A closer look into the latest financial numbers of South Africa’s state power utility, Eskom, suggest that it may be in a more vulnerable position than appreciated.
South African consumers are paying far too much for petrochemicals products.
REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
Raging debates about the state of South Africa’s energy industry have missed one critical area, the role of transport fuels and base chemicals.
At the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Desmond Tutu promoted restorative justice. But focusing on individuals neglects broader contexts of violence and inequality.
Reuters
If violent contexts aren’t taken into account, restorative justice does not serve broader society. Instead it serves as a peacemaking process within a paradigm stacked against the poor and vulnerable.
South Africa’s currency, the rand, has been highly volatile recently.
Shutterstock
Defects in political governance, especially President Jacob Zuma’s failure to provide leadership, have induced a crisis of confidence in South Africa’s economy.
President Barack Obama entering the Oval Office. Americans have not come to terms with deep racial fissures, despite electing a black president.
Reuters/Joshua Roberts
Since the future is so uncertain, South Africa’s best response to Trump’s election is to learn the lessons of its causes.
Uhuru Kenyatta, then Kenya’s Finance Minister (rear) appears at the International Criminal Court in 2011. Kenyatta, now President and off the hook, is weighing his country’s options.
Reuters/Bas Czerwinski
It is a question of when, not whether, Kenya will pull out of the ICC. But it is also clear that there is some incentive for Nairobi not to withdraw immediately
Can President Jacob Zuma continue to cling to power?
Mike Hutchings/Reuters
The former public protector’s report has stirred national consciousness. Jacob Zuma is swimming against the tide. Is he sinking, or might he still pull the trick of a proverbial cat with nine lives?
Pension funds could be a powerful source of higher education financing.
Shutterstock
Pension fund managers must consider environmental, social and governance issues when making investment decisions. The student funding crisis is a perfect example of a social issue.
Former Chadian leader Hissene Habre being escorted in to stand trial at the Palais de Justice in Dakar, Senegal in 2015. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in 2016 by judges of the Extraordinary African Chambers for crimes against humanity, rape, sexual slavery.
EPA/Stringer
There are fears that the withdrawal of countries from the ICC would mark the end of international criminal justice in Africa. This need not be the case.
A lot was expected from the South African finance minister’s 2016 medium term budget which came amid an unfolding economic crisis including the higher education funding gap.
Hard decisions must be made, and commitments must be backed up by concrete action at this year’s climate conference in Morocco.
Shutterstock
Guyana can show how distractions or buffers are a powerful means to concentrate and maintain economic power.
Koeberg power station, in Cape Town, is the only nuclear power station on the African continent. South Africa is considering a proposal to build more such power stations.
EPA/Nic Bothma
South Africa’s Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan spoke of protecting the economy from predators. This is commendable but not enough to build an inclusive economy.
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand