Ending violence against foreigners can only happen by first recognising – and addressing – the hazards of South Africa’s crumbling system of indirect rule.
The judge responsible for authorising the covert monitoring of communications has found that claims by journalists that they were being spied on were credible.
The optimism Angolan president João Lourenço’s election generated four years ago has dwindled as electoral promise after another have failed to materialise.
The extent of democracy capture varies markedly between countries. It’s much higher in states such as Zimbabwe, where the government has never changed hands.
South Africa’s political parties would do well to learn from Ireland, where the three largest political parties negotiated a coalition treaty that stipulated mechanisms for conflict resolution.
The violence wreaked its damage because South Africa’s journey to democracy remains incomplete. It sends a sharp message that the country must look its past far more squarely in the eye.
Frelimo, which governs Mozambique, has squandered the enormous political capital it enjoyed at independence. It now remains in power through violence, intimidation, harassment, and threats.
Since parties always need money, forcing them to depend on private funders means throwing them into the hands of donors who will demand favours for their cash.
The election of Port Elizabeth’s first black mayor in 1995 signalled that the democratic change that had started in 1994 was irreversible. But problems lay ahead.
Ramaphosa’s detractors are unlikely to succeed in their rumoured bid. And, their failure will not be because they’ve suddenly become weak within the administration.
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