And I think that’s why they weren’t that popular—because they were advanced. They were breaking new ground, and people don’t like the breaking of new ground unless it’s in that sort of popular music genre. Anyway, there are bands today that are following in that spirit. Let’s just say spirit, because they’re completely different. That pioneering spirit of bands like The Flock, Lighthouse, King Crimson, and Weather Report.

Anyway, it’s been interesting reflecting on those fossil bands that played such an influence in a different path to what was popular music at the time, like your Grand Funk Railroads, and then later your Queens and your Santanas and your Led Zeppelins. Bands that are played to death on desperate “cool” radio shows with a new generation just as desperate to be cool and all knowing about music. Those first bands were the real pioneers, the breakthrough bands, not all of that other pop rock stuff.

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The Flock

The Flock was an American band from Chicago that combined rock with jazz, improvisation and unusual instrumental textures. Their music is generally classified as jazz rock, or early jazz fusion. The band was formed around 1965–1966, initially growing out of a group called the Exclusives, led by vocalist-guitarist Fred Glickstein and saxophonist-vocalist Rick Canoff.

The best-known line-up included:

· Fred Glickstein — guitar, vocals and organ
· Jerry Goodman — electric violin, guitar and vocals
· Jerry Smith — bass and vocals
· Ron Karpman — drums
· Rick Canoff — tenor saxophone and vocals
· Tom “T.S. Henry” Webb — tenor saxophone, flute and vocals
· Frank Posa — trumpet
· John Gerber — saxophones, flute, banjo and vocals

The Flock became notable because Jerry Goodman’s amplified violin gave the group a distinctive sound, while the horns, flute, organ and rhythm section produced an expansive jazz-rock texture. Their music could move between hard rock, free-form jazz, psychedelic rock, folk and occasional country influences.

Dinosaur Swamps

Dinosaur Swamps was The Flock’s second album and was released in September 1970 in the United States on Columbia Records. Some sources refer to it as a 1971 release because of later catalogue or reissue dating, but the original release is generally identified as 1970.

The album followed the group’s 1969 debut, The Flock. It was more varied and, in places, more country-influenced than the first album, and it did not sell as strongly. The debut reached approximately No. 48 on the Billboard album chart, while Dinosaur Swamps reached about No. 96, so the band achieved recognition but was not a major mass-market success.

The Flock’s career was short. A proposed third album, reportedly titled Flock Rock, was left unfinished, and the group had effectively broken up by 1972. Jerry Goodman subsequently became well known as a member of the jazz-rock group Mahavishnu Orchestra.

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Lighthouse

Lighthouse was a Canadian band formed in Toronto in 1969 by drummer and vocalist Skip Prokop and keyboardist and vibraphonist Paul Hoffert. It was conceived as a large “rock orchestra,” combining rock with jazz, classical music and swing.

The original band had approximately 13 members, unusually large for a rock group. The line-up included:

· Skip Prokop — drums and vocals
· Paul Hoffert — keyboards and vibraphone
· Ralph Cole — guitar and vocals
· Grant Fullerton — bass and vocals
· Vic “Pinky” Dauvin — percussion and vocals
· Ian Guenther — violin
· Don DiNovo — violin and viola
· Howard Shore — saxophone
· Keith Jollimore — saxophone
· Dick Armin — cello
· Peter Pantaluk — trumpet
· Larry Smith — trombone
· Bob McBride — vocals

Personnel changed considerably over the years, so the exact membership depended on the period being discussed.

Style and Records

Lighthouse’s music is usually described as jazz rock, brass rock or rock-classical fusion. Its arrangements used horns, strings, percussion and vibraphone alongside the conventional guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. This made Lighthouse less like a small jazz-rock combo and more like a touring ensemble with a full orchestral colour.

The band’s best-known songs included “Sunny Days,” “One Fine Morning,” “Pretty Lady” and “Hats Off.” Lighthouse won the Juno Award for Best Canadian Group in 1972, 1973 and 1974, and therefore had considerably greater mainstream success in Canada than The Flock had in the United States.

There are different ways of counting Lighthouse records. If you count the main early studio and live catalogue, there were about 9 albums through the original 1969–1976 period. If you count the broader catalogue including compilations, later releases and reissues, the figure is more like 17 to 23 albums. The difference arises because some discographies count only original studio and live albums, while others include compilations and later editions. The Canadian Walk of Fame describes the group’s broader catalogue as 23 albums, while another recent profile gives a figure of 17.

Lighthouse’s first major period ended with its break-up in 1976, although the group later reunited several times and has continued performing in changing forms. It is therefore more accurate to say that Lighthouse disbanded in 1976 in its original major period, rather than claiming that it permanently disappeared.

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Shared Musical Territory

The Flock and Lighthouse belonged to the broad movement usually called jazz rock, jazz fusion or, in some cases, brass rock. This music developed when rock musicians began using jazz ideas such as extended instrumental passages, improvisation, complex rhythms, electric keyboards, amplified violin, horns and larger ensembles.

The Flock’s main base was Chicago rock and jazz. Its characteristic instruments were electric violin, saxophones, trumpet, flute and organ. Its main genre was jazz rock and psychedelic jazz fusion. The ensemble was usually seven or eight musicians. Commercially, the band was respected and innovative, but only moderately successful.

Lighthouse’s main base was Toronto rock, jazz and classical music. Its characteristic instruments were horns, strings, vibraphone, percussion and keyboards. Its main genre was jazz rock, brass rock and rock-classical fusion. The ensemble originally had about 13 musicians. Commercially, Lighthouse was much more popular in Canada, with hit singles and Juno Awards.

The percussion element was important because these groups were moving beyond the straightforward four-beat rock format. Drums were combined with congas, additional percussion, hand percussion, Latin rhythms and shifting jazz patterns. In Lighthouse’s case, the enlarged ensemble created a layered, almost orchestral effect; in The Flock’s case, the rhythm section supported long, exploratory instrumental passages.

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Connection with Little Feat

Little Feat was not simply a continuation of The Flock or Lighthouse, but it developed within the same wider late-1960s and 1970s interest in mixing genres. Formed in Los Angeles in 1969, Little Feat combined Southern rock, blues, country, funk, jazz, New Orleans rhythm and swamp-rock influences.

The connection is strongest in the use of interlocking rhythms rather than simple rock patterns, jazz-influenced instrumental breaks, funk and New Orleans grooves, congas and other percussion instruments, a mixture of electric and acoustic sounds, and songs that allowed musicians to improvise on stage.

When Paul Barrère and percussionist Sam Clayton joined Little Feat, the group’s rhythm became more elaborate and dance-oriented. Little Feat’s music was therefore related to jazz-rock fusion, but its central identity was more rooted in Southern rock, New Orleans funk, blues and swamp music than in the experimental jazz-rock of The Flock.

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Connection with Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal was also part of this broad movement toward musical cross-pollination, although he came from a different tradition. He was primarily a blues musician who expanded the blues by incorporating Caribbean, African, reggae, gospel, Hawaiian and other world-music elements.

His connection with these bands lies less in a direct band-to-band influence and more in a shared willingness to use hand percussion and unusual rhythm instruments, African and Caribbean rhythmic ideas, steel drums, kalimba, tuba and other non-standard sounds, extended instrumental arrangements, and blues, rock, jazz and folk traditions in the same performance.

It would therefore be misleading to classify Taj Mahal simply as a jazz-rock musician. He is better described as a blues, blues-rock and world-music artist whose work overlapped with the same wider period of experimentation that produced The Flock, Lighthouse and the more rhythmically adventurous side of Little Feat.

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The Wider Musical Development

A useful way to see the development is: rock and psychedelic rock moving into jazz rock and fusion, and then into funk-, Latin- and world-influenced rock.

The Flock explored this through electric violin, horns and extended improvisation. Lighthouse explored it through a large ensemble containing brass, strings, percussion and vibraphone. Little Feat absorbed related ideas into a more groove-based mixture of Southern rock, New Orleans funk, blues and jazz, while Taj Mahal brought comparable openness to the blues and world music.

Other artists associated with related territory include Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Soft Machine, Colosseum, Traffic, Weather Report, Santana, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Mothers of Invention and Sly and the Family Stone. They did not all sound alike, but they shared the period’s interest in expanding rock through jazz improvisation, horns, percussion, funk, Latin music and unusual instrumental combinations.

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Modern Equivalents

Today, the closest equivalents are usually described as progressive rock, jazz fusion, experimental rock or instrumental fusion rather than simply “jazz-rock.” Jazz fusion itself began by combining jazz improvisation with rock, funk and rhythm-and-blues elements.

Good modern or still-active starting points include:

· Snarky Puppy — large ensemble jazz-funk fusion with horns, keyboards, electric bass and percussion; probably the closest modern equivalent to the collective spirit of Lighthouse.
· Jaga Jazzist — Norwegian experimental jazz group combining electronic music, rock, brass, woodwinds and complex percussion.
· Kneebody — energetic jazz-rock with distorted guitar, keyboards, horns and rock rhythms.
· The Aristocrats — instrumental progressive fusion led by guitar, bass and drums.
· Cory Wong — funk, jazz and horn-driven arrangements with strong rhythmic precision.
· GoGo Penguin — a more atmospheric piano-trio approach, combining jazz with electronic and minimalist influences.
· Dewa Budjana and Tigran Hamasyan — useful choices if you enjoy the more intricate, improvisational side of Weather Report and King Crimson.
· King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard — not a direct copy, but their progressive, psychedelic and jazz-influenced work often uses unusual rhythms and extended forms.
· The Mars Volta — a more aggressive modern descendant of progressive rock, with complex structures, improvisation and Latin-percussion influences.
· Tool and Porcupine Tree — heavier or darker progressive-rock alternatives with some of King Crimson’s atmosphere and rhythmic complexity.

If you enjoy Lighthouse’s large, horn-and-percussion sound, try Snarky Puppy, Jaga Jazzist and Cory Wong. If you enjoy The Flock’s violin, horns and adventurous jazz-rock, try Kneebody, Jaga Jazzist and The Aristocrats. If you enjoy King Crimson’s complex progressive rock, try The Mars Volta, Tool, King Gizzard and Porcupine Tree. If you enjoy Weather Report’s keyboards, bass and electronic fusion, try Snarky Puppy, Tigran Hamasyan and Jaga Jazzist. If you enjoy the percussion and groove of Little Feat or Taj Mahal, try Snarky Puppy, Vulfpeck and Antibalas.

These groups are not identical copies of the older bands: modern musicians tend to blend jazz-rock with funk, electronic music, hip-hop, world music and progressive metal. The continuing link is the use of electric instruments, improvisation, complex rhythm, layered percussion and arrangements that go beyond a conventional rock song.

For the most direct listening route, start with Snarky Puppy, Jaga Jazzist, Kneebody and The Aristocrats; then move to The Mars Volta and Tigran Hamasyan for more experimental or demanding music.

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Sources

1. The Flock (band) – Wikipedia
2. The Flock on Apple Music
3. Dinosaur Swamps – Wikipedia
4. The Flock: The Flock / Dinosaur Swamps album review @ All About Jazz
5. The Flock (Part 3) – Forgotten Hits 60s
6. Lighthouse (band) – Wikipedia
7. Lighthouse – Canada’s Walk of Fame
8. Lighthouse Discography – Qobuz
9. Five Minutes With: Rock Band Lighthouse – Toronto Guardian
10. Little Feat – Wikipedia
11. Little Feat – Playing For Change
12. Little Feat Musician – All About Jazz
13. Little Feat | Encyclopedia.com
14. Taj Mahal (musician) – Wikipedia
15. Taj Mahal | Biography, Albums, & Facts – Britannica
16. Jazz fusion – Wikipedia
17. Sub-Genres We Play | Prog Radio
18. LIGHTHOUSE-1969-1974 THE RISE OF LIGHTHOUSE – Derek’s Music Blog
19. Lighthouse Discography – lighthouserockson.com
20. Sam Clayton – Wikipedia
21. Little Feat – Apple Music
22. Taj Mahal: How He Turned the Blues Into a World Language – Blues Chronicles
23. Henry Saint Clair Fredericks – Taj Mahal – Strathdee

WARNING: If you’re driving through the Northern Cape, hide your burgers — or prepare to pay in patties!

You gotta be careful on the roads today, folks. You never know what might happen — especially in them there country areas like the Northern Cape!

Thank goodness when I drove up there, I wasn’t stopped by no traffic cop. But there’s a court case going on this week in Upington about famished traffic police officers stopping motorists, fining them, and then saying they could make the fine “go away” — for a price.

And that price?

BURGERS!

That’s right, folks — these cops weren’t looking for cash. They were looking for CHEDDAR.

Seems the boys in blue had a serious case of the munchies, and they figured the best way to fill their bellies was to shake down innocent drivers for a double-patty with extra pickles!

Now look, this isn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened.

I don’t mean burgers — I mean this kind of thing.

There’s more of this going on around the country than you can shake a sesame-seed bun at!

I remember years ago, driving in Sandton after a night at the restaurant. The cops were out in full force, coming up with all sorts of things, secretly saying behind your vehicle:

“You know, I can make this thing go away…”

And then you knew exactly what that meant.

Stash some cash from your wallet in the cubbyhole.

The officer would lean in, have a good look around your car, slide his hand into the cubbyhole and help himself to your money.

You know what?

This has been going on for a HELL of a long time.

Needless to say, I never went to a restaurant in the evening again in Sandton.

Because if you had more than one glass of wine, you were in for BIG TROUBLE.

So just forget it!

Anyway, back onto the roads.

These traffic policemen see you coming from a mile off. They know what they want. They have speed traps. They give you bogus fines.

And then they want whatever they can get from you.

In the courts, evidence is being led that the cops wanted BURGERS because they were HUNGRY!

So be careful when you’re driving in the Northern Cape — or on any national road, for that matter, in any of the provinces.

Instead of thinking about your tyre inflation, the amount of petrol you’ve got to get to the next town, or your spare wheel — or, mostly these days, them biscuit tyres — what you should really be thinking about is:

Do I have enough burgers?

And don’t mention “biscuit” to the cops.

They might want to EAT THE BISCUIT!

My advice?

Keep an EMERGENCY BURGER PACK in your car.

Probably a minimum of four burgers.

Yes, four.

Because these traffic cops seem awfully hungry for BURGERS!

So remember, folks:

Keep your licence, your registration and a warm bag of burgers on the passenger seat.

You never know when a hungry officer might need a little “roadside assistance” — of the edible kind!

— Weekly Northern Cape Road Report

Financial News Daily – Friday Wrap

What to make of the U.S. Federal Reserve increasing interest rates? It might seem distant, but a rate hike like this has far-reaching effects. We want to look at what it is going to do to the rand, the currency in South Africa. We want to look at how it will affect the governor of the Reserve Bank of South Africa regarding interest rate hikes or further interest rate hikes. We’ll just briefly touch on that.

The other interesting item was that Canada is going to be made a member of the European Union. This is for economic reasons and to show solidarity with Canada because it has been excluded and targeted by the United States, namely under the president of the United States. It’s interesting, but it also seems to make sense because there are a lot of French speakers in Canada, for one, so they still have a language commonality between Canada, for example, and France and other French-speaking areas such as Switzerland and parts of Italy. A lot of new alliances are taking shape.

The U.S. president is unhappy once again about a move like this and is playing tit for tat. It’s an ongoing tit-for-tat game here in South Africa too. The United States has also singled out public officials responsible for illegal expropriation of land. This is not going to go down well in South Africa, and this tit-for-tat game is just going to continue with the real issues not being addressed.

Right, let’s move on to business, highlighting some of the important developments during the week, and then we’ll touch on a few lighter issues before you go.

South Africa: economic, financial and business highlights

The Fed and South Africa: What It Means for the Rand and the Reserve Bank

The US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00%, its first increase since 2023, and its projections point to another increase this year. The rand weakened after the announcement, reinforcing the pressure on emerging-market currencies when US returns become more attractive.

The immediate issue for South Africa is next week’s Reserve Bank decision. The MPC has to weigh the weaker rand and inflation risks against an economy that contracted 0.2% in the second quarter.

Canada, Europe and the New Alliance Game

The European Commission has proposed that Canada become the EU’s first associate member, while also deepening cooperation in trade, defence, critical minerals, energy and technology. It is a striking example of the way old alliances are being supplemented by new economic and strategic relationships.

That matters to business because alliances are no longer simply about diplomacy. They can influence where companies source, manufacture, invest, sell and obtain technology.

Washington has also imposed visa restrictions on South African officials, accusing them of involvement in what it describes as race-based discrimination and uncompensated land seizures. South Africa rejects the allegations.

A changing world order – and why business should care

A new analysis from Boston Consulting Group puts some numbers behind the changing international order. Its BCG Institute Power Index uses more than 50 indicators covering economic, military and soft power to examine how power is being redistributed and how alliances can rapidly alter the balance.

For business leaders, the implication is practical: changing alliances can affect market access, supply chains, technology choices and investment decisions. Companies may increasingly have to stress-test their strategies against several possible geopolitical configurations rather than assume that today’s trading relationships will remain intact.

Companies and Deals

Omnia Holdings: India’s Solar Industries has made a R21.8 billion all-cash offer for Omnia at R134.50 a share, in a deal that would take the agriculture, mining and chemicals group off the JSE and A2X.

Premier Group: Premier expects earnings to rise by 22%–32% in the six months to September, with revenue forecast to increase by 35%–45%, helped by the RFG Holdings acquisition. The company has also commissioned a new bakery in Middelburg capable of producing 8,000 loaves an hour.

Momentum Group: Momentum’s normalised headline earnings rose 13% to R7.06 billion for the year to June, taking it past its R7 billion target a year earlier than planned. The group is now looking at acquisitions to expand its financial-adviser network.

Sasol: Sasol is moving further into sustainable aviation fuel, with fuel partly made from used cooking and vegetable oils set to power White Desert’s tourist flights from Cape Town to Antarctica. The first Sasol-powered flight is expected in November.

Tourism: South Africa’s first Club Med resort has opened at Tinley Manor in KwaZulu-Natal after an investment of more than R2 billion. The development has created 600 permanent direct jobs and is expected to support a further 1,500 indirect jobs.

Sanlam: Sanlam has received regulatory approval to offer transactional banking services through its partnership with GoTyme. Beta testing is planned for the second half of 2026, followed by a phased public rollout in early 2027.

Economic Backdrop

Inflation eased to 4.3% in July from 5% in June, although fuel prices, the weaker rand and fertiliser costs remain risks.

GDP contracted 0.2% in the second quarter, with manufacturing down 1.8%. The figures underline how little room the Reserve Bank has to respond to external inflation pressure by simply following the US higher.

Birthdays – September 18

Musicians:

Dee Dee Ramone (1951) – Founding bassist of the Ramones.

Kerry Livgren (1949) – Guitarist and principal songwriter for Kansas.

Frankie Avalon (1940) – Singer and actor who became a teen idol in the 1950s.

Authors:

Samuel Johnson (1709) – English writer and lexicographer.

Steven Pinker (1954) – Canadian cognitive psychologist and author.

Light Jokes

My wife told me I should stop buying random stuff online. I told her I was just browsing. She said, “You’ve been browsing for three hours.” I said, “Yes, but I’m very thorough.”

I told my boss I needed a raise because three companies were after me. He asked which ones. I said: “The bank, SARS and my landlord.”

I finally organised all my passwords. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I put the list.

Weird and Wonderful

Most of the iron in your blood was forged inside stars before the solar system existed.

The first computer mouse, demonstrated by Douglas Engelbart in 1968, was made of wood.

An octopus has three hearts – two pump blood to the gills and one pumps blood around the body.

Deep Thought

“Leaders should be ready to respond to rapid shifts in global power by stress testing their organisations’ global strategies.”

— Boston Consulting Group

Quiz Question

What was unusual about the soldiers who manned Hadrian’s Wall?

A. They were all Roman citizens

B. They were recruited mainly from Britain

C. They came from across the Roman Empire

D. They were retired legionaries

Quiz answer: C. They came from across the Roman Empire.

Soldiers stationed along the Wall included men from places as far afield as modern-day Syria, Romania and North Africa.

There is one thing, and one thing only, that will decide whether your idea is a success or not. We’ll get to that soon.

The brutal and cruel truth is that no one is out there will hand you money for nothing. The only money you will ever get for nothing is the money that your parents give you or maybe an aunt or uncle or grandparent.

It might sound harsh, but listening to advice at tea parties, in bar rooms, at Saturday afternoon braais, being bedazzled by consultants or reading get-rich-quick magazines and books won’t get you very far.

It will take a long time to come up with a product and then to develop it into something that can be sold. It doesn’t matter if it’s a jersey, a bottle of jam, an iPhone app or a service for maintaining and cleaning coastal properties.

When you have fallen in love with your product or service then is the time to face cruel reality. Will your product or service be liked or desired by other people? This is where you test your product or service in a trial market run to determine its viability.

If this test shows promise, then take a deep breath and pat yourself generously on the back but don’t crack open the champagne.

You’ve come a long way. Now comes the real test where you go to battle in the marketplace. This takes courage and cunning.

But before you don your superman or wonderwoman suit and dive into the wild and fickle marketplace, do your numbers. Many business owners go through the whole process of selling their product or service only to come out with less money than they put into their misadventure. This makes a mockery of all their effort.

Charge as high as you can, make a fat profit margin and do everything you can to get repeat sales because that’s what determines volume and value. It goes against the grain of what the goody two-shoes are telling you but this is the reality, cruel and harsh as it is.

We have now come to the part you’ve been waiting for. Whatever you do to come up with a business idea and develop it and then put it into the marketplace and perhaps even make an ongoing business of it, you must remember that it’s all about the money.

The one thing that will decide whether your idea is a success or not is to have a paying customer. This means that someone will pay money to buy your product or service from you because it meets a need that they have.

It is easy to say this but it’s another matter to accomplish this. We not talking about family, friends or an aunt buying your product, we are talking about a stranger, someone who has a need for your product and out of all the other solutions to the problem or want, they have, they will buy your product.

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Editorial Disclosure & Disclaimer

Financial News Daily is an independent business news syndicate and a wholly owned subsidiary of Idea Accelerator. We publish financial, environmental and corporate commentary for digital platforms, media outlets and organisations. Nothing published here constitutes investment, legal or financial advice. All opinions are editorial commentary on matters of public and economic interest.

I remember driving up to Vanrhynsdorp in Namakwaland just before autumn began. It was hot up there. So hot that during the day it was more comfortable to sit under the shade of a tree than go out into the sun.

This was weather I like: hot, dry, and being able to dress in a T-shirt, shorts and slops. It was a wonderful time up there in the heat.

Coming back to Cape Town, there were still some hot days, but then autumn came. The days began to get shorter and the nights cooler. Then I knew winter was coming. I could feel it in my bones.

By the middle of winter, with its lashing gale-force winds and driving rain, the dreaded part of winter had arrived.

Winter has its own character and beauty, but the main problem is the cold. The cold nights that seem to start at about five in the afternoon, and the freezing mornings when you have to dress in several layers just to keep out the chill.

The other thing about winter is that wherever there is a weakness in your system, it is likely to show itself. It is like a boat. If there is a weak point in the hull, water is going to get in — sometimes trickling, sometimes pouring.

This winter of 2026 brought its own share of illnesses and life-threatening situations, but let’s not dwell on that. It’s part of winter. We only have four seasons in a year, and winter is one of them.

And in your life, you will only have so many winters. If you are 60 years old, you have already experienced 60 winters, and you begin to wonder how many winters you still have left.

That suddenly gives you a different perspective on winter.

So perhaps the thing to do is embrace it. That’s difficult, of course, if you don’t like winter and prefer spring and summer. But when you reach the midpoint of winter, as we have along the Cape coast, hope springs up because the days are suddenly getting longer. There is more light.

Even so, winter never seems quite ready to let go.

Here in the Cape, well into September, it can still be cold at night, still raining, and still blowing those north-westerly low-pressure gales.

I lived in Johannesburg — actually Randburg — for more than 40 years, and you could be pretty sure that by 1 September the warmer weather would start. The public swimming pools would open, and you could begin enjoying those long hours of sunshine.

Of course, that doesn’t happen anymore in the way it once did, partly because of the dire municipal crisis. At the moment, Johannesburg is enjoying temperatures of up to 24 degrees Celsius.

Here in the Cape, the best we have managed over the past week has been about 16 or 17 degrees at the warmest part of the day.

People say summer is starting later because of global warming and climate change. Another way of looking at it is that winter seems to be extending further into the year, sometimes towards October.

And that’s a pity because we’ve had our fair share of winter months with miserable weather, overcast skies and dark days. Now we want to embrace the sunshine.

Soon, the winter of 2026 will be gone and the summer sun will arrive with spring.

My coastal cottage will dry out. I can start repairing the wear and tear caused by winter. I can start going for swims at the nearby beach again and enjoy those long, lovely summer evenings.

But make no mistake: even in the best parts of summer, somewhere in the back of my mind will be the thought: What will the next winter be like?

So, make hay while the sun shines.

Enjoy the warmth, the light, the swims and the long evenings while they last.

Because eventually winter will return, grip the earth again and stay — sometimes longer than welcome, as it seems to have done this year.

A jar of peanut butter is not usually a geopolitical document. But on South African supermarket shelves, it has become one. Retailers such as Checkers and Shoprite, serving a broad and price-sensitive market, have increasingly stocked groundnuts and peanut butter imported from countries like India and China. For consumers, the appeal is obvious: a staple food at a lower price. For South African farmers and local manufacturers, the same shelves tell a more troubling story.

The retail logic is not difficult to understand. Supermarket chains face constant pressure to keep prices down, especially when their customer base stretches from the middle to lower-income brackets. Peanut butter is not a luxury in South Africa. It is an affordable source of protein, a lunchbox staple, and a pantry item that many households buy regularly. When imported peanut butter can be landed more cheaply than the local equivalent, the commercial temptation is strong.

For years, however, the playing field was not level. South Africa’s tariff structure contained an anomaly: raw groundnuts imported for local processing faced a customs duty, while finished peanut butter entered the country at almost no duty at all. A local manufacturer short of domestic groundnuts had to pay to import the raw material. A competitor could import the finished product far more cheaply. That structure discouraged local processing and weakened the incentive to grow groundnuts in South Africa.

The body responsible for such matters is the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC), a statutory body that investigates customs-duty changes and trade remedies and recommends them to the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition. Recently, ITAC raised the duty on imported peanut butter. The aim was to correct the imbalance, not to inflate the price of locally produced peanut butter. Whether retailers pass on the benefits of local production, or use the tariff as cover for higher margins, remains an open question.

The South African Groundnut Forum, chaired by Adri Botha, has argued that the old tariff regime placed local producers at a structural disadvantage. RCL Foods, the maker of Yum Yum peanut butter, was among those pressing for protection. The recent duty is a partial answer. But duties alone will not solve the deeper problem. A larger, more consistent local crop, supported by predictable demand, is the long-term answer. Without that, the industry remains vulnerable to the next wave of imports.

Quality and taste complicate the picture. South African peanut butter generally follows the American style: smooth, consistent, and engineered to resist oil separation. Indian peanut butter has often exhibited more oil separation and a different taste profile. Some South African retailers previously moved away from imported Indian peanut butter because of quality concerns, preferring local private-label production. Yet imports have still risen. That suggests that for many shoppers, price matters more than taste.

This is not simply a story about peanuts. It is a story about politics. South African agriculture has long complained of being sidelined in trade negotiations. At BRICS meetings, where agricultural trade is discussed, there is no dedicated seat for South African farmers. Agribusiness organisations have repeatedly urged BRICS partners to lower tariffs and remove phytosanitary barriers that restrict South African exports. Yet the original BRICS countries account for only a small share of South Africa’s agricultural exports. As new deals are struck in Delhi and elsewhere, South African farmers watch from the sidelines.

The irony is sharp. The government has often blamed the agricultural sector for high food prices. Yet state policy itself has been a major driver of cost inflation. Electricity tariffs have risen sharply, fuel levies have increased, and the cumulative burden on farmers—who are price takers, not price makers—has been substantial. When one compares the cost environment for South African farmers with that of counterparts in India, China, or Brazil, the disparity is not merely a matter of scale. It is also a matter of state-created overheads. Whether the government will address this asymmetry is doubtful, given its historical aversion to the agricultural sector.

There is a cautionary tale in the Hartswater area of the Northern Cape. Decades ago, the Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme enabled South African farmers to produce groundnuts in sufficient quantities to supply the domestic market. That infrastructure, built through public investment, created a viable groundnut industry. Today, that investment is under threat. If local production declines because of import competition, the irrigation schemes and processing facilities that depend on groundnuts meanwhile lose their economic rationale. A tariff may slow that decline, but it cannot reverse it on its own.

Is it fair for foreign countries to import groundnuts and peanut butter in competition with South African farmers? In a globalised economy, competition is the default condition. The more precise question is whether the competition is fair. For years, it was not: the tariff anomaly systematically favoured imported finished products over local value addition. The recent duty corrects that anomaly. But it does not address the deeper structural disadvantages facing South African agriculture—high electricity costs, fuel levies, and a policy environment that has often treated farmers as adversaries rather than partners.

Consumers,, will continue to buy peanut butter. They will weigh price against taste, and many will choose the cheaper jar. That is their prerogative. The task for policymakers is to ensure that the choice is not artificially skewed by tariff distortions or by state-induced cost burdens that make local production unviable. Until that happens, the groundnut question will remain unresolved—a small jar on a supermarket shelf, containing a much larger argument about trade, fairness, and the future of South African agriculture.

From the sporting arena to business, politics and cultural life, a younger generation is increasingly making its mark

Congratulations to the Springboks for a tremendous game in Baltimore. Sport has a remarkable ability to bring South Africans together, sometimes more effectively than politics ever manages.

But what caught my attention this weekend was something else: young people are increasingly showing the way.

Kimi Antonelli won the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Spain at just 20. And while Amber-Rose Berry’s English Channel swim on 23 August is now several weeks old, watching the 18-year-old from Pringle Bay relive the extraordinary ordeal on Carte Blanche last night brought it vividly back to life.

Berry became the youngest South African woman to swim the Channel, completing the 33 km crossing in an unofficial 10 hours and 27 minutes. She battled cold water, strong currents, jellyfish stings and the wake of passing ships. Watching her story last night was a reminder that sporting achievement is often less about the headline than the sheer determination behind it

They are very different achievements, but both demonstrate the same thing — youth is not simply waiting in the wings.

The same is happening beyond sport. In business, technology, politics and cultural life, younger people are challenging established ways of doing things, creating new businesses and movements, and changing what audiences expect. They are not necessarily more capable than previous generations, but they are growing up in a very different world — and increasingly shaping it themselves.

Perhaps that is one of the more encouraging stories of the moment. While much of the older establishment is arguing about how things used to be done, a younger generation is busy doing them differently.

Dealmakers in Delhi

And so to New Delhi, where the BRICS leaders have just finished another summit and produced another 45-page declaration.

South Africa went to India looking for more trade, investment and industrial opportunities. President Cyril Ramaphosa took part in the India-South Africa Business Leadership Roundtable, with the government highlighting opportunities in pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, critical minerals and the electric-vehicle battery value chain.

The New Delhi Declaration talks of deeper trade and investment, greater use of local currencies and stronger financial cooperation.

Now comes the difficult part: turning summit declarations into deals.

South Africa has no shortage of declarations. What it needs is investment that actually builds things, creates jobs and earns export revenue.

The photograph of leaders signing another declaration is easy. Getting the money into a factory is considerably harder.

The newspaper that may disappear

The possible closure of the Toledo Blade is another reminder of what happens when newspapers disappear.

The paper, founded in 1835, is up for sale and its owners say both its print and digital operations will close at the end of the year if a buyer cannot be found.

Journalist Jack Lessenberry, who first joined the Blade as a summer intern in 1978 and later became a reporter, national correspondent, national editor, writing coach and ombudsman, has written about what the loss would mean.

He recalls that Abraham Lincoln was such a reader of the Blade that, on the last full day of his life, he kept a Cabinet meeting going longer than scheduled so he could read his colleagues the latest satirical spoof from the paper.

But satire has proved rather more resilient than newspapers.

Private Eye continues to skewer British politics and public life, while The Onion, McSweeney’s and the wonderfully outrageous Weekly World News have carried satire into the digital age.

So perhaps the newspaper is not quite dead yet. It has simply lost its monopoly on making fun of the world.

South Africa’s uncomfortable numbers

South Africa’s economy contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter, ending six consecutive quarters of growth. Mining, manufacturing and trade were among the main drags, while the official unemployment rate rose to 33.6%.

Mining provided another dose of bad news last week, with production falling 7.5% year on year in July.

Then there are the apparently impressive profits being reported by the state-owned enterprises. Transnet made R4.6 billion, while Eskom reported R30.3 billion.

But what do these profits actually tell us? Transnet’s result was heavily boosted by a once-off gain from its Durban container-terminal deal, while the rail system still struggles with ageing infrastructure, theft and poor reliability. Eskom may be keeping the lights on, but it still carries enormous debt and municipal arrears. Profit is one thing. A healthy state-owned enterprise is quite another.

And diesel remains expensive for anyone moving goods around the country. From September, 500ppm diesel rose to R29.11 a litre inland and 50ppm to R30.05.

What’s happening on the JSE this week?

Monday: Greencoat Renewables and Optasia — interim results.

Tuesday: Attacq — final results.

Wednesday: Pan African Resources and Supermarket Income REIT — final results.

Thursday: Momentum Group — final results.

Friday: Putprop — final results, and SA Corporate Real Estate — interim results.

Pan African Resources will be one to watch. Its annual results for the year ended 30 June are due on Wednesday, with the gold producer coming off a year in which gold prices have been a major tailwind.

And finally…

A snake was found lurking inside a portable toilet in South Africa, providing another reminder that the country can produce stories no satirist would dare invent.

Monday has arrived.

“I like to keep moving. If you stand still, you’re a target.”

— Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders, from a recent interview in Variety

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WARNING: NOT FOR SENSITIVE READERS

This article contains satire, strong opinions, rhinos with legal representation, politicians in the crossfire, and at least one impala with a legal grievance. Readers of a delicate disposition, employees of certain unnamed parks boards, and anyone who has ever attempted to put wildlife somewhere it does not belong are advised to look away now.

Everyone else: welcome to the 100th birthday party. Bring binoculars. Leave the bags.

We leave it to your imagination to decide what is true.

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KRUGER TURNS 100 — WE WENT BEHIND THE SCENES AND NOW WE NEED A LIE DOWN

Rhino Named Gerald Hires Lawyer; Renaming Committee Still Lost in the Parking Lot

SKUKUZA — The Kruger National Park has turned 100. A century. A hundred years of lions, leopards, elephants, and people attempting to interfere with things that were doing perfectly well without them.

We went behind the scenes to see what is really happening. We are not okay.

The park is a place of magnificent anomalies and contradictions. Its formal history began in 1926, when the Sabi and Shingwedzi game reserves were brought together under the new National Parks Act. But the conservation story goes back further, to 1898, when the Sabi Game Reserve was proclaimed during Paul Kruger’s presidency.

The original idea was simple enough: protect the wildlife before there wasn’t much wildlife left to protect. That part was a triumph. That part deserves cake.

The rest of it is a mixed-use retail, tourism, conservation, crime-fighting and wildlife experience.

IN DEFENCE OF OOM PAUL (YES, REALLY)

Everyone loves to pick on poor old Oom Paul Kruger. He wasn’t such a bad chap. The man had enough problems fighting the marauding British, with a bit of help from his Free State friend President Steyn, without also being held personally responsible for every zebra that ever got shot.

The conservation story is more complicated than the slogan. Wildlife had already been devastated by hunting and disease, including the great rinderpest outbreak the of 1890s. Kruger did eventually proclaim the Sabi Game Reserve in 1898, and historians generally agree he was dragged there by public opinion rather than leading it. He was not a tree-hugger. He was a man with a country to run and a war to lose.

So why pick on him? It is a perfectly good name. It has history. It has gravitas. It has a century of tourists mispronouncing it at the gate.

And for the moment, at least, it is staying exactly where it is. The government had to clarify in 2025 that no change to the official name had been authorised or was in progress.

You can imagine the park’s reaction. Nothing. It is a park. It cannot attend a committee meeting. It cannot table a motion. It cannot object to being renamed. It can only stand there while humans discuss it.

THE TREASURE TROVE

Then there is poaching. The park is a conservation triumph, but it is also a frontline in the war against wildlife crime. Rhino poaching has been driven by international criminal networks and demand for horn in East Asian markets, and Kruger has lost an appalling number of animals over the past decade and more.

The syndicates are creative. One operation allegedly used a private helicopter. Another imported pretend hunters, and we use “pretend” generously. The only thing endangered was subtlety.

There have also been documented cases involving insiders, including park employees, and investigations have described corruption linked to criminal syndicates as one of the park’s greatest threats. This is the wildlife equivalent of hiring the fox and giving him a key.

Then there is the home-grown contingent. Busloads arrive, and the authorities at the gates must search the entire area afterwards. Fish vanish from the dams in quantities that suggest a seafood franchise operating out of a cooler box. Small animals disappear into dresses.

A dress, however voluminous, is not an approved carrying permit. A bus is not a fishing trawler. A handbag is not a registered wildlife transport unit. The impala currently consulting lawyers would like everyone to remember that.

THE POLITICIANS (WHO AREN’T THE ENEMIES. PROBABLY.)

Then you have the politicians. We don’t think they are really the enemies of the park. All they want is the name changed. One proposal would rename it after a rest camp, which is a bit like renaming Table Mountain after the car park.

There has been no official renaming, and the government has said no process is under way. But it does raise an interesting question. What would the park say if someone did propose changing its name?

Nothing. It says nothing now. It just stands there being a park while everyone else talks. This is probably why parks are so popular. They don’t have opinions. They don’t write letters. They don’t appear on television. They don’t demand that their names be changed every five minutes.

THE FRIENDS OF THE PARK

It is not all doom and gloom. Far from it.

The park has conservationists doing quiet, unglamorous, thankless work in the heat. It has rangers, scientists and volunteers pulling out things that shouldn’t be growing there and putting back things that should. It has millions of visitors who come, spend, and go home, funding jobs in every guesthouse, petrol station and curio stall for a hundred kilometres in every direction.

That tourism is not a nice extra. It is the financial machinery that keeps the whole system running, and when floods close camps and wash away bridges, the revenue goes with them.

The park is short of nothing except perhaps problems. It has floods. It has droughts. It has poachers. It has enormous distances. It has roads that occasionally disappear under water. And apparently, it has us.

The place is held together by people who care, which is a lovely sentiment and a terrible business model.

HOW BIG IS THE THREAT?

Hard to say. Some of the numbers are very concerning. Others are very concerning and quite funny, which is the only way to cope.

The rivers are being poisoned upstream by illegal mining. The droughts come with floods in between. And the vultures keep dying after feeding on deliberately poisoned carcasses, in incidents that have killed them in their hundreds.

The vultures, naturally, have released a statement. They would like to know why they are always blamed for eating the evidence.

But here is the thing. It is still here. After a hundred years, after wars and droughts and floods and syndicates and helicopter-flying kingpins and politicians and dresses full of fish, the place is still standing.

SO LONG, AND THANKS FOR THE ANIMALS

This is a major milestone. A historic accomplishment. A massive feat. Surviving a hundred years is not nothing. It is everything.

So as Douglas Adams would say, “So long, and thanks for all the fish.”

But here we say it differently.

Thanks to the animals. So long, and thanks for the animals. The leopards, the lions, the buck, the rhinos, the vultures, the crocodiles with the mineral water problem. All of you who make the park viable, and who cannot table a motion, cannot sell a horn, cannot hire a lawyer, and cannot object.

Happy birthday, Kruger. You magnificent, contradictory, hundred-year-old mess.

We hope others will see you at 200. Bring binoculars. And leave the handbag at home.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Kruger National Park, Centenary Edition. We welcome correspondence from all species, syndicates and syndicated species. Letters may be edited for length, libel and the number of legs involved.

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THE LETTER OF THE WEEK

Sir,

I am writing to express my profound displeasure at being transported in a handbag.

I am an impala. I weigh roughly fifty kilograms. I have four legs, a functioning nervous system, and a strong preference for being outside the handbag.

The handbag in question was a beige faux-leather number with a broken zip. There was no ventilation. There was no legroom. There was, at one point, a hairbrush.

I would like to place on record that I did not consent to this journey. I was not consulted. No one asked whether I had plans that afternoon. I did. I was going to stand near a bush and look alert. That was the whole plan. It was a good plan.

I understand the gentleman in question has been detained. Good. I hope the handbag has been detained as well. It knows what it did.

Furthermore, I object to the phrase “small animal.” I am not small. I am compact. There is a difference, and it is the difference between a description and a slur.

I have retained legal counsel. My counsel is a warthog. He is not licensed, but he is extremely determined, and he has been sharpening his tusks on a fence post for the past three weeks.

I am also seeking damages for emotional distress, loss of dignity, and one (1) hairbrush-related incident I do not wish to discuss further.

Yours, with legs folded,
Bartholomew
Impala, Southern Region
(currently staying with relatives near a waterhole)

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OTHER CORRESPONDENCE

Sir,

I am a fish. I was in a dam. I was happy in the dam. The dam was my home.

Then a bus arrived.

I do not wish to go into detail. I will simply say that the cooler box was not up to standard, the drive was bumpy, and nobody once asked how I was doing.

I have since been returned to the water by a ranger who seemed personally offended by the entire operation. He is my favourite human. I have told all the other fish.

Kevin
Fish (species withheld for privacy), Olifants River

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Dear Editor,

I am a vulture. We are the cleanup crew of the bush. We do not ask for much. We eat what is already dead. We keep the place tidy. We have never once demanded a renaming motion.

And yet. And yet.

The poisoned carcasses keep appearing. Someone is deliberately putting out bait to kill us. Why? What did we do? We are bald and we eat leftovers. We are not a threat to anyone. We are, if anything, a public service.

I would like someone to explain the business model here. I have time. I am a vulture. I can wait. That is literally what I do.

Margaret
Cape Vulture, Shingwedzi area
(writing on behalf of a great many colleagues who cannot write because they are deceased)

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Sir,

I am a crocodile in the Olifants River. I am writing to complain about the water. Not the drought. The minerals.

I have been absorbing mercury, cyanide, arsenic and various petroleum-based compounds for some years now, courtesy of illegal gold mining upstream. I did not ask for this. I am a crocodile. My ambitions were modest. Float. Eat. Look prehistoric. That was the whole career path.

Now I glow faintly at dusk and a skincare company has been in touch.

I want it noted that I am not a spa. I am not a wellness destination. I am not a “mineral-rich experience.” I am a large reptile with a headache and a grievance.

Kindly fix the river.

Unnamed (because everyone knows who I am)
Crocodile, Olifants River

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Dear Sir,

I am an invasive alien plant. I would like to thank the park for the excellent growing conditions and for the volunteers who, despite their best efforts, keep missing bits of me.

I am told I am one of the hundred worst invasive species in the world. I have this framed.

Water Hyacinth
(name and address withheld; I am everywhere anyway)

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Sir,

As a politician, I wish to clarify that I am not an enemy of the park.

I am merely a person who would like the signboard changed. That is all. A signboard. A small administrative matter. A minor typographical adjustment at the entrance gate.

I have been told the park has unfilled ranger posts, a budget problem, rhino poaching, rivers full of things that should not be in rivers, and a vulture crisis.

I have considered all of this carefully and I still think the signboard is the issue.

Respectfully, and no further comment,
A Concerned Representative
(name withheld pending a committee decision on whether to withhold it)

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Sir,

I am a rhino named Gerald. I have already spoken to your reporter. I said we are not a buffet and I stand by it. I would only like to add that I have since formed a union.

We have three members. We had four last year.

Membership is open. Please hurry.

Gerald
Rhino, location undisclosed for obvious reasons

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Sir,

I am an elephant. I have been told the Kruger is 100 years old. This seems very young.

I have watched humans come and go for generations. They build roads. They build bridges. The rivers wash the bridges away. They build them again. Then they hold meetings.

I have never held a meeting. I simply walk around the bridge.

An Elephant
No further identification necessary. You know who I am.

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Editor’s note: no impalas were harmed in the making of this letters page, though one came very close and is still a bit jumpy about it. The animals have been asked to stop writing until after the centenary celebrations. They have refused.

Note on terminology: This article uses “irregular migration” where the legal distinction matters — particularly in relation to asylum seekers, whose status is not necessarily determined at the point of arrival — and “illegal immigration” where it refers specifically to unlawful entry or residence.

Illegal immigration has become a polarising force for governments, especially in Europe. Germany and Italy are experiencing a move towards the right, with immigration and border control among the issues driving political change. It is understandable that there have been protests against illegal immigration. Communities, whatever their size, have seen their demographic profile and culture change, while schools, hospitals and other public services have come under greater pressure. There was a time when there was a softening stance towards irregular migration, but that has changed as voters have registered its impact on their communities and cultural life.

In Sweden, a strong line has been taken against irregular migration, with the government actively encouraging and facilitating the return of people who have no right to remain. The burden on receiving countries has become so significant that, in some instances, governments are offering financial incentives to encourage people to return to their countries of origin. The deeper problem, however, is that many sending countries have been unable to create the economic and political conditions that would reduce the incentive to leave. In some cases, these are countries with weak institutions, fragile economies or persistent conflict.

For many irregular migrants, the motivation is not easily divided between political asylum and economic survival. The two are often intertwined. They may be fleeing persecution or conflict while also seeking access to jobs, education and health services. This overlap places particular pressure on asylum systems designed primarily to protect people fleeing persecution rather than to manage large-scale economic migration.

There is also a question about how receiving countries’ financial support to sending and transit countries is used. Money intended to strengthen borders, improve migration management or address the underlying causes of migration does not always produce the results expected of it. Weak institutions, corruption and poor implementation can undermine programmes intended to reduce irregular migration.

The United Kingdom has dealt with irregular migration for decades. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has placed quality of life and regional economic development among his priorities, while his government has also pursued tighter migration controls. The emphasis on quality of life can be read as an attempt to reassure voters that the government understands the social consequences of continued irregular migration. The political challenge is to reconcile that concern with the continuing demand for labour and the humanitarian obligations attached to the asylum system.

The American situation has been much publicised. Illegal immigration is substantial, which is why the current government is trying to stem flows across the southern border and from other regions. The United States is one of a relatively small number of countries that have become magnets for migrants because of their economic opportunities, political stability and established communities. The countries from which migrants come vary widely, and not all can be characterised as failed states.

South Africa is vulnerable to irregular immigration because the government has struggled to match immigration policy with effective enforcement. Policies and their execution have not always been fully aligned. The result has been decades of migration from neighbouring countries, particularly Zimbabwe and Malawi, through a mixture of regular, irregular and asylum channels.

Illegal immigration has become such a politically charged issue that the March and March movement organised a major protest on 30 June 2026. The demonstrations were accompanied by demands for the removal of undocumented migrants and came after months of anti-migrant unrest, including violence, deaths and displacement. March and March has proposed another march for 30 September 2026. The protests have forced immigration further into the political debate, but they have also demonstrated the dangers of allowing immigration enforcement to move from the state into the hands of private citizens.

The South African situation exposes a serious failure of state capacity. Many ordinary citizens feel that their access to schools, hospitals, housing and other public services is being compromised, while unemployment and poverty remain exceptionally high. The government has announced various enforcement measures, but public confidence in the implementation of immigration policy remains low. The timing is also politically sensitive, with local government elections approaching and political parties facing the difficult task of addressing public frustration without inflaming xenophobia.

The opposition parties have not, for the most part, built their political strategies primarily around immigration. That has left space for movements outside the established party system to frame the issue in increasingly forceful terms.

The European Reckoning

The scale of the political shift is remarkable. In Germany, the Alternative for Germany won 43.8 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt’s September 2026 state election, securing 39 of 83 seats and falling just short of an outright majority. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union won 17.2 percent, its worst result in the state. The AfD’s result was more than double its 2021 showing. The AfD’s regional branch has been classified as a proven right-wing extremist organisation by the state’s domestic intelligence service. The result represents a historic breakthrough for the German far right and has put the country’s long-standing political firewall under severe pressure.

The significance extends beyond the result itself. Germany’s postwar political system has long relied on the refusal of mainstream parties to cooperate with the far right. The AfD’s advance is testing that arrangement as never before. The party still faces a political barrier to forming a government, but its electoral strength means that immigration, security and the wider question of national identity can no longer be treated as marginal issues.

Italy has pioneered what can be called a bifurcated migration system. On one side is a highly visible, restrictive asylum regime — extended detention, tighter family reunification rules and measures aimed at preventing irregular arrivals. The flagship initiative is the Albania protocol: offshore processing centres where asylum claims can be handled before people who have no right to remain are potentially returned. The EU’s new return framework, agreed in June 2026, allows member states to establish return hubs in third countries, following the logic of the Italian experiment.

Yet Italy simultaneously operates a substantial legal labour-migration programme. Its decreto flussi for 2026–2028 provides for 497,550 non-EU worker entries over the three years, with labour sought in sectors including care, agriculture, hospitality and construction.

The Italian case suggests a political logic in which visible disorder is penalised while less visible labour migration is tolerated. The result may be a system that signals control while depending on the migration it publicly seeks to restrict. The contradiction is likely to become more pronounced as Italy’s ageing population and labour shortages increase.

Sweden represents perhaps the most dramatic policy reversal. It took in about 163,000 asylum seekers in 2015, the highest number per capita in the European Union. By 2025, that number had fallen sharply. The government, backed in parliament by the Sweden Democrats, now offers substantial financial grants to encourage voluntary repatriation. From 1 January 2026, the repatriation grant amounts to SEK350,000 per adult and SEK25,000 per child, with a maximum joint grant of SEK500,000 for a married or cohabiting couple.

The scheme’s practical effect has so far been modest. Only 171 people had accepted the offer by September 2026, reinforcing the argument that its political signalling may be more important than its numerical impact.

The South African Anomaly

South Africa presents a different configuration. There is no AfD, no Rassemblement National, no party of the European radical right. The African National Congress remains dominant, and opposition parties have not organised primarily around immigration. Yet the March and March movement has filled a vacuum that political parties have left open, staging major anti-illegal-immigration demonstrations and forcing immigration onto the political agenda.

This is the comparative insight South Africa offers. The immigration backlash does not necessarily have to produce a successful political party before it changes government behaviour. Movements outside the political establishment can occupy the space that conventional politics leaves unattended, forcing the state to respond even without a party vehicle. Where the state loses credibility on borders, someone else claims the issue — and the consequences can extend well beyond domestic politics.

The movement insists it is not xenophobic, arguing that its campaign targets illegal immigration rather than race or nationality. It demands audits of trading licences, asylum-seeker visas and business permits across all nationalities. Critics point out that the visible targets are overwhelmingly poor black Africans, and that the rhetoric surrounding the “cleaning” of streets has a long and sometimes violent lineage in South Africa.

The protests have also demonstrated the danger of allowing immigration enforcement to move from the state into the hands of private citizens. South African authorities have warned that members of the public have no right to demand documentation or proof of nationality from other people. Incidents surrounding the June protests included looting, intimidation and attacks on foreign-owned businesses. At least four people had died in the wider unrest surrounding the anti-migrant mobilisation, according to Reuters.

The movement’s actions have forced the government to respond, but they have also exposed a deeper reality: weaknesses in South Africa’s immigration enforcement, particularly in the administration of documentation and border controls, have created the conditions for vigilante politics.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned xenophobia while simultaneously moving towards tougher enforcement. The government has announced measures including faster processing and verification of undocumented foreign nationals, more efficient deportation procedures and greater enforcement at border posts. The state has also emphasised that immigration enforcement is its responsibility, not that of private groups.

The scale of the enforcement effort has increased. Between 1 April and 31 July 2026, 18,816 people were formally deported, while 3,016 undocumented foreign nationals were awaiting deportation at the Lindela Repatriation Centre. Between 14 June and 20 August, authorities processed 86,596 foreign nationals for deportation or repatriation through coordinated law-enforcement operations. Cumulatively, deportations over the two financial years rose by 46 percent, reaching 109,344 by 31 March 2026.

The deeper parallel with Europe is economic. In both cases, immigration has become the visible symptom of a deeper failure: the state’s inability to deliver security, services and dignity to its citizens. Europe’s far right offers reversal. South Africa’s March and March offers expulsion. Neither addresses all of the structural conditions that produced the anger.

The True Drivers of Migration

The nationalities dominating irregular arrivals in Europe and the United Kingdom are not random. Many come from countries where conflict, repression, economic collapse or weak governance have made life difficult or dangerous.

In Europe, the principal nationalities vary by migration route. The pattern includes people from countries such as Bangladesh, Eritrea, Egypt, Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria and Somalia. Asylum applications have also included substantial numbers of Venezuelans, Afghans and Syrians.

The UK’s small-boat crossings reached 41,472 people in 2025, the second-highest annual figure on record after 45,774 in 2022. The five most common nationalities among small-boat arrivals were Eritrean, Afghan, Iranian, Sudanese and Somali.

The cordon sanitaire that once isolated anti-immigration parties is gone. What replaces it will define politics for a generation. The question is not whether the right will shape migration policy — it already does — but whether it can govern while confronting the contradictions its policies create.

The evidence points to a consistent set of push factors that border enforcement alone cannot address: conflict and political repression, economic collapse and weak labour markets, governance failure and, increasingly, climate shocks.

Political analysts also point to governments whose leaders refuse to relinquish power, weakening democratic accountability and economic reform. Where economic opportunity is scarce, political accountability weak and conflict persistent, the incentive to leave becomes stronger. But the relationship is not linear. Economic development can itself increase migration in the short term by giving more people the means to travel.

Much of the research suggests that tougher border controls can divert migration routes rather than eliminate migration altogether. When one corridor is closed, smugglers adapt, and migrants may be pushed towards longer and more dangerous journeys.

Crucially, the asylum system is being stretched because legal labour-migration pathways available to people from many of these countries are small relative to demand. When the only door left open is the asylum door, people will use it — regardless of whether their primary motivation is political persecution, economic survival or a combination of the two.

The Dependency Dividend

The most uncomfortable truth about the global migration system is that sending countries are not passive victims of forces beyond their control. They can become, whether by design or by default, beneficiaries of a system that reduces some of the immediate pressure to solve domestic economic and governance problems.

The scale of remittance dependency in some major sending countries is substantial. Tajikistan’s remittances equalled 47.89 percent of GDP in 2024, among the highest proportions in the world. Nepal’s remittances reached 26.23 percent of GDP, while Bangladesh’s accounted for 6.11 percent.

The more difficult question is whether high remittance dependence can reduce the pressure for governments to undertake difficult structural reforms. In some economies, remittances sustain household consumption and reduce poverty, but they can also reinforce an economic model in which young people are prepared to leave rather than to create businesses and employment at home.

This can create a cycle: weak domestic economies encourage emigration; emigration generates remittances; remittances support households and foreign-exchange earnings; and the resulting income can reduce some of the immediate political pressure for domestic reform. Countries may gradually come to rely on exporting labour rather than creating enough productive employment for that labour at home.

This dependency is compounded by direct payments from receiving countries to origin and transit states for migration management. These arrangements are extensive and growing. The EU’s €7.4 billion partnership with Egypt for 2024–2027 includes €200 million for migration management. Similar arrangements have been made or negotiated with other origin and transit countries.

These arrangements create a difficult political bargain. Receiving countries want governments in origin and transit countries to contain migration, while those governments have an incentive to use their strategic position to obtain financial and political concessions.

The evidence on the effectiveness of some of these programmes is troubling. The European Court of Auditors examined the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa and found that 33 of the 115 investments it examined were no longer operational, while another 66 risked becoming unsustainable. The audit also identified problems including unused equipment, failures by local authorities to comply with agreements and weaknesses in the sustainability of funded projects.

The findings raise a more fundamental question: whether money intended to address the drivers of migration is reaching the institutions capable of using it effectively.

The Contradiction at the Heart of the System

The most striking feature of the global migration system is its economic incoherence. Europe’s demographic clock is ticking. The EU is ageing rapidly, while its working-age population is contracting. Germany faces significant labour shortages. Italy’s population has stabilised after years of decline largely because net migration has offset its natural population loss.

Yet the political incentives push in the opposite direction. Governments tighten asylum while expanding legal labour migration, a contradiction that satisfies neither restrictionists nor businesses.

If far-right parties gain power and actually implement mass deportations, they will collide with economic reality. If they moderate their policies, they risk alienating their political base. But even symbolic policies have real effects: they may signal to immigrants that they are unwanted, with consequences for integration and social cohesion.

The result may be a system in which irregular migration acts as a pressure valve for failing or fragile states, allowing governments to export some of their economic and governance problems rather than addressing them. Too little of the money flowing from receiving to sending countries is necessarily being converted into productive capacity. Much of it is directed towards managing the consequences of weak development, weak institutions and weak borders.

And the people who suffer most are not necessarily the receiving countries’ taxpayers, or the governments of sending countries. They are often the migrants themselves — caught between governments that depend on their departure and receiving countries that increasingly resent their arrival.

A Reckoning Deferred

For receiving countries, the challenge is to reclaim credibility on borders without abandoning the economic and humanitarian realities that make migration necessary. That means distinguishing between people who have a legal right to remain, those who do not, and those who need workable legal routes into labour markets.

For sending countries, the challenge is to break the cycle of dependency that can make labour export a substitute for development. Remittances can support households and economies, but they cannot substitute indefinitely for functioning institutions, productive investment and domestic employment.

For the international system, the challenge is to create legal migration pathways that reflect the scale of global demand rather than forcing desperate people into an asylum system never designed to handle large-scale economic migration.

Until these challenges are addressed, the political earthquake will continue. Communities will continue to change. Public services will continue to strain. And voters will continue to punish those they hold responsible.

The migration reckoning is not coming.

It is already here.

Sources

• Reuters, reporting on the Saxony-Anhalt state election and the AfD’s 43.8 percent result, September 2026.

• The Guardian, reporting on the Saxony-Anhalt election, September 2026.

• Associated Press, reporting on the AfD’s historic victory in Saxony-Anhalt, September 2026.

• Reuters, “As election looms, Sweden’s government is paying immigrants to leave,” 8 September 2026.

• Swedish Migration Agency, information on the increased repatriation grant, 2026.

• UK Home Office, Immigration System Statistics: How many people come to the UK via illegal entry routes?, February 2026.

• Italian Decreto Flussi 2026–2028, providing for 497,550 non-EU worker entries over three years.

• Council of the European Union, agreement on the EU return framework, June 2026.

• European Court of Auditors, Special Report 17/2024: The EU Trust Fund for Africa.

• European Commission, EU–Egypt Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership, 2024–2027.

• World Bank data, remittances as a percentage of GDP.

• South African Government, Home Affairs, “Deportations rise over two financial years,” April 2026.

• South African Government / Border Management Authority, migration-enforcement updates, 2026.

• Reuters, “South Africa’s anti-migrant protesters march nationwide, after thousands flee violence,” 30 June 2026.

• Swedish Migration Agency, “Ten years since 2015 – what happened?”, October 2025.

• ISTAT, Demographic Indicators – Year 2025, 2026.

Financial News Daily – Friday Wrap | Week ending 11 September 2026

South Africa’s economy continues to trudge along at a snail’s pace. GDP contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter, ending six consecutive quarters of growth. It raises an already familiar question back into focus: how can a country with so many evident economic problems continue to perform so poorly?

There are plenty of explanations, from weak investment and infrastructure constraints to high borrowing costs and rising input prices. But economics is not the only area in which governments are being judged on whether they are dealing with problems that are increasingly difficult to ignore.

Germany and Italy provided an interesting political comparison this week. Immigration has become a major issue in both countries and has helped propel right-wing parties to greater influence. In Germany, the AfD has built much of its support around opposition to immigration. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who leads a right-wing government, has also spoken openly about the pressures created by immigration.

What struck me was not simply the politics of immigration, but the warning Meloni gave about the consequences of weak or failed policies associated with the left. When governments appear unwilling or unable to deal with problems that voters can see for themselves, political support can shift in unexpected directions.

South Africa has its own version of this problem. Immigration has largely been left to activist groups and public debate while large-scale immigration has continued for years. Government statements about access to hospitals and other public services have often seemed disconnected from the practical consequences of overcrowding and pressure on already stretched resources.

Immigration is only one example. The same question applies to many of South Africa’s problems: when government does not deal with them effectively, who eventually pays the price?

Anyway, on to business.

Business Briefs

Standard Bank Group — Record interim results allowed the bank to return R14 billion to shareholders in interim dividends.

Absa Group — The bank declared a cash dividend of R7 billion for the reporting period, reflecting continued profitability despite a difficult economy.

Discovery — Annual operating profit rose 17% to R17.75 billion, with Discovery Bank moving into a R370 million profit.

Pan African Resources — The gold producer expects full-year earnings to more than double, helped by higher production and an average gold price of $4,235 an ounce.

Harmony Gold — Net profit more than doubled to R29.5 billion for the year, while shareholders received a total dividend of R12.80 a share.

Anheuser-Busch InBev — Beer volumes increased 1.1% in the second quarter, while underlying earnings per share rose 23.4%.

Inflation — Consumer inflation rose to 4.3% in July. The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meets on 23 September, with the repo rate currently at 7%.

Fuel — Petrol rose by R1.29 a litre on 2 September, while diesel increased by as much as R3.15 as higher international oil prices fed through to the pump.

GDP — The economy contracted 0.2% in the second quarter, ending six consecutive quarters of growth and underlining just how little momentum there is in the economy.

Markets and oil — Global markets remained volatile as Brent crude moved above $100 a barrel amid renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Around the world

US Federal Reserve — Investors continued to assess the outlook for US interest rates as softer inflation pressures compete with renewed concerns about energy prices.

Oil — Brent crude pushed above $100 a barrel as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East raised fresh concerns about global energy supplies.

Global markets — Equity markets remained volatile as investors weighed interest-rate expectations against rising energy costs and geopolitical risk.

Birthdays

Rock musicians

Joe Strummer (1952) — Co-founder and frontman of punk rock band The Clash.

Glenn Hughes (1951) — Bassist and vocalist best known for his work with Deep Purple and Black Country Communion.

Kim Shattuck (1963) — Singer, guitarist and songwriter best known as the frontwoman of The Muffs.

Authors

Ray Bradbury (1920) — American science-fiction writer whose best-known works include Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles.

Emilio Salgari (1862) — Italian adventure novelist and creator of the fictional character Sandokan.

Xavier de Maistre (1763) — French writer known for A Journey Around My Room.

Light relief

I told my accountant that I wanted to start a business making metre sticks. He said, “That’s a good idea, but it’s going to be a long-term investment.”

Why did the banker become a gardener? He wanted to improve his cash flow and grow his assets.

Why don’t scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything.

Weird and wonderful

Wombats — They are the only known animals that produce cube-shaped droppings, which help prevent them from rolling away when marking their territory.

Spider silk — A strand of spider silk can be stronger than a steel wire of the same thickness.

Deep thought

“The heaviest burden is not what we carry in our hands, but what we refuse to set down in our hearts.”

Friday quiz

Question: What is the only country in South America where Portuguese is the official language?

Answer: Brazil.

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