Academics from several South African universities say that in the current world economy decisions about any country’s finance minister cannot be made “lightly or capriciously”.
The annulment of the Tlokwe byelection results is a blow for the governing ANC. It has had a torrid 2015 and faces difficult local government elections early next year.
President Jacob Zuma’s era has been characterised by a high turnover, not only of cabinet members, but also senior public officials and executives in state-owned enterprises.
The sudden expulsion of the finance minister makes it hard not to be pessimistic about the South African government’s ability to manage the difficult challenges it might face in 2016.
It is difficult to analyse political developments in South Africa. Decision-making does not fit any neat political science theory. President Zuma is unpredictable and his policy thinking is woolly.
The Africa-China summit will provide an opportunity to get a feel for how Chinese President Xi Jinping is responding to democratic developments in Africa.
Judged by general citizen sentiment expressed at the grassroots, Jacob Zuma has failed to bring the ANC closer to the people. Research shows substantial alienation between the ANC and communities.
I spent most of August 2015 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia – a depressing and mournful tour indeed. The place I stayed in South Africa, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, is atypical. I am almost…
Tensions are probably inevitable in any constitutional democracy that empowers the courts to overrule the executive and legislature. But, judges are worried cabinet undermines the rule of law.
The leaders of South Africa’s governing ANC and its alliance partners, the SACP and Cosatu, are holding an unprecedented week-long meeting at a time of grave difficulties afflicting the alliance.
Did the former union leader, multi-millionaire former businessman and current deputy president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, have the blood of 34 striking mineworkers on his hands?
Former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo led confidently on African affairs because they were elected by comfortable majorities at home and had solid control of their political parties.
It has been an interesting month for leaders across Africa. Goodluck Jonathan finally declared a “total war” against Boko Haram despite not having the means to wage one, and after a puzzlingly sluggish…
What are we to make of the results of the 2014 South African elections? On one level, it was largely predictable: the ANC was always going to lose some support, but not enough to please the opposition…
Jacob Zuma’s ANC won the 2014 South African election with 62% of the vote, 3% down from 2009. Its nearest rival, the Democratic Alliance, won 22%, 6% up. And the newcomers, Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom…
On the surface, 2014 appears to represent “business as usual” for the landscape of South Africa’s electoral politics. The African National Congress (ANC) has secured a fifth straight victory in the latest…
The African National Congress drew a crowd of more than 100,000 supporters to its final election rally in Soweto at the weekend and there was a palpably jubilant mood at the rally as supporters predicted…
At the end of 2012, I published a deliberately surreal novel entitled Joseph Kony and the Titans of Zagreb. In it, using satire and magic realism, I tied together the corrupt destinies of figures on both…