Why do once mighty political parties sometimes collapse? Two reasons that have driven some into obscurity are corruption and conflicts within the party. The ANC suffers from both.
Peter Marais, the Freedom Front Plus’ candidate for Western Cape premier, left, and party leader, Pieter Groenewald.
Brendan Magaar/African News Agency(ANA).
The election will not change the government, but may change the balance of power between the two factions of the governing ANC, led by Cyril Ramaphosa and Jacob Zuma.
Are South Africa’s biggest political parties offering anything new to inject much-needed life into the ailing education system?
flickr/ GovernmentZA
Here’s what researchers found when they assessed the election manifestos of South Africa’s three biggest political parties’ and what they say about education.
South Africans queue to cast their vote in a recent election. The country holds five-yearly national elections on 8 May.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Five years on, no-one has been held to account for the Marikana massacre where 34 miners were shot dead by members of the South African Police Service in a single day.
Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba, leads a campaign to clean up the city streets.
The Star/Itumeleng English
Are different ways of governing emerging from South Africa’s cities governed by opposition coalitions?
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 Africans queue to vote in the 2016 municipal elections. The governing ANC is accused of wanting to generate ‘fake news’ to influence voters.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
The planting of messages and countering narratives in the media is not new. It’s part and parcel of contemporary politics especially during elections. The internet simply makes an old problem worse.
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