ANC campaigners at voting station in November 2020.
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The existing electoral system has attracted extensive criticism for rendering elected representatives unaccountable to those who elected them.
Former South African president Jacob Zuma addresses supporters after one of several court appearances on corruption charges.
EPA-EFE/Phil Makgoe/Pool
The former president is in a corner and largely isolated. His only option is to stir the pot so much that it gives him some kind of bargaining power.
Supporters of Ace Magashule, the secretary general of the ANC, protest outside the court where he appeared on corruption charges.
EFE-EPA/Conrad Bornman
Morals and laws are not binaries. They complement each other to enable harmonious coexistence.
Former South African President Jacob Zuma deployed spies in factional battles within the governing party.
GCIS
Revelations show that the State Security Agency did little to safeguard the country and much to protect Zuma’s political faction and to funnel public money into private ends.
Former South African president Jacob Zuma says he won’t comply with a Constitutional Court order to appear before a commission on corruption.
EFE-EPA/Yeshiel Panchia
Zuma shares ignominy with former US president Donald Trump who, like him, subverted democracy while in office.
Enthusiastic ANC supportets celebrate a recent election victory.
EFE-EPA/Yeshiel Panchia
The trouble is that the ANC’s branch structure, designed initially as a means of grassroots democracy at work, is in a mess.
ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule in court in Bloemfontein, on corruption charges.
EFE-EPA/Conrad Bornman
For every office holder who may lose a seat because they are prosecuted, another job opens up.
Percy Qoboza, editor of The World, second from left, being arrested by apartheid police following the banning of the newspaper in 1977.
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Journalists need to hold firmly to the ethical standards that assure audiences their work is reliable and credible.
Failure to campaign due to COVID-19 has fuelled calls to synchronise polls.
EFE-EPA
The bigger parties which contest elections at all three levels would benefit the most – but voters might split their votes.
The African National Congress fought against the evils of apartheid, but couldn’t escape the sins of power itself.
EFE-EPA/Yeshiel Panchia
The book is set to heighten the debate about the future of the party, whose dominance has been in decline since 2009.
The Shaik brothers Moe, Schabir and Chippy after Schabir was found guilty of fraud and corruption and sentenced to 15 years.
.Beeld/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Moe Shaik fancies himself as an analyst who can read people well. And yet, he has a rather large blind spot for his leaders – until they fall out with him.
African National Congress top six leaders. The governing party’s wishes are sometimes out of kilter with the dictates of statecraft.
AFP-GettyImages/Mujahid Safodien
South Africa suffers capability deficiencies and institutional stasis due to poor political management.
Farmers work in a field donated to the black community in Coligny, some 120kms west of Johannesburg.
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The proposed amendment to the constitution represents a critical juncture in South African constitutional politics.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his state of the nation address.
GCIS/Sumaya Hisham/Pool
President Ramaphosa’s state of the nation speech showed his preference for less contentious matters that attract praise, rather than catalytic decisions.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to fix South Africa are being undermined from within his own party, the ANC.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Ramaphosa’s detractors are unlikely to succeed in their rumoured bid. And, their failure will not be because they’ve suddenly become weak within the administration.
South African President Cyril Ramaphoa.
GCIS
Ramaphosa is constrained by his tenuous control over South Africa’s governing party, the ANC.
South African police minister Bheki Cele (left) claims success in the investigation of political killings in KwaZulu-Natal. With him is the head of the police, Khehla Sithole.
GCIS
The task team established to investigate political killings in KwaZulu-Natal has had little impact on exposing those behind the violence.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech failed to inspire confidence.
EFE-EPA/ANC handout
The year ahead promises to be a very difficult but also a very decisive year for South Africa. Is President Ramaphosa equal to the challenge?
Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa and the governing African National Congress.
EPA/Nic Bothma
The most that may be hoped for from the party’s annual statement is evidence of a president who is confident, clear and courageous.
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa (L) is congratulated by Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane after being elected president.
EPA/Nic Bothma
South Africa’s parliamentary system would make it difficult to achieve a fusion of parties.