Culture can hold people together, providing a sense of belonging. Like religion, it gives traditional communities a set of social rules to live by.
Deprived of breadwinners, the lives of the families of the Marikana massacre victims are on hold while the Farlam commission continues.
The commission, under the leadership of Judge Willie Seriti, is barely off the ground, two years after its inception.
What South Africa needs is an approach that places violence against women at the heart of social policy.
Cosatu’s relevance is ebbing away and if this trend continues, it will be a federation for unions of petit-bourgeois government employees.
Had Zimbabwe enjoyed a truly free and fair election this week, Zanu-PF might well have won.
The scope for sleaze, patronage and outright corruption, of course, is proportional to the scale of the spending.
Pius Langa’s legacy cannot be reduced to a historical exhibit in the museum of an achieved democracy.
Zimbabwe is heading for elections on July 31 and every indication is of a poll that will be not only shambolic, but intrinsically unfair.
The arms deal may be old news, but corruption is at the centre of the national agenda as never before.