Robert Mugabe’s rule in Zimbabwe is over. But the country’s road to democracy remains a bumpy one as Zanu-PF, the new president and the military go about entrenching power.
A different form of state capture is underway in South Africa’s rural areas where traditional leaders are selling off people’s land to miners. But communities are fighting back.
The misfortunes experienced by Brian Molefe, the CEO of South Africa’s power utility Eskom, shows that the battle for the country’s public purse is not a one way bet.
In preparing the 2017 national budget South Africa needs to take heed of warnings that its historical austerity measures are hurting the poor and even costing lives.
In his recent state of the nation address South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma spoke emphatically of “radical economic transformation” causing nationwide debate. What does it really mean?
The legitimacy and credibility of those in power has been eroded by bad governance, patronage and the obsession to claim an exclusive agency representing the people.
It is common to reduce the politics of the ANC to a battle between personalities. A closer look suggest that this is a fight between two factions, both of them products of trends in the economy.
South Africa has never reached an embedded democratic state. Its post-apartheid experience more realistically reflects ongoing oscillation between a deepening and a reversal of democratic liberties.