Phillip de Wet | We just got a glimpse of what a Trump victory would mean for SA - and it's bad

Donald Trump threatens to destabilise the entire world, but South Africa will be an early casualty, writes Phillip de Wet.

It is hard to imagine a greater political calamity for the world than Donald Trump elected as US president again. He has told us outright that he will do deliberate damage to NATO, which suddenly finds its post-Cold War place as a deterrent to Russia (again), and that he will hyper-politicise US institutions, which has long-term implications for everything from key multilateral institutions to climate change.

Even if he weren't to plunge us into a nuclear exchange – by no means guaranteed – and even if he doesn't manage to flip the US into flat-out theocracy or authoritarianism – as his core supporters seem to hope – it would be a rough couple of years.