After tiptoeing around the idea of contesting state power South Africa’s Communist Party is looking to strengthen its position now that the ANC is no longer the dominant force it used to be.
One of the problems bedevilling South Africa’s army is being compelled to be everything to everybody. Its strategic direction is compromised by generals who pander to the whims of politicians.
The political cost of corruption is reaching unacceptable levels in South Africa. Reversing the effects of state decay on the poor will take short and long term interventions.
A combination of politicking ahead of the ANC policy conference, plus the machinations just before it met meant heightened tensions between rival factions.
Namibian hero and former Robben Island prisoner Toivo ya Toivo was part of a generation who contributed to the struggles against apartheid and colonialism in the region.
Reggae in South Africa has lost its visibility and prominence inside the country after apartheid. But local artists have built up extensive international links.
Andimba (Herman) Toivo Ya Toivo remained loyal to what made him the personification of the desire to live in an independent country governed by, and for, its people.
President Jacob Zuma has been brought to book repeatedly by South Africa’s courts. He also faces a rising tide of discontent. One way or another, he seems to be running out of political lives.
South Africa’s Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane has touched on two highly contentious issues: the unresolved bailout for a local bank three decades ago. And the role of the country’s Reserve Bank.
South Africa’s democracy is in trouble. But the challenge is less about who should control state institutions, and more about how they can be refashioned to deliver to the poor.
The misfortunes experienced by Brian Molefe, the CEO of South Africa’s power utility Eskom, shows that the battle for the country’s public purse is not a one way bet.
In the new introduction to his prison memoir South African anti-apartheid stalwart Raymond Suttner uses the word ‘betrayal’ to explain his break from the ANC.
The internal processes of South Africa’s ruling ANC for electing the president is distorted by money, patronage, factionalism and vote-rigging. It negates the democratic legitimacy the party claims.
For a military battle whose outcome is still hotly contested 30 years later, the impact was so remarkably clear – independence for Namibia, peace for Angola and the death knell for apartheid.
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