Steven Friedman

About Me...

Steven Friedman is a public commentator and an academic, currently employed as a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg. He has been writing on South African politics for the entire democratic period both as a scholar and public commentator. He has published books on South Africa’s transition to democracy, the role of the trade union movement, and current South African politics. He has also written columns and articles for several South African newspapers. His writing seeks to use academic research to shed light on current politics but to ensure that this is conveyed in a way easily understood by people who have no academic training.

Welcome To Against The Tide

Against the Tide is an emailed column commenting on current South African politics and, occasionally, on events elsewhere in the world. It aims to offer a different perspective from mainstream news and commentary by looking beneath the surface and, where necessary, challenging much of the thinking in South Africa’s public debate.

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Latest Articles

Boosting The Bigots

Steven Friedman15 October 2026

NOW we know that something we are often told by public figures is a fiction. We need to worry that another may be too.

A Power Failure

Steven Friedman8 October 2026

DEMOCRACY cannot improve people’s lives here as long as those who want things to stay the same or get worse are loud and those who want them to get better stay silent.

Democratic Safety

Steven Friedman1 October 2026

THERE are many better ways of defending democracy than allowing people to believe that they might be killed by it.

Internal Problem

Steven Friedman24 September 2026

THE latest attack on this country by the US’s rulers is important not because it shows that relations between the two countries must be fixed, but because it confirms that this country is still deeply divided.

A Futile Fight

Steven Friedman17 September 2026

THE country’s largest trade union federation is at war with itself over a dispute which probably does not matter. It is also unlikely to discuss the issue which does matter.