In this episode of Makin Sense, the panel looks back on 2025 and the events and stories that shaped politics, markets, and public mood.

The conversation opens in South Africa with a debate over the African National Congress and its evolving approach to the Government of National Unity. Frans argues that the ANC increasingly appears to accept the GNU as South Africa’s governing reality, suggesting a possible move away from some of its more populist instincts.

James pushes back, pointing out that the year began with the ANC signing major policies into law, including expropriation without compensation, BELA, employment equity, and the continued pursuit of the NHI, and he warns that South Africans will need to remain vigilant over how these measures are implemented.

From there, the panel ranges across the broader political landscape, including governance developments, how global events affected South Africa, the country’s posture in the G20, local government shifts, and what investors should make of the direction of travel.

The discussion then turns to the United States, where the panel weighs Trump’s first year of his second term, with Richard crediting reforms on the Southern border, education, energy, and foreign policy, while criticising tariffs that have unsettled business, a retributive turn in lawfare, and the failure of DOGE to tackle the scale of government spending on benefits.

The episode closes in the United Kingdom, where Simon argues that the Starmer government’s handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius was a major blunder, and adds that the UK’s economic performance was notably weak in 2025 with little sign of near-term improvement.

Makin Sense is the flagship podcast of The Common Sense, a South African media organisation focused on independent analysis of South African and global news, guided by respect for subscribers’ time and an editorial commitment to bridge issues that unite rather than wedge issues that divide.