# Richard Calland

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**Richard J. T. Calland**[1] (born 10 July, 1964) is a British-South African writer and political analyst. Until 2023 Calland was associate professor of public law at the [University of Cape Town](/source/University_of_Cape_Town). He subsequently was appointed adjunct associate professor at the Wits School of Government and a fellow of the [Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership](/source/Cambridge_Institute_for_Sustainability_Leadership).[2][3] He is a co-director of Sustainability Education[4] and has been a columnist for the *[Mail & Guardian](/source/Mail_%26_Guardian)* since 2001.[3]

## Biography

### Education

Calland read law at [Durham University](/source/Durham_University) ([Hatfield College](/source/Hatfield_College,_Durham)) and was [called to the bar](/source/Call_to_the_bar#England_and_Wales) at [Lincoln's Inn](/source/Lincoln's_Inn) in 1987.[5][3] Whilst at Durham, Calland wrote for the student newspaper criticising the policing of the 1984 Miners' Strike and Thatcherism more widely, calling for it to be replaced with "a fresh radical consensus".[6] Apart from his undergraduate degree he holds an [LLM](/source/Master_of_Laws) from the University of Cape Town and a [postgraduate diploma](/source/Postgraduate_diploma) in world politics from the [London School of Economics](/source/London_School_of_Economics).[3]

### Career

Calland practiced as a barrister in London until 1994, when he moved to [South Africa](/source/South_Africa) to work as an advisor to the [ANC](/source/African_National_Congress) in the [Western Cape](/source/Western_Cape) before the [upcoming election](/source/1994_South_African_general_election).[3]

From 1995 to 2011 he headed the Political Monitoring & Information Service at [IDASA](/source/IDASA).[3] In 2005 he was a visiting scholar at the [Lauterpacht Centre for International Law](/source/Lauterpacht_Centre_for_International_Law) at [Cambridge University](/source/Cambridge_University).[3] Other than democratic governance, his academic interests include [sustainable development](/source/Sustainable_development) and [climate finance](/source/Climate_finance).[2] He is the author of several books on the [Politics of South Africa](/source/Politics_of_South_Africa), among them, *The Zuma Years: South Africa's Changing Face of Power*, published in 2013.[7]

Along with [Lawson Naidoo](/source/Lawson_Naidoo) and Ian Farmer, Calland is co-founder of the Paternoster Group, a political consulting company.[8] Calland also co-founded the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC) with Naidoo.

In 2017 Calland was embroiled in a controversy in which activists raised concerns about "the foreign corporations that The Paternoster Group works with, about the use by Naidoo and Calland of their position in civil society to promote their business venture, about their sources of income, and about the link to Marikana".[9] The activists criticised the association between Paternoster and Ian Farmer who was CEO of [Lonmin](/source/Lonmin) at the time of the [Marikana Massacre](/source/Marikana_massacre). Paternoster had produced a report on the Marikana massacre which the activists claimed "seems to engage in special pleading on behalf of Lonmin".[9] In the resulting fallout the SaveSA campaign cut ties with CASAC.[9]

In September 2022, Speaker of the [Parliament of South Africa](/source/Parliament_of_South_Africa), [Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula](/source/Nosiviwe_Mapisa-Nqakula) appointed him to the Panel constituted in terms of section 89 of the [Constitution of South Africa](/source/Constitution_of_South_Africa) to determine whether there was a *[prima facie](/source/Prima_facie)* case to against [President of South Africa](/source/President_of_South_Africa), [Cyril Ramaphosa](/source/Cyril_Ramaphosa) based on the heist on his farm, Phala Phala, in [Limpopo](/source/Limpopo).[10] However, due to objections raised by the [Democratic Alliance](/source/Democratic_Alliance_(South_Africa)) and [Economic Freedom Fighters](/source/Economic_Freedom_Fighters) on perceived biases, he resigned from the panel.[11]

## Views

Commenting to the *[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)* in 1999, he compared the charisma and charm of [Nelson Mandela](/source/Nelson_Mandela) to [Ronald Reagan](/source/Ronald_Reagan).[12] He has been critical of the proposal made by [Thuli Madonsela](/source/Thuli_Madonsela) that public servants implicated in corruption should be given the chance to apply for amnesty.[13]

## References

1. ["Results of Final Examinations June 1986"](http://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=bookreader/DU_Gazettes/DUGazette1985-6/DUGazette19856METS.xml#page/108/mode/2up). *Durham University Gazette, 1985/86*. **IV**: 106. Combined Series. 1986. Retrieved 25 December 2020.

1. ["Richard Calland"](http://www.publiclaw.uct.ac.za/pbl/staff/rcalland). *Department of Public Law, [University of Cape Town](/source/University_of_Cape_Town)*. Retrieved 25 December 2020.

1. ["Professor Richard Calland, Fellow"](https://www.cisl.cam.ac.uk/directory/richard-calland). *[Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership](/source/Cambridge_Institute_for_Sustainability_Leadership)*. 5 November 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2020.

1. ["Sustainability Education"](https://www.sused.org/). *[SusEd.org](/source/SusEd.org)*. Retrieved 24 November 2021.

1. ["Result of Final Examinations June 1986"](https://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=bookreader/DU_Gazettes/DUGazette1985-6/DUGazette19856METS.xml#page/108/mode/2up). *University of Durham Gazette 1985/86*. **IV**: 106. Combined Series. 1986. Retrieved 26 August 2024.

1. Calland, Richard (May 10, 1984). ["The Climate of Conspiracy"](https://iiif.durham.ac.uk/jalava/#index/t1c3197xm04q/t1cf1881k899/t1c6t053f96f/t3cff365525s!t2msq87bt743/t2msq87bt743_t2t0z708z67b). Palatinate. Retrieved May 1, 2024.

1. ["The Zuma Years"](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za/book/zuma-years/9781770222779). *[Penguin Random House](/source/Penguin_Random_House)*. Retrieved 25 December 2020.

1. ["About Us"](https://thepaternostergroup.com/about-us/). *Paternoster Group*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230325042321/https://thepaternostergroup.com/about-us/) 25 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Furlong, Ashleigh. ["Lonmin link to CASAC questioned"](https://www.groundup.org.za/article/lonmin-casac-questioned/). *GroundUp*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230131223539/https://www.groundup.org.za/article/lonmin-casac-questioned/) 31 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Mothapo, Moloto (2022-09-14). ["Media Statement: Speaker Appoints the Independent Panel on a Motion Tabled in the National Assembly in Accordance with Section 89 of the Constitution"](https://www.parliament.gov.za/press-releases/media-statement-speaker-appoints-independent-panel-motion-tabled-national-assembly-accordance-section-89-constitution). *[Parliament of South Africa](/source/Parliament_of_South_Africa)*

1. Madisa, Kgothatso (2022-09-22). ["Richard Calland quits Phala Phala panel amid objections"](https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2022-09-27-richard-calland-quits-phala-phala-panel-amid-objections/). *TimesLive*

1. Salopek, Paul (25 July 1999). ["An Appreciation of Nelson Mandela"](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-07-25-9907250254-story.html). *[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)*. Retrieved 25 December 2020.

1. Calland, Richard (19 October 2020). ["Why an amnesty for grand corruption is a bad idea"](https://www.news24.com/news24/columnists/guestcolumn/opinion-why-an-amnesty-for-grand-corruption-is-a-bad-idea-20201019). *News24*. Retrieved 25 December 2020.

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