The governing ANC’s policy proposals don’t inspire confidence.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
The deliberations were characterised by disingenuous, counter-factual policy pronouncements, and de facto denials of the ANC’s culpability in causing many of the current problems facing the country.
The country is reeling from the recent gang rape of eight young women.
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The truth is that there are no easy and quick fixes, such as the governing party’s recent castration idea, which falls short on a range of scores.
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki in 2017.
EFE-EPA/Kevin Sutherland
Mbeki has successfully transitioned from being an old horse of South Africa’s governing ANC to a highly venerated and in-demand African elder statesman.
South African police minister, Bheki Cele, centre, at the scene of the tavern shooting that claimed 16 lives in Soweto.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Historically, most mass shootings in South Africa have been associated with three main things: gang conflicts, rivalries in the minibus taxi sector and factional or inter-group feuds.
Robert Sobukwe in his cell at the prison on Robben Island.
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Robert Sobukwe was once perceived to possess more revolutionary potential than Nelson Mandela.
Land ownership in South Africa remains skewed towards white farmers.
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Land reform had not been held back by the constitution but by capacity constraints and a lack of political will.
Antjie Krog from a detail of the cover for the book ‘n Vry vrou (a free woman).
Human & Rousseau
The famous writer turns 70 this year. She is driven by how South Africans see and hear one another.
The African National Congress is steadily losing dominance.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Any ruling party in South Africa has found it hard to maintain internal coherence and unity over an extended time span amid wide national diversity.
Members of shack-dwellers movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo protest the alleged theft of COVID-19 funds in Durban, South Africa.
Photo by Darren Stewart/Gallo Images via Getty Images
Extra-parliamentary politics forms part of a deeper defence that will give democracy more resilience in South Africa.
Chief Emeka Anyaoku, a global icon with local roots.
Photo by Jekesai Njikizana/AFP via Getty Images
The former secretary-general of the Commonwealth represents the true essence of a public intellectual and leader; his sense of duty defines his legacy.
Former South African president Nelson Mandela on his 91st birthday in 2009.
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The death of Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 2021 has triggered renewed frustrations over the elusiveness of a “new” South Africa.
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa delivering the 2022 state of the nation address.
GCIS/Flickr
Reviving the capacity of the state is also crucial to shoring up support for democracy in the long term.
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa will need political courage to introduce basic income support.
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Basic income support is not a question of government “being generous”. The money will be taken from employed citizens and the affluent.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses a meeting of the SACP in 2015.
GCIS: Flickr
The resort to armed struggle brought the Communist Party and the African National Congress much closer together during their time in exile.
South Africa’s President and African National Congress (ANC) party President Cyril Ramaphosa cuts the cake during the ANC’s 110th anniversary celebrations.
(Photo by Phill Magakoe /AFP via Getty Images)
Ramaphosa currently has no known rivals with widespread support within the African National Congress.
South African and African National Congress party’s President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks during the ANC’s 110th anniversary celebrations.
Photo by Phill Magakoe /AFP via Getty Images
South Africans are led by a dithering president at the helm of an inept political party which has already passed its sell by date.
Lindiwe Mabuza (right) with President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018.
Katlholo Maifadi/GCIS
For her, art was a weapon in the struggle and a tool for education. She used every opportunity to build movements and to archive experiences in writing.
Abstention in the 2021 local government election was largely driven by a combination of individual and administrative barriers.
Guillem Sartorio/AFP via Getty Images
The South African electorate is becoming less tied to race and identity-based voting but are increasingly making a wider evaluation of the performance of political incumbents.
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa (L) is congratulated by leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party Mangosuthu Buthelezi (R) after being elected president of South Africa during the swearing in of new members of the National Assembly.
Nic Bothma
The failure of the 2021 post-election deal is a missed opportunity for the African National Congress and Inkatha to work together.
Mxolisi Kaunda mayor of eThekwini. If parties or individuals succeed in the politics and practicalities of governing a metro, the rewards are considerable.
Darren Stewart/Gallo Images via Getty Images
Metros may be a graveyard for political ambition. But if parties or individuals succeed, the rewards are considerable.