Jacob Zuma at the launch of his new party, uMkhonto Wesizwe, in 2023.
Fani Mahuntsi/Gallo Images via Getty Images
The ANC tied itself in knots defending Zuma’s destructive bad behaviour in the past. Acting against him now would require it to own up to its sins.
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the Cairo Summit for Peace in October 2023.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s messages, and tone of delivery, suggest an assertive leader representing the interests of the global south.
Aziz Pahad in Tehran in 2004. He was South Africa’s deputy foreign minister at the time.
Henghameh Fahimi/AFP via Getty images
South Africa will miss having a “diplomat-scholar” of his calibre to turn to for sage advice.
Essop Pahad was a confidant of former president Thabo Mbeki.
Bongani Mnguni/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images
When Essop Pahad was given a job, he did it efficiently. He surprised even his critics with his diligence.
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie (C) and Ghana’s founder and first President Kwame Nkrumah (L) during the formation of the Organisation of African Unity.
STR/AFP via Getty Images
The African Union compares well to other continental unions. It accomplishes more than the Commonwealth or the Francophonie.
Chris Hani (R) after being elected secretary general of the South African Communist Party in December 1991. To his left is the former secretary general Jo Slovo.
Walter Dhladhla/AFP via Getty Images
The book is a gripping read for anyone interested in late 20th century history, and in the end of apartheid.
Paul Mashatile, the deputy president of South Africa.
Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Mashatile could be the new broom that sweeps clean. Ramaphosa’s apparent confidence in him suggests that he has some latitude to do so.
Achieving greater transparency and accountability in democratic governance and in capitalist economics must occur simultaneously.
shutterstock
Raymond W. Baker says the estimated hundreds of billions of dollars in hidden wealth a decade ago has skyrocketed to trillions today.
Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa.
South Africa’s foreign policy under Ramaphosa emphasises economic diplomacy and ‘progressive internationalism’, which promotes global equity and ending the dominance of the global north.
Loyalists of the ANC’s Radical Economic Transformation (RET) at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban.
Rajesh Jantilal/AFP via Getty Images
Despite its vagueness, the RET has become central to the contemporary ANC. It is destined to remain a powerful bloc within the party, and a constant constraint on Ramaphosa leadership.
A replica of the famous Linton Panel.
Courtesy Rock Art Research Institute/Origins Centre
A new exhibition in Johannesburg focuses on the beliefs and paintings of the San people.
South Africa’s democratic era presidents, Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe, Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa.
Penguin Random House South Africa
Mandela, the first president of a democratic South Africa, made big strategic choices – not necessarily the right ones, but certainly ones that were befitting of the times.
Protesters and police clash during a march against illegal immigrants in South Africa.
Alet Pretorius/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Scapegoating immigrants will not result in significantly improved healthcare service provision, reduced crime or less unemployment.
ANC supporters show support for corruption accused and suspended party secretary general Ace Magashule outside court in Bleomfontein.
EFE-EPA/Conrad Bornman
To his credit, former South African president Thabo Mbeki set up anti-corruption institutions that survived his own efforts to erode them.
Disinformation can derail public health measures vital to controlling the spread of infectious disease.
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
The spread of misinformation in many pandemics, including the smallpox and 1918 influenza outbreaks, have undermined efforts to contain infections and prevent deaths.
Thandi Modise, South Africa’s defence minister.
Michal Fludra/NurPhoto via Getty Images
South Africa’s foreign policy is supposed to be guided by the principle of ubuntu (humanness), so a visit to an aggressor is hard to explain.
ANC leaders led by Cyril Ramaphosa cut a giant cake to mark the ANC’s 110th birthday in January.
Phill Magakoe/AFP via Getty Images
Non-racialism is one of the unexamined dogmas of the governing ANC, which has never fully understood how white racism functions.
Former South African president Thabo Mbeki.
Ebrahim Hamid/AFP via Getty Images
Every South African who cares about the future of the country will agree with former president Mbeki that, to avert disaster, something must be done urgently about its deep socio-economic problems.
A protest in Johannesburg against the lack of service delivery or basic necessities such as access to water and electricity.
Photo by Marco Longari / AFP via Getty images
The country is still a very different political space. It’s a noisy democracy with a free media, lots of dissenting voices, and insulting the government doesn’t carry any overt sanction.
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.