The promise of Easter, which Christians around the world celebrate, can be likened to the new struggle in South Africa for a new leadership and government that cares about the people.
ANC military veterans guard the party’s headquarters.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
The militant talk and antics by the ANC’s ex-soldiers may seem like theatrics, but they are a chilling reminder of how Zimbabwe used armed militia to crash opponents and democracy.
Protesters call for the firing of South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma.
Reuters/Rogan Ward
South Africa’s army is in a dire situation because the government hasn’t provided sufficient funding over the past two decades, hampering its ability to fulfil its duty.
It’s long past time the ANC acted to end the Zuma era. But does it have the moral backbone to act?
Demonstrators protest outside South Africa’s Parliament in Cape Town against President Jacob Zuma’s firing of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
Are those ANC members critical of Zuma willing to stand up and be counted? Will Pravin Gordhan, popular hero of the hour, provide one further great service to the nation?
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has shafted and shifted 20 cabinet posts.
Aaron Ufumeli/EPA
The focus will now be on how the social democratic and left-leaning members of South Africa’s cabinet – the “constitutionalists” – will respond to the reshuffle.
Western Cape Premier.
Helen Zille.
Reuters/Mark Wessels
Western Cape Premier Helen Zille ‘s Twitter rant about colonialism caused an uproar as it brought back memories of a brutal and violent time in South Africa.
Nelson Mandela and Ahmed Kathrada share a moment in South Africa’s Parliament in 1999.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
South African struggle stalwart Ahmed Kathrada believed in non-racialism to his core, even as others around him began to argue for an Africanist approach.
Premier of the Western Cape Helen Zille.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
As South Africa marks Human Rights Day and the 20th anniversary of its constitution it’s a good time to reflect on the problems it faces in making constitutional rights a reality.
South Africa’s Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini with President Jacob Zuma.
GCIS
South Africa’s social grants fiasco begs the question: was it orchestrated to undermine the judiciary and the constitution and hide sheer incompetence on the part of government?
Mass funeral for the victims of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre.
Flickr
Besides a reminder of a dark period in South Africa’s history, Human Rights Day also celebrates the country’s unique, highly acclaimed constitution which guarantees human dignity and equal rights.
People queue to register for government grants in Cape Town, South Africa.
EPA/Nic Bothma
South Africa’s Constitutional Court is in a fix. The only way to deliver social grants that support millions would be through a process that’s without validation, would be unlawful and invalid.
There are fears a new bill that seeks to criminalise hate speech in South Africa might infringe freedom of expression.
Flickr/janinsanfran
The growing incidence of racism on social media in South Africa suggests that there are consequences. Whether there ought to be criminal sanctions remains an ongoing debate.
Still going: Robert Mugabe celebrates yet another year.
EPA/Aaron Ufumeli
Vigilantism challenges the formal boundary between crime and punishment, between law and justice. But its largely been overlooked as a legal topic worthy of in-depth consideration.
Security officials remove members of the Economic Freedom Fighters during South African President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address.
Reuters/Sumaya Hisham
The ANC should draw the lesson that South Africans are unlikely to tolerate the ongoing descent of their politics into the gutter without strident resistance - in the streets, if necessary.
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