Paul Mashatile was voted ANC deputy president in December 2022.
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The veteran liberation struggle activist brings gravitas to every position he occupies.
South Africans are taking their power supply into their own hands with backup systems that don’t rely on power utility Eskom.
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Deciding on the best system isn’t a simple matter. There’s a bewildering array of jargon to sift through and many elements to consider.
Supra Mahumapelo, former premier of North West Province, former president Jacob Zuma and current president Cyril Ramaphosa at an ANC celebration in 2016.
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The decline in support for the ANC suggests that coalition governments will become increasingly common in the country, affecting its appointment policy.
South Africa’s governing ANC has continued the anti-cannabis repression inherited from apartheid.
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A 1971 law, and the parallel growth of an illegal economy, shaped South Africa’s unique cannabis landscape.
President Cyril Ramaphosa.
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It has become increasingly clear that the country needs to start thinking of life without Ramaphosa - and the ANC - in charge.
An employee makes fermentation notes by torchlight during a power outage period at a brewery in Cape Town, South Africa.
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Eskom needs a new management team, this is clear. But the country also needs new leadership.
President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses African National Congress members in Johannesburg in July.
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The country’s long-dominant party has been losing support in elections.
Loyalists of the ANC’s Radical Economic Transformation (RET) at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban.
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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.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.
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The impeachment process could derail Ramaphosa’s political career and seriously hurt the governing ANC’s electoral prospects in 2024.
Cyril Ramaphosa.
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The new process of impeachment requires an objective test to be met.
American president Joe Biden, left, with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa at the 2021 G7 Summit in England.
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Both presidents are committed democrats operating in hostile environments. They are also committed to forging mutually beneficial ties.
President Cyril Ramaphosa came to power promising to revitalise the economy and end corruption.
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Ramaphosa’s presidency has been dogged by several controversies related to his business interests.
Thandi Modise, South Africa’s defence minister.
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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.
Shenzhen, in China’s southern Guangdong province. A village until 1980, it’s a rare new city success story.
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New towns have had a better track record in places of rapid economic and population growth, such as east Asian countries.
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International experience suggests South Africa can benefit by focusing on a simple restructuring of its power utility, allowing well-run state-owned entities to flourish.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a new plan to end South Africa’s energy crisis.
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The impression that’s been created is that political will is the only ingredient missing in fixing South Africa’s electricity crisis. But this is simplistic.
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The hybrid nature of threats to South Africa’s energy infrastructure can only be solved by an integrated solution, including severe sanctions that should include fines and imprisonment.
Former South African president Thabo Mbeki.
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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.
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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.
South Africa has some of the best solar and wind resources in the world.
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Considering South Africa’s climatic advantage, the fraction of electricity generated from renewable energy technologies is low.