Ironically, the only feasible way of removing President Zuma lies outside the prescribed formal structures of the constitutional processes – at the head office of the governing ANC.
If South Africans are to make the radical changes they must to become truly great, the new generation will have to find a way of understanding the country’s past in its profound complexity.
The Constitutional Court judgment in the opposition’s case against President Jacob Zuma represents the exercise of judicial authority and expertise at the highest level by international standards.
South Africa’s finance minister means well, especially in his bid to cut public sector expenditure. But his success requires strong leadership and strategic alignment across the entire public sector.
South Africa’s finance minister delivered a good mix of macro and micro-economic strategies to ensure the country survives economic uncertainty, restores confidence and achieves some growth.
Apartheid South Africa started a war in which it could not maintain a strategic advantage. It misread the quest for national liberation and international opinion that undermined its effectiveness.
South Africa has never reached an embedded democratic state. Its post-apartheid experience more realistically reflects ongoing oscillation between a deepening and a reversal of democratic liberties.
Robert Sobukwe developed the philosophy of African nationalism to even higher intellectual heights. The lesson for humanity was his ideological stand that there is only one race - the human race.
With South African local government elections coming up later in 2016, Jacob Zuma and his governing ANC must ensure that citizens still look to them as a party of hope.
It is unlikely President Zuma will announce a structural changes in his State of the Nation Address. This, despite education being in dire need of fundamental restructuring and an economy in decline.
The general loss of faith in the economy is the most important issue President Zuma must address. More radical social and economic transformation, with emphasis on land reform will be most critical.
One of the remarkable achievements of South Africa’s Constitutional Court has been its role in improving the quality of the internal democratic processes within the governing ANC.
Former President Thabo Mbeki’s critique of South African historiography, and his concomitant attempt to correct this body of work, has set off a significant public discussion.
Regular changes of government through free and fair elections that reflect the wishes of the majority of citizens are a critical component of democratisation. But how significant are polls in Africa?
The South African military’s capabilities for socio-economic development are questionable, even in its own country. The force is in critical decline, but is expected to aid humanitarian efforts.
With the local government elections set to take place within the next seven months, it is worth considering what impact the recent upsurge in protests will have on the country’s political future.
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