The politicians who removed Zuma are likely to be running the government for the next five years. Current events were their first test and offered a hint of how the country may be governed.
South Africa, following its peaceful transition, occupied the moral high ground and could influence the agenda of intergovernmental bodies like the United Nations. Not anymore.
A groundbreaking High Court ruling outlawing the spanking of children in South Africa has outraged some Christian bodies that claim parents are entitled to hit their children in a “godly way”.
The South African Communist Party’s decision to compete in an election against its alliance partner the ANC is a watershed moment for them, with important implications for the country.
Factions within South Africa’s ANC nostalgically point to the example of Oliver Reginald Tambo whose seen as an exemplar of integrity, personifying an ideal leader who served the party selflessly.
Inquests into atrocities committed under apartheid are important because many South Africans are beginning to question whether justice was done under the country’s truth and reconciliation process.
Forty years after the apartheid regime clamped down on the free press, South Africa’s media continues to face threats, albeit in more subtle forms than in the past.
As South Africa marks Media Freedom Day, it’s clear that its battle isn’t over. Attacks on journalists continue –through physical intimidation and there’s also the threat of new laws.
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma’s loss in the Appeals Court forms part of three milestones in his recent history dominated by corruption, unethical conduct and a knack to avoid criminal charges.
For the first time since its unbanning the ANC needs to find a new direction. Its supporters and South African voters are no longer content with resolutions that promise to end to corruption.
Durban one of South Africa’s third largest cities, by population has reported that the number of people living in informal dwellings has remained stubbornly high.
Instead of ignoring his accusers, South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa entertained them, tried to silence them through court, and then revealed a long-past affair of little interest.
Chief Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State