Those of us who are not “born free” South Africans — who instead were born into a repressive, authoritarian regime — have, I am sure, become good at recognising the hallmarks of the strongman’s playbook: the suppression of dissenting voices, the rigging of elections, the policing and censorship of language and media, and the neutering of the checks and balances on the executive — the courts, the press, and civil society. In 2025, it is a playbook that seems to be gaining traction on almost every continent, at an alarming rate.  ..