President Jacob Zuma’s era has been characterised by a high turnover, not only of cabinet members, but also senior public officials and executives in state-owned enterprises.
The sudden expulsion of the finance minister makes it hard not to be pessimistic about the South African government’s ability to manage the difficult challenges it might face in 2016.
Justice Malala argues that South Africa faces a governance and leadership crisis, rather than an economic crisis. He argues that is not up to the ruling party alone to solve the problem.
Judged by general citizen sentiment expressed at the grassroots, Jacob Zuma has failed to bring the ANC closer to the people. Research shows substantial alienation between the ANC and communities.
South Africa’s withdrawal from the ICC could have mere symbolic value. The country will continue to have obligations to binding decisions taken by the UN Security Council – including those pertaining to the court.
In 1988 students from the University of Zimbabwe began demonstrating against government corruption. Their protests grew into a national movement that indelibly changed the country.
It has been an exciting month for Africa, not least for the highly controversial elections in Tanzania, where the annulment of the entire vote in Zanzibar has played an important role in extending the…
Don’t let the name fool you: the #feesmustfall protests at South Africa’s universities are about far more than a single issue. A student who has been deeply involved in the protests explains.
To mark the African National Congress’ policy review conference, we bring you a selection of previously published articles about the state of South Africa’s governing party and the country.
The Marikana massacre of 2012 triggered strikes across South Africa and political realignment. But could this, and the formation of the United Front to rival the ANC, have long-term significance?
I spent most of August 2015 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia – a depressing and mournful tour indeed. The place I stayed in South Africa, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, is atypical. I am almost…
South Africa’s lack of a clear policy direction, poor leadership, corruption and electricity supply problems will be the major constraints to its economic growth over the next 20 years.
Concert organisers began to compete for government contracts. Often these contracts came with conditions as to who, among musicians, was desirable at government events.
The Freedom Charter, adopted at a meeting in Soweto on June 25-26 1955, triggered a paradigm shift in thinking about the democratic rights of black South Africans and their protection under the law.
What are we to make of the results of the 2014 South African elections? On one level, it was largely predictable: the ANC was always going to lose some support, but not enough to please the opposition…
Jacob Zuma’s ANC won the 2014 South African election with 62% of the vote, 3% down from 2009. Its nearest rival, the Democratic Alliance, won 22%, 6% up. And the newcomers, Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom…
On the surface, 2014 appears to represent “business as usual” for the landscape of South Africa’s electoral politics. The African National Congress (ANC) has secured a fifth straight victory in the latest…
The African National Congress drew a crowd of more than 100,000 supporters to its final election rally in Soweto at the weekend and there was a palpably jubilant mood at the rally as supporters predicted…
South Africans will go to the polls on 7 May in what promises to be the country’s most interesting election since 1994. Commentators are already speculating (wildly, and without any reasonable evidence…
Chief Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State