The notion of South African exceptionalism runs deep. Many people in the country believe that in some cases they are superior to the rest of the continent.
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?
Malusi Gigaba has been appointed as South Africa’s finance minister.
EPA
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?
Leader of South Africa’s opposition parties and civil society took part in an anti-corruption march against the government.
EPA/KIM LUDBROOK
South Africa’s social compact is at breaking point and the country may need a dialogue similar to its 1994 political transition talks to get out of the crisis.
President Jacob Zuma and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. Gordhan is standing firm against any political pressure.
Flickr/GovernmentZA
The decision to give former Eskom CEO, Brian Molefe, a seat in the country’s parliament comes with the potential to cause great economic pain for South Africa.
President Jacob Zuma delivers his state of the nation address in Cape Town. Critics say he failed to galvanise the nation.
Reuters/Sumaya Hisham
South African President, Jacob Zuma, wasted lots of time and space in cheap politicking instead of galvanising South Africans to work together for a better future.
Social grant recipients waiting in Gugulethu, Cape Town. A battle over social grant payment tender threatens the system.
EPA/NIC BOTHMA
The South African Social Security Agency has created a crisis that threatens to deliver social grant recipients on a silver platter into the hands of unscrupulous financial services companies.
President Jacob Zuma during his 2017 state of the nation address to a joint sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.
Reuters/Sumaya Hisham
Dlamini-Zuma is an ambiguous, ambitious figure, an operator and bureaucrat with good credentials. But, she offers nothing new and can’t shake off claims that she’s just a shoe-in for her ex-husband.
The problem for Jacob Zuma’s political theology is that far too many members of South Africa’s ruling ANC have been experiencing a dramatic loss of faith in a party they see as no longer righteous.
Demonstrators march against corruption in Cape Town. South Africa has some way to go to plug a public accountability deficit.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
South Africa’s end of term report at the helm of the Open Government Partnership shows that it failed to meet key targets it set for itself. But it also shows improvements in some areas.
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma (left), who is also the president of the governing ANC, and his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
After two decades of political dominance, the electoral performance of the ANC is at its lowest since it became the governing party of South Africa in 1994. But is the party really unraveling?
South African President Jacob Zuma just escaped a bid by some of his senior colleagues in the governing ANC to remove him.
REUTERS/Rogan Ward
It is common to reduce the politics of the ANC to a battle between personalities. A closer look suggest that this is a fight between two factions, both of them products of trends in the economy.
The South African economy just narrowly escaped a credit rating downgrade but it is not in the clear yet.
Reuters
South Africa is breathing a sigh of relief after escaping a credit rating downgrade. But there are still serious concerns around structure of the country’s economy and finances.
South African President Jacob Zuma. He has survived a bid to have him removed and might strike back.
Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters
All eyes are on the next move from President Jacob Zuma after he survived a bid from senior ANC colleagues to remove him. The fallout is expected to be focused on the economic cluster of government.