Julius Malema may not have an organised mass base outside the ANC, but he is a past master at going where there is pain.
President Jacob Zuma’s appointments to the prosecution service have poisoned South Africa’s sensitive criminal justice system.
The new SA, was founded on the basis that those who had benefited from privilege in the past would pay to fund the reconstruction of the country.
With Bobby Motaung in court, the Hawks may now begin to unravel the tangle of corruption that has made Mpumalanga a byword for gangster politics.
SA’s relationship with the US is nothing if not complicated and the ambivalence was on display as Hillary Clinton danced her way around the country.
Zuma Inc has become a source of controversy as the nation questions the trading of political favours for private – if philanthropic – interests.
It is early, but not too early, to celebrate London 2012 as one of South Africa’s best-ever Olympics. The challenge now will be to learn from this.
Our investigation into South Africa’s aborted 2008 nuclear tender offers a warning at a time when the country is embarking on a similar exercise.
For too long Zimbabwe has been afflicted by an atmosphere that is at once febrile and frozen.
The proliferation of illegal initiation schools is a threat not just to cultural practices or even young men’s lives, but to public health in general.
It has to be a South African record, the gap between the revelations of alleged misdemeanours on the part of Humphrey Mmemezi and his resignation.
The North Gauteng High Court’s decision in the Carolina matter is another instance of the courts having to push government to do its job.
The global economy is stumbling towards disaster, but you would not have known it at the ANC policy conference in Midrand last week.
As the Limpopo textbooks crisis deepens, the loudest government noises this week thundered from stable doors being heavily slammed shut …
The ANC makes much of its collective approach to policymaking: the development of discussion papers and their interrogation in branch meetings.
Our commitment, $2-billion, and the $73-billion committed by China, India, Brazil and Russia, bring the IMF firewall fund to $456-billion.
When the ANC’s policy conference begins on June 26, the majority of South Africans will probably feel a little sidelined.
It is fervently to be hoped that the discussion documents produced ahead of the ANC’s policy conference are just that, the basis for discussion.
Zuma’s appointment of Mangwashi Victoria Phiyega to replace Bheki Cele as police commissioner must be welcomed — but somewhat cautiously.
Parliament faces a good deal of criticism – including from its own officials – over its apparent lack of independent capacity to develop legislation.
There have always been suspicions about the probity of the contracting process surrounding the Gautrain.
The ANC tends to dismiss any complaints about its consolidation of power as criticism motivated by anti-majoritarian liberalism.
At the South Gauteng High Court on Thursday, President Jacob Zuma employed the reactionary mobilisation strategy that has served him so well.
SA does not have a mild-to-moderate unemployment problem. That would allow the luxury of traditional thinking and politically safe solutions.
The deepening crisis surrounding the reinstatement of Richard Mdluli has one positive dimension: the growing role of activists in shaping governance.
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/ 24 February 2012
The land questions continues to be a sensitive issue and must be handled with care because it can sow racial divsions.
The healthcare system has the middle-income earners in a tight spot between high private costs and terrible state facilities.
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/ 10 February 2012
A seat on the ConCourt bench should be the most sought-after honour in any judicial career, so why is a vacancy not attracting enough applications?
Human resource development starts with teachers — professional men and women who teach primary school children to read, to write and to do arithmetic and who engage with high school learners to become critical thinkers and problem solvers. Teachers are building the foundation for South Africa’s future.
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/ 5 September 2003
The Mail and Guardian this week takes the extraordinary step of figuratively nailing its colours to the mast.
South Africans have cause for the gravest possible misgivings about the labyrinthine oil deal exposed in this edition of the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>. If it had panned out as projected, the deal would have held major benefits for South Africa.