Political Analyst

Based:Cape Town

Richard Calland is one of the most prominent and highly regarded political analysts and commentators in South Africa. Following 16 years based at the University of Cape Town as an Associate Professor in Constitutional Law from 2007-2023, Professor Richard Calland is now Emeritus Associate Professor at UCT and a Visiting Adjunct Professor at the University of Witwatersrand School of Governance. He is a founder partner at political risk consultancy, The Paternoster Group: African Political Insight, whose past and present clients include Discovery Health, Anglo American PLC, VWSA, Citadel Wealth, South32, Air Liquide, Vodacom, MTN, Nandos, the Australian High Commission, the Dutch Embassy and the French Development Agency. Previously, he advised Massmart/Walmart on South African politics and government relations for more than a decade. A columnist for the Mail & Guardian newspaper in South Africa from 2021-2025, Calland has founded a number of important civil society organisations that focus on political accountability and democracy-building initiatives, such as the Council for Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC), and has authored several books on the state of South Africa’s political affairs, including: Anatomy of South Africa: Who holds the power? (2006), The Zuma Years (2012), Make or Break: How the next three years will shape South Africa’s next three decades (2016) and The Presidents: From Mandela to Ramaphosa, Leadership in The Age of Crisis (with Mabel Sithole, 2022).