The current public scrutiny on the levels of violence against children is welcome but we cannot mistake it for action
‘Fully legalising cannabis will create a new, lucrative industry —one with potential to create jobs’
The fate of the Chagos Islanders should only be determined by the Chagos Islanders themselves
‘The persecution of the weak and the vulnerable finds new iterations all the time’
Allowing infrastructure to break down, because of negligence or direct action, puts lives in danger
‘Today, women might be politically free like all other South Africans, but they remain enslaved in the shackles of a predatory patriarchy’
‘Rampahosa’s ability to say the right thing is unmatched. We hope he will also be pushed to do the right thing’
‘Of particular concern is the independence — or lack thereof — of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’
You see, Mandela was never Mandela but rather the embodiment of the best of all of us
‘The truth is that the likes of France continue to benefit from migration while still waging a war on migrants’
‘That familiar confluence of triumph and tragedy is what builds our ability to understand and share the feelings of each other’
‘How far can you fall in the three days that you stood in line, having been forced to borrow money to pay taxi fares to get to a collection point?’
‘As the M&G turns its focus to allegations of abuse of power in the NGO space, our work has been met with hostility. And it has left us perplexed’
In South Africa — which we see as ‘our land’ — we too are watching the borderisation of the state
‘Cue the now all-too-familiar pattern of patronage — houses, overseas trips, spa treatments’
‘The Ramaphoria train has its own problems. Its rural vote is declining rapidly, threatening its hard-won gains in KwaZulu-Natal’
‘The Fifa World Cup is an extravagant symbol of so much that is wrong with this world. But let’s not kid ourselves: we are going to watch it anyway’
‘The department of education’s plan to make history compulsory for every learner throughout their schooling career is to be applauded’
‘When Shivambu attacked Momoniat, he invited scrutiny of not just his own knowledge of the way Parliament works but also of the EFF’s ideologies’
Mnangagwa will not, on his own, be a salve to Zimbabwe’s problems
‘In many ways, rugby can be seen as symbolic of the pitfalls bedevilling the best-intentioned attempts at nation-building’
‘We’re good at the annual hand-wringing about government’s wasteful ways. But what is not quantified is the number of people who are being failed’
Last Friday, several titles in the Independent stable published front-page reports, with a “Staff Writer” byline, that smeared journalists
We find ourselves in a vitriolic debate about our history —who did what, why did they do it, who can be trusted and who sold out
‘The DA, you see, has the added challenge of not only believing its own spin but also somehow appearing to be living it’
‘Surely there are sufficient lines of inquiry into Gigaba’s conduct as a public official without having to go into his heritage?’
‘As for the Guptas’ experience with home affairs, who knew it could be so efficient?’
‘The ANC continues to harbour the people responsible for bequeathing South Africa to the Gupta and Zuma families’
‘But watching the spectacle of Zuma’s political death unfold so agonisingly has revealed much about the gaping holes in the ANC leadership’
‘When MultiChoice chief executive Calvo Mawela addressed the media this week, he was contrite. There had been “mistakes”, he said’
‘Meanwhile, we are left with two sides of a story’
We begin this year then with expectations, great expectations, of the world, but mostly of ourselves.