Action needed beyond political statements

For many matriculants, a gap year can be a practical decision for their specific circumstances or even health and mental well-being. However, there are many who may have their hearts set on pursuing tertiary qualifications straight after school, but who face the same placement hurdles that so many other South African matrics are experiencing. Delayed […]

In the early years of South Africa’s democracy, as the country confronted one of the most devastating public health emergencies in its history, the government turned to an unconventional yet powerful solution: mobilising ordinary citizens to save lives. Community Health Workers (CHWs), also known as Lay Counsellors, were introduced under the leadership of former Health […]

The presence of the UN does not signal transformation on its own

The benefits of lower grain prices, ample fruit and vegetable supplies, and potentially sideways meat prices will continue to be the major drivers of the deceleration in food price inflation in 2026

Many of them buy for control over their own lives and protection rather than prestige. That’s worrying

For weary citizens, the president’s address has become a ritual of promises rather than a moment of reckoning. If it is to regain its dignity, it must strip away the gloss and return to its core purpose

The implosion of parties such as the ANC and Zanu PF must serve as a cautionary tale for those that fought to liberate the continent

Perhaps the most tangible area of progress since SONA 2025 has been energy stabilisation. The marked reduction in the frequency and severity of load-shedding, including extended periods without outages, reflects the cumulative impact of the Energy Action Plan and improved maintenance discipline at Eskom

The Blue Book explicitly warned that the production of food by African people in excess of their own requirements was undesirable, ‘as it diminishes their incentive to labour’

For decades, South Africans have longed for a deeper expression of popular agency, not just through protests but by choosing the person who occupies the country’s highest office

If it cannot defend electoral integrity, condemn repression or set minimum democratic standards for its members, then its legitimacy must be reassessed

In Venezuela, international sanctions, while framed as tools to defend democracy, have similarly deepened economic pain, blurring the line between moral pressure and collective punishment